Donovan Smith Running (Sort Of)
December 11th, 2019
Rehabbing.
Joe has a saying that regular readers here are likely tired of reading.
When fans scream to get rid of a starter who isn’t exactly horse manure, Joe always cautions to be careful what you wish for.
Donovan Smith is the latest example. For reasons unclear, Smith may be the most hated Bucs player outside of Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. Joe believes Smith was slandered by the PFF tribe before he was even drafted and therefore branded. As a result, fans cannot tee off enough on him.
Well, Smith, who has never missed a start in his NFL career, totaling 77 games, got hurt Sunday and gutted out the rest of the game.
Smith missed a total of five plays and it was ugly. Safe to say Smith being on the sidelines is not a goal of the Bucs if the team wants to win, or if it wants to keep Jameis from being maimed.
Bruce Arians confirmed Smith had both an ankle injury and a knee injury. Will he keep his NFL starting streak in tact Sunday?
Arians is hopeful, in part, because Smith is able to run. In water, so he said today.
“He ran in the pool so hopefully we can see him sometime before Friday,” Arians said of Smith.
If Smith cannot go, Joe sure hopes Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has a backup gameplan that often calls for Jameis to roll out. Otherwise, Jameis may not be standing by the time the game is finished.
December 11th, 2019 at 6:16 pm
Smith will start……at least.
December 11th, 2019 at 6:42 pm
I don’t hate Donovan or Jameis and it would take a total dirt bag to hate another human over a game. 😀 I think that Donovan is vastly overpaid, but it was downright frightening when he left the game. The famous Raheem quote applies to both these dudes.
December 11th, 2019 at 6:55 pm
@Buczilla
I guess there are a lot of dirtbags around these parts.
December 11th, 2019 at 6:55 pm
I don’t care if he’s never missed a start. He’s still a fat lazy ass who takes to many plays off. And way overpaid.
December 11th, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Smith goes down and is pulled out in the Colts game.
The backup ends up giving up sacks on the first few plays.
But Smith still sucks guys, amirite?
December 11th, 2019 at 7:29 pm
Buczilla; DI– you’re in no need of repair.
Tom — May I suggest a brain transplant? Not only did you echo DI’s sentiment, you did so with the obnoxious, cruel vigor of those that think intelligence is overrated. I can recommend a brain surgeon if you have the remaining cranial capacity to discern that the the operation is warranted. Let me know. As my name infers, I’m here to help …
December 11th, 2019 at 7:53 pm
He’s ok. But his body language gives the impression he sucks. And then you see how he gets pancaked. I mean the one play he gets beaten badly is usually a fumble on Winston.
He got beaten pretty bad by Houston.
December 11th, 2019 at 7:55 pm
I guess he’s better than the backup but underperforming as a starter idk. He holds down barely. Maybe he’s young.
December 11th, 2019 at 7:58 pm
Nobody hates Donovan Smith.
But how many Bucs fans are glad that “our” LT is the 5th highest paid LT in the league?
Exactly NONE!
Because Smith’s play through 5 years now shows he is pretty consistently about the 20th best LT in the league. Maybe 15th best on a good day. Players in that range make $6-9M per season. Smith makes $13.5M.
That’s the problem. Paying a top 5 salary at such a crucial and expensive position – in exchange for average-ish (minus) performance is bound to create some discontent toward the holder of that position among the fan base. But hey – at least he’s always out there….. Right?
Bucs need to draft the best OT they can get their hands on in the 1st Rd next draft and hope he can develop well enough to take that LT spot within a year or 2 so we can quit over paying Smith for sub-par run blocking and at least 1 or 2 “Ole’s” per game off Winston’s blind side…
December 11th, 2019 at 8:48 pm
Don’t knock hatred…. it’s the only emotion most people don’t fake….
December 11th, 2019 at 8:49 pm
So dumb. Dude is going to blow his knee out, tear a ligament in his knee for some worthless game and will miss all of training camp next year. Then we will be without our franchise LT to start the season. Shut the top tier talent on this team down, for Christ’s sake.
December 11th, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Donovan smith is the Peyton Barber of NFL starters.
