The Pewter Plank
FanSided

5 reasons to be pessimistic about the Buccaneers in 2019

By Cory Kinnan

CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 28: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks on the sideline during the fourth quarter after being benched in the third quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Tampa Bay 37-34. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 28: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks on the sideline during the fourth quarter after being benched in the third quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Tampa Bay 37-34. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 02: Ryan Jensen #66 hikes the ball to Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium on December 02, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 02: Ryan Jensen #66 hikes the ball to Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium on December 02, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

The blatant neglect of the offensive line

Where to begin here. The Buccaneers blatantly neglect of the offensive line showed itself in broad daylight against the Cleveland Browns in their latest preseason game. Winston was sacked five times in just one half of football as the likes of Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon, and Myles Garrett ate the Buccaneers’ offensive line alive.

After failing to run the ball a year ago with any success and surrendering a massive amount of pressure in the face of Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Buccaneers chose to add only journeymen veterans to the room and re-sign Donovan Smith who surrendered the most of those pressures. The Buccaneers now have the fourth-highest paid offensive line in all of football, and they are bottom in the league in production.

At any given point in the game against Cleveland, you can watch Smith, Demar Dotson, or Alex Cappa get tossed to the ground. The Buccaneers chose not to draft a single offensive lineman, and the only move made was justifiably moving Caleb Benenoch out of a starting role.

Are we to believe that the same offensive line is going to produce differently than they did a year ago? You know what they say, “the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results.”

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