The Bucs are predicted to have a horrible offensive line. They had a bad one the year before, lost some players, and did not really address the O-Line in Free Agency. They drafted a few players, but they are “A Big Question Mark”.
The year is 2005, and Tampa Bay came off a horrible 2 year stretch of 12-20 and the Bucs had NO ONE on the OLine except returning right tackle Kenyatta Walker and Center John Wade. Here is your starting 2005 O Line.
- LT Anthony Davis 2003 FA 2 starts in 2004
- RG Dan Buenning 2005 4th Round Draft pick 0 Games
- C John Wade 2003 FA 8 Games in 2004
- RG Sean Mahan 2003 5th Rnd 8 Starts
- Kenyatta Walker 2001 1st Rnd 11 starts
Tampa Bay had a great rushing attack that year with Cadillac Williams going 1,178 yards as the 11th best rusher. That’s not possible without good O Line play.
Your hearing the same thing this year, because this is a completely revamped line for 80% of it. Only RT Demar Dotson is returning as the starter, and Jamon Meredith has a good shot to play at his left guard spot he was at last season.
LT will be newcomer Anthony Collins, who has the “Big Question Mark” label on him, because he was not the starter at Cincinnati. He excelled there, but was stuck behind an excellent LT. This doesn’t make him a question mark, he has played at a high level. There is a reason he was a top lineman in Free Agency; he’s good!
Guard is going to be a fantastic camp and preseason battle in 2014, while Oniel Cousins and Patrick Omameh are being mentioned most due to their status as Vets, the Bucs drafted a Guard in the 5th round; Kadeem Edwards.
Edwards has major Question Marks all over him, but 5th round O lineman have a tendency to do well in Tampa Bay.
- Ian Beckles 5th
- Jeremy Zuttah 3rd
- Dan Buenning (above story) 4th
- Sean Mahan 5th
- Frank Middleton 3rd
Kurt Warner and Tom Brady were BIG Question Marks too. Your a question mark when you haven’t been given an opportunity to show your talents for a length of time that builds a confidence from others in your talents.
No one talks about ‘reverse’ Question Marks… when is Tom Brady going to show his age and become average? It happens to every great player, Drew Brees could be next. Peyton Manning? Last year, no one assigned a “?” to Davin Joseph or Donald Penn, yet their talents were very questionable in 2013.
Predictors have a tendency to just repeat what happened last year, and rarely go out on a limb and ‘predict’ anything. Even though every year there are surprise players and surprise duds, both players and teams.
So don’t be afraid to put a little hope in a few players/positions. With a little luck, the Bucs could have some real stars on both sides of the ball, and odds are the ‘Stars’ over their names will be replacing a big ‘ ? ‘.
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