Bucs rookie DL Elijah Roberts.
Bucs’ fifth-round pick, Elijah Roberts, a defensive lineman out of SMU by way of Miami, is currently working as a down lineman, though he can play on the edge as well.
He’s built like Will Gholston so Joe figures, given how Gholston is getting a bit long in the tooth, that the Bucs may be looking at Roberts as Logan Hall’s backup.
There are a couple of mysteries with Bucs coaches this fall. First is, of course, new Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. He’s never been an offensive coordinator before, so the book on him is fully blank.
The Bucs lost a key coach on the defensive side, too. Kacy Rodgers bolted for the same position at Detroit. That just seemed odd to Joe, like Rodgers thought his job wasn’t secure here.
Rodgers is a long-time Bowles soldier. And if you don’t care about sacks, Rodgers did a helluva job with the Bucs’ defensive line when it came to run blocking.
Joe has a bad feeling the Bucs will miss him. To replace Rodgers, the Bucs hired former USF, Texas and Louisville coach Charlie Strong.
The long-time college coach has a very limited NFL resume. He coached for Urban Meyer one year in Jacksonville. Joe wouldn’t blame Strong if that one season vanished from his resume.
So who knows what the well-traveled Strong will do coaching up or attempting to coach up men in the NFL?
Initially, Roberts thought Strong will be alright. Why does he say that? Because Strong was Roberts’ assistant defensive coordinator for one season in Miami.
> “He’s like one of the cool coaches here for sure,” Roberts said of Strong. “He knows how to teach us. He knows how to reach us. He’s been great. He kind of gives you that college feel a little bit. Kind of joking but serious at the same time.
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> “Coach Strong is a cool guy as it is. He likes to play around a little bit, but he likes to work as well.”
Roberts didn’t go into any further detail about Strong, other than to say several Bucs defenders have crossed paths with Strong on the college level.
It is not like Strong doesn’t have talent to work with. So if he can keep the Bucs’ defensive linemen engaged, there shouldn’t be a drop off.
Joe was a big fan of Rodgers, at least when he was just focused on stopping the run. He once openly admitted he didn’t care about sacks. Joe is still triggered by this.