Should There be More Concern About the State of Tampa Bay's Offensive Line?
According to one of the most respected offensive line analysts in the business, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shouldn't be overly confident in the group that will be responsible for keeping Tom Brady out of harm's way this season.
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Brandon Thorn is the author of the Trench Warfare newsletter, an OL/DL analyst for Establish the Run, and the scouting coordinator of OL Masterminds. He's also one of the best when it comes to taking deep dives on offensive line units, and individual players – where he evaluates athleticism, power, technique, mentality, and a boatload of other attributes that separate the best from the rest. He's extremely thorough in his analysis, which is why his opinion of the Buccaneers' current group of offensive linemen may raise some eyebrows in Tampa.
Regarding the Bucs offensive line, Thorn ranked them as the 15th best unit in the league, and provided some of his rationale on Twitter.
"The Bucs OL was setup to have a top 5 caliber line again this season w/one big question at LG, but now have two after the Jensen injury. Losing the heart of the unit will be tough to overcome, but there is still a strong trio + excellent right side in place to build off of."
It's clear that Thorn sees the loss of several key players up front for the Bucs as potentially being more problematic than many of the fans in Tampa seem to be acknowledging.
"Tampa Bay is set to have three new starters on the interior of their line in Week 1 after the retirement of elite left guard Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen's brutal knee inury suffered in practice, and the addition of Shaq Mason via trade to replace Alex Cappa. Mason is actually an upgrade over Cappa, but the loss of Marpet will sting even more now that Jensen is out for the foreseeable future."
"Prior to Jensen's injury, this line was a Tier 2 lock, but now they will have to replace their leader and tone-setter with a second-year pro in Robert Hainsey. Hainsey was a really good player at Notre Dame coming into the draft, but he is making the transition to center from tackle with zero career starts. With a big downgrade at left guard and having a center that doesn't have the luxury of helping to mask that due to needing to find his own footing, we're probably looking at a solid unit at best this season barring an unexpected return from Jensen later in the year."
It's worth noting that Brandon Thorn has always been above consensus in terms of how he views Ryan Jensen. The same could be said for Bucs fans – I'm sure – but it's clear that Thorn believes the loss of Jensen could be extremely significant for this offensive line group – at least in terms of his own confidence in ranking them in comparison to the others around the league. And certainly more of a concern than what has been expressed by fans of the Buccaneers.
READ MORE: Russell Gage Leaves Practice with Injury
With zero NFL starts at center under his belt, there's no denying that Robert Hainsey is facing a big challenge in his second season as a pro. But if he is able to hold his own as an anchor in the middle of this offensive line, it will go a long way towards helping Tom Brady stay upright, and of course, his team win football games.
The same could be said for Aaron Stinnie or Luke Goedeke, whichever player manages to establish himself as the Buccaneers' starting left guard for week one.
Filling the shoes of an Ali Marpet or a Ryan Jensen is no small task. Filling the shoes of both players – simultaneously – is even more daunting.
But as Jason Licht has proven time and time again, he knows offensive line talent as well as anyone. His investments – through the draft and free agency – in players like Robert Hainsey, Luke Goedeke, and Aaron Stinnie – proves that he believes in their talent, too.
It will now be up to those players to show that they can not only live up to, but exceed the expectations that have been placed before them.
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