2010 Buccaneers Preseason Position Grade Sheet: Offensive Line

 

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Considering how dreadful the 2009 season went for the Bucs on their way to a 3-13 record and eventual 3rd overall pick in April's draft, it went that much worse for their offensive line.

As you'll recall, the offensive line was expected to carry the team. For the Bucs, it was expected to be the one certainty heading into a season of uncertainty. They had a rookie coach, a rookie GM and new faces all over the field. They had a rookie signal caller in waiting in Josh Freeman and a rookie offensive coordinator who happened to be promoted days prior to the regular season beginning.

So what exactly did the offensive line have going for them? They had a stable of more-than-capable running backs at the ready. Cadillac Williams, Earnest Graham and Derrick Ward were supposed to be called upon early and often, thus relieving most of the pressure from the overwhelmed offense. Needless to say, all did not go as planned. Running lanes seldom opened, quarterback pockets seldom lasted and as the season progressed, area fans were seldom interested.

The Bucs finished the '09 season having rushed for 1,627 yards, 23rd in the NFL. Worse yet, the Bucs managed to score only five rushing touchdowns, which is beyond unacceptable. The glass-half-full types will argue that the Bucs endured rushing problems because they constantly found themselves down early in games, which led them to abandon the run earlier than anticipated, thus leading to an overall diminished rushing total. Fair enough, I can understand that position. However, the glass-half-empty folks will counter with the argument that if the Bucs had been more consistent at running when they did run early in games, then they would have likely not faced those early deficits to begin with. Not to mention those paltry five rushing scores are inexusable. They had three more-than-capable backs to use and were only able to punch it in on the ground five times all year? That is plain and simply unacceptable.

This year the Bucs return many of the same faces and have a few new additions as well. There are several battles that are expected in camp and preseason this year, notably at left tackle and left guard. LT Donald Penn has yet to sign his RFA tender and unless something happens in the immediate future is unlikely to attend camp or participate in preseason. That would allow Demar Dotson and Xavier Fulton to compete for the task of protecting QB Josh Freeman's franchise blindside this season. The left guard position is really veteran Keydrick Vincent's to lose, but nevertheless he will have to earn his spot over Jeremy Zuttah.

The remaining offensive lineman are tackles Derek Hardman, James Lee and James Williams. Guard Marc Dile and centers Jonathan Compas and Donovan Raiola.

Position wrap-up
Overall, the offensive line will have to show improvement for the Bucs' offense as a collective group to move forward (literally and figuratively). This is too talented of a group for them to struggle as bad as they did last season, again. They are a year older, a year wiser and will have the advantage of entering their second season in the same offensive system. Their lack of depth at guard alarms me because of Vincent's age and the relative lack of experience behind him on the chart. An obvious advantage that they would appear to have (if the above listed were in fact the starters) would be their size. Their tackles average 6'8" 1/2 and 317lbs, the guards average 6'4" and a sandwich short of 320lbs and Faine is no small fry in his own right. The Bucs should feel almost obligated to pound the rock this year and if all goes and planned, they should (should) reach paydirt more than five times this year.

Position Grade: B
Question mark at LT (and inexperience), age concerns at LG and reliablity concerns at RT make it a talented but uncertain group. Playing in the same system again, coupled with an easier schedule and the continued maturation of Freeman have the potential to make things better than last year for this group. Then again, they can't get worse...can they?

What to watch for...
The possible return of Donald Penn. Even if Penn were to sign and report before camp begins, I wouldn't automatically shoe him in as the starter. Yes, he has more experience and better technique than Dotson, but there's no telling what kind of condition he's in, whereas Dotson has likely been preparing for several weeks in hopes of seizing this opportunity. If Penn were to return, he would likely end up the starter at some point before the season, I just don't think they'd hand it right to him, however.

Questions? Comments? Submit them below or e-mail J.J. at BucsExaminer@gmail.com
7 days until Bucs Training Camp. Check back for continuing coverage of Training Camp 2010 and J.J.'s "Preseason Position Grade Sheet" series as well.