“Graham, sure am glad you are back at center.”
Video games have warped all of our minds when it comes to football.
Many think it’s as easy as calling any simple play and it will be executed perfectly. Not so in real football. Often, all 11 guys on offense have to do everything right in order for a play to work.
Often that starts with who’s blocking.
And each week, with all the Bucs injuries on their offensive line, offensive line coach Kevin Carberry and Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard have had to do more than juggle bodies to come up with an effective gameplan.
Grizzard would like to throw deep. But not everyone on the line is talented enough to hold their blocks in order for receivers to get open deep and for Baker Mayfield to have the time to recognize and throw.
So what Carberry has to do weekly is figure out who is starting. Then, he and Grizzard have to figure out what each guy can and cannot do. For example, if a right guard isn’t great at run blocking, you sure as hell aren’t going to try to pound the ball behind the right guard (unless you are Byron Leftwich).
Likewise, if an offensive lineman is quick getting off the ball but not great at holding his block, Grizzard is likely to craft a gameplan with short passes.
Today at One Buc Palace, Carberry spoke about the constant juggling.
“Throughout the course of the day, throughout the course of the week, and certainly when we’re putting a plan together, [he and Grizzard study what players can and cannot do] at the run game, protection game, the screen game,” Carberry said. “We want to put the guys in the best positions to be successful and give them stuff they can handle.
“At times, we haven’t always done that. There have been times that, yeah, we’d like, as coaches, to have a play or two back. But like I said, we move on and learn from it. Move on and apply it to the rest of the game or the next gameplan.
“But the whole staff is in constant communication with one another in terms of putting the plan together, getting everybody on the same page, and getting the guys ready to play the best we can.”
And those injuries might be stunting the growth of the offense as a whole.
Joe thinks the offense improved once the left side of the line was stabilized. The Bucs have since run quite a bit to the left side, not just because Tristan Wirfs is over there, but again, the entire left side is stabilized.
Carberry and Grizzard have sure earned their keep this season.
If the Bucs offense can ring up 30 points on a good defense like the 49ers’ with all these injuries, imagine what it would be like if the Bucs’ offense could be healthy for three weeks in a row?