Give The Job To Nick Leverett
November 13th, 2022
The competition is over. At least it is at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters.
You had bad luck, Aaron Stinnie.
Luke Goedeke, you had your chance, struggled a bit and got hurt.
Nick Leverett, you’ve earned your wings as the Bucs’ starting left guard.
Leverett, a first-time starter three games ago has been physical, energetic, not prone to bad penalties, and Tom Brady is sure starting to look comfortable again in the pocket.
As Joe noted earlier, Brady was hit just once today by the Seahawks. Once!
Joe has heard over and over and over again through the years about how important continuity is on an offensive line. If that’s not a pile of BS, then Joe thinks Leverett has won the left guard gig for the rest of the season.
And it’s not like Leverett is a journeyman rookie filling in nicely. He’s a 25-year-old undrafted free agent out of Rice University. Leverett’s trajectory through the rest of the season should be a big positive. He looked good in his one game against Indianapolis last season and that clearly was no fluke.
Leverett isn’t going to the Pro Bowl, but he’s not entering the Bucs’ Hall of Shame anytime soon, either.
Retired Bucs left guard Ali Marpet told fans there was something uniquely special about Leverett’s first start a few weeks ago against the Ravens. He was right.
November 13th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Agreed! He showed great leadership!
November 13th, 2022 at 2:15 pm
So far so good!
November 13th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Agreed!
Don’t be stupid, Leftwich and Bowles.
November 13th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
Crazy how teams can put up 21 before halftime in their sleep yet this offense it’s a struggle. Bucs offense still not there yet .
November 13th, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Not even a question he’s out played luke clearly!! Can tell even in Brady he felt comfortable today even stepped up in the pocket a few times instead of getting rid of it
November 13th, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Bowles, BL and Licht grabbed 3 stars in the draft: Camarada, Leveritt and Otton. Not too shabby.
November 13th, 2022 at 2:40 pm
The protection was pretty good today.
Occasionally, the run blocking was pretty good too.
November 13th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
Even Brady seemed more elusive today.
November 13th, 2022 at 2:47 pm
No argument here. Start Nick and cross-train another backup center like Molchon of he isn’t already.
November 13th, 2022 at 3:05 pm
NL60 looks good. Maybe his fire is warming Durable Donnie’s azz.
November 13th, 2022 at 3:23 pm
It’s good to hear. I do believe Goedeke will become a player, but maybe not until next year. If that happens we’ve got some depth.
November 13th, 2022 at 3:56 pm
LOL!
I don’t care either way, but it’s ridiculous that people think this kid is the reason the running game worked for half the game today.
November 13th, 2022 at 5:21 pm
Let Leverett start and feed some chocolate and coffee to our boi Donovan so he plays good. If Brady can get comfortable, receivers keep running good routes and White gets us some angry runs, we can do some real damage.
November 13th, 2022 at 6:15 pm
Amen!
November 13th, 2022 at 6:44 pm
Absolutely. Good thing he is a much better guard than he was a tackle!
November 13th, 2022 at 7:18 pm
Since I’m not privvy to blocking grades from the team, all I can comment about Leverett is that ever since he started, the O-line has played much better. When you change 1 out of 5 parts and it makes all 5 parts look better, you know that 1 change was the catalyst.
Such a good game! Lots to build on going forward.
GO BUCS!!!
November 13th, 2022 at 8:46 pm
I really didn’t get the whole Goedeke experiment. To me it just demonstrated that the coaching was clueless. Goedeke looked lousy during the preseason, and frankly the preseason was his highlight reel. Once the games started he was a human turnstile, lacking the strength and technique to be an adequate interior lineman. They gave the position to him because of draft status, not because he actually earned it.
I’m not ready to sing praises on Leverett, but so far he looks like an upgrade over the incompetent Goedeke.
November 13th, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Everything went so well today (full strength defense; no dumb penalties & turnovers) that “the things that can easily be improve upon” came easily to mind: going into “protect the lead” mode way, way too early & yup, slip-slidin’ “Sidelines Darden” is still punt returning on special teams.
Back to the good news:
105 yards for Rachaad!
November 13th, 2022 at 11:38 pm
Y, OrlBuc..you forgot about Rachaad. Licht did even better. :)I wish Darden good luck on another team, though.
November 14th, 2022 at 12:15 am
I have to agree Joe, Leverett has played well and he is starting to finish blocks. I saw a nice pancake block on a run play by Leverett. I like Ko Kieft in the game as well. He is a nasty blocker and the kind of guy who blocks through the whistle. He was definitely getting under the Seahawks skin as we was pushing some linebackers down the field.
November 14th, 2022 at 3:05 pm
Leverett looks the part. He’s got a guards body and he isn’t being bullied or pushed around. And he plays to the whistle. The dude has earned it