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If It Starts Up Front, Bucs Should Be In Good Shape

Tribune photo by CLIFF MCBRIDE

The Bucs' Jeremy Trueblood and Davin Joseph handle Carolina's Julius Peppers last season.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 20, 2008

If you have followed Buccaneers football much over the years, the following statement will seem mighty strange. I'm going to say it anyway, though. The Bucs' offensive line should be one of the team's strengths this season. In time, it could even be among the NFL's best units.

It's understandable if you need a moment to ponder this. After all, the line has given us more than three decades of mediocre play (at best). Often, it seemed more like the seven boxes of Kleenex than the seven blocks of granite. It is one of the great consistent truths of this franchise.

As they head to Lake Buena Vista this week to open training camp, though, we can't say that anymore. Instead of a continuing series of Band-Aids and prayer beads, this group has depth, talent and versatility. You can look it up.

If Luke Petitgout is recovered enough from a torn ACL to beat out Donald Penn at left tackle, the entire O-line will consist of former first- or second-round draft picks. Three of them - center Jeff Faine, right guard Davin Joseph, and Petitgout - were first-round selections. Left guard Arron Sears and right tackle Jeremy Trueblood were second-rounders.

Faine, who got a six-year, $37 million deal to leave New Orleans, is the highest-paid center in the league.

That represents a commitment to fix a problem that has been part of daily life in these parts since the days of John McKay. For every Paul Gruber, there were 10 Matt Stinchcombs and Lance Nimmos.

"When I first got back here three or four years ago, I looked at some games on tape, and when I saw the offensive line I said then that Jon Gruden ought to be the coach of the year," Bucs personnel executive Doug Williams said. "This unit now is a very large, very athletic offensive line.

"When you throw this whole offensive line into the mix, you'd have to say they've put together a pretty good unit. I think it's in the top tier of talent in the league."

Starts Up Front

A lot of us were puzzled when the Bucs didn't bring in a lot of "impact" players during the offseason. They brought in Warrick Dunn at running back and Antonio Bryant at receiver, but we kept waiting for the splash signing and it never came. At least we didn't think so.

If you go by Williams' theory, though, Faine was that kind of guy. He should be a significant upgrade from the departed John Wade in the middle, and everything flows out from there. A good line will make Earnest Graham and Dunn better. It will give Jeff Garcia more time to find Bryant and Joey Galloway.

It will allow the Bucs to control the ball more, giving the defense a rest.

So goes the theory.

"You want good athletes, and you want impact guys, but the most important skill people don't always have to handle the ball. You need them in the trenches," Williams said.

"If the quarterback doesn't have enough time to throw, it doesn't matter how much you're paying someone to play wide receiver. If the holes don't open up, it doesn't matter how much your running back makes. Teams in this league just aren't letting their tackles go through free agency, and that ought to tell you something."

Williams has first-hand experience in these matters. Not only did he spend part of his football career running an offense behind a sometimes-spotty offensive line with the Bucs, he won a Super Bowl while protected by Washington's fabled Hogs line.

"The Hogs were the key to everything we did in Washington, but you don't have to go back that far," he said. "The Giants' offensive line did a heck of a job last year. The Colts did a heck of a job. The best teams always seem to have the best lines."

A Different Look

We remember the beating Brad Johnson took every time he dropped back to pass during the season after the Bucs won the Super Bowl. We remember the regular melodrama that was Kenyatta Walker. If this unit truly becomes a strength, more than perceptions might change.

"Everybody thinks Jon likes to throw the ball, but I think he likes to run it as much as he throws it," Williams said. "He knows you have to run the ball to be successful."

This group could give him a chance to do that.

This group could do a lot of things.

There are plenty of questions about the Bucs, of course, and they won't all be solved just because the line appears to be in good shape. That's a given. But the O-line has always been a reliable source of comedic material, and that seems to have changed. We may need to find other areas of the team to complain about.

This could take a while to get used to. After all, some traditions die hard.

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