His body language is uninspiring. Even if you tried to root for him because he just gives up on plays. Even my wife ask why does he just stop all the time and she has no football IQ.
December 11th, 2019 at 8:54 pm
Pickgrin when D.Smith signed he was set to be a unrestricted free agent. 26 year old dependable, quality(sorry but he is) free agent left tackles are very rare to find….and when they hit the market they get paid. He got a fair deal for his value & not a whole heck of a lot guaranteed in comparison to many others(that matters).
You’re comparing his salary to others who probably never sniffed free agency and working under contract extensions…That’s not the same business. Sounds like your comparing D.Smith to rookie contracts too since your coming up with some 6-9M figure.
December 11th, 2019 at 9:16 pm
Jimmy Jack
Other nfl players (cam Jordan) made Smith looked bad by posting his contract extension on Twitter recruiting others saying “look it here, come eat” easy meal crap. That’s all you need to know about Smith.
December 11th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
Geez some of y’all are just angry. So angry to hate on one that you don’t even know an just judge them of their play in a game. Life is bigger than that an y’all should be too
December 11th, 2019 at 9:39 pm
Personally I have no issue with Donovan Smith, he’s a middle of the road LT and if the Bucs offense didn’t depend on 5-7 step drops on 85% of the pass plays he’d probably be graded higher by PFF and other sites.
Question though, is it ok to “hate” Jameis because of his poor history of treating women or does it make me a dirtbag?
December 11th, 2019 at 9:59 pm
By the way, I am not a hater. I just agree with Raheem who will tolerate him until we can replace him. He is what he is, not a turnstile and not a HOF’er. He’s stopped top tier DEs and got beat badly other times. We have bigger problems than LT.
December 12th, 2019 at 12:07 am
Draft your next legit left tackle on his rookie contract in 2020’s first round. There are a couple. Move Donovan to the right side, where he can get some help. By the time the rookie’s second contract is due, D Smith will be on the wrong side of 30 and will re-structure down. And let’s get Jameis to unload off his third step of the drop, and not sit back there and wait for the breakdown and the pressure and duress to come to him.
December 12th, 2019 at 3:17 am
They hate all LTs.
They hated Donald Penn, too
December 12th, 2019 at 4:20 am
There’s no reason for Josh Wells to see the field. He was atrocious last Sunday and was the reason for the sole sack.
December 12th, 2019 at 7:41 am
Do the right thing. We made a huge investment in the guy. Don’t waste an Active on him just to get him 1 drive
December 12th, 2019 at 7:52 am
Sometimes I wonder if we could draft a true stud LT and move Smith to the right side to replace Dotson. We then would have a solid back up LT and pretty decent RT all in one….assuming he could make that transition. Marpet moved from RG to C to LG….I want to believe Smith can go from LT to RT.
December 12th, 2019 at 9:36 am
Capt. Tim Says:
December 12th, 2019 at 3:17 am
They hate all LTs.
They hated Donald Penn, too
donald penn ruled…. only person who hated donald was bad charcter lovie smith and the family plan… donald was too much of a man with his own opinions to play for a dungy the clown disciple…
December 12th, 2019 at 11:12 am
if you are going to move smith it seems the better move would be to left guard instead of right tackle. by his own admission (granted before his 2nd contract – lt get paid better than rt) he claimed he can’t move right as well as he moves left.
if this is actually true then he is suited to lg better than rg. also he will not need to move so far left to protect rushes from the outside as a guard. coming out of college he was forcast as a guard. now that he has his second contract he may not balk at moving inside. marpet to rg;cappa to rt.
i don’t follow college but another issue is it easier to find a lt, rt, or rg may come into play. marpet’s abilities opens many possibilities.
December 12th, 2019 at 6:17 pm
Jim, I’ve been calling for us to move him to the right for 3 years. You may be right though, move him to LG and move Ali back to RG where he played at nearly a Pro Bowl level. Then our geniuses moved him to center and wasted a year of his development. Draft LT and draft another RT, get RB in 3rd and go all D unless a C falls to you late. JMO