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Pro Football Focus: The Earth is a cold, dark place and the Buccaneers are really, really bad

The website isn't high on the revamped offensive line and thinks even less of the roster as a whole.
 
Published July 13, 2018|Updated July 13, 2018

So training camp is less than two weeks away, and you're beginning to feel hopeful. Why not the Buccaneers, right?

To which Pro Football Focus might respond, "We'll tell you why not."

The analysts at the website are not high on the revamped offensive line and think even less of the roster as a whole.

Despite the offseason addition of center Ryan Jensen, the Bucs' unit ranks 22nd in PFF's preseason offensive line rankings. That's seven spots lower than it ranked at the end of last season.

Here's PFF's explanation:

"The signing of Ryan Jensen could pay big dividends for Tampa Bay as it not only adds a quality starter to the lineup (Jensen earned a 74.9 overall grade last year), but it also moves Ali Marpet back to his more natural guard position where he had a career year in 2016. The issue here is still left tackle Donovan Smith. Last season was the first in which he didn't allow 50-plus pressures and yet was still below average by allowing 42."

PFF has been critical of Smith since his rookie season in 2015. PFF ranked him 73rd out of 76 qualifying offensive tackles in 2015, 70th out of 76 in 2016 and 73rd out of 83 last season.

As for the overall roster, PFF recently ranked it as the sixth worst in the NFL. Only the Giants, Jets, Colts, Texans and Browns were ranked lower.

In PFF's view, only two players — Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David — earned "elite" grades last season. Of the other 20 projected starters, seven earned "good/high quality" grades (Jameis Winston, Cameron Brate, Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Demar Dotson, Vinny Curry and Brent Grimes).

The team's biggest strength, according to PFF, is McCoy.

"Gerald McCoy continued to be a one-man wrecking crew on the Buccaneers' defensive front and ended 2017 with 47 quarterback pressures, the 10th most among all interior defensive linemen. McCoy now has six straight seasons of 40 or more pressures, which is tied for the longest active streak in the league among interior defenders."

Its biggest weakness? Once again, PFF hammered Smith.

"On an offensive line that has one of the better right tackles in the league in Demar Dotson, the left tackle spot is a relatively weak link for Tampa Bay. Donovan Smith ended the 2017 campaign with a 51.9 grade after he allowed a whopping 42 quarterback pressures in 658 pass-blocking snaps."

The Falcons have the highest-ranked roster in the NFC South, followed by the Saints and the Panthers. The Super Bowl champion Eagles have the highest-ranked roster in the NFL.

Dismiss the rankings if you'd like, but consider Red's advice to Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption:

"Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."

Contact Thomas Bassinger at tbassinger@tampabay.com. Follow @tometrics.