Positives From Preseason Game 3

Tampa put on a show in the 30 to 13 win over the Cleveland Browns and both sides of the ball showed great signs of how good they can be. Here are a list of the positives to take away from it all.

Offensive Line:

Many bucs fans seemed to be worried about the oline as if they weren't one of the strengths of this team and without question they proved it yesterday. Even without offseason acquisition J.R. Sweezy, Ali Marpet and Kevin Pamphile the offensive line had their way with the Browns Dline. One lineman in particular that stood out was fill in guard Josh Allen as he was mauling guys on every play and no doubt showed his value to coaches as well as showing the depth of the Oline. Winston consistently had time to make throws and work through his progressions, evident by the multiple down the field throws.

Defensive Line:

The Dline line looked terrific. The overall speed across the line is amazing. McCoy and Ayers looked like the veterans they are and consistently pushed the pocket. Jack Smith and Noah Spence when in together were flying around the corners drawing RG3 in to McCoy and company. The Dline accounted for 7 of the 8 sacks on the night and always seemed to rush the throws. Most of the sacks came on 4 man rushes which brings back signs of the bucs great Dlines of the past. Can't forget to mention William Gholston and Howard Jones who both got sacks yesterday and continue to make plays.

Special Teams:

Robert Aguayo! He was no doubt the biggest question mark of the preseason. Everyone thought his confidence was shot and that he was a waste of a second round pick. Well he proved that he can make kicks going 6 for 6, 3 Field goals of 48, 21 and 27 yards and 3 extra points. Its only one preseason game but going 100% is movement in the right direction, especially when the first kick was the deep 48 yard kick after having to face all the scrutiny all week. Aguayo is no doubt the bucs kicker and the more kicks he gets the better. Also the punt return team looked great. Adam Humphries had a 73 yard return for a touchdown but it was mainly from key blocks from guys like starting CB Verner and Rookie Noah Spence.

No huddle Offense:

Pretty much the entire first half the bucs were in a no huddle offense. Winston took total control of the offense and made plenty of nice reads to dismantle the Browns defense. Yes, there weren't many rushing plays but there often isn't going to many during a 2 minute no huddle offense. Winston came out of the game with 259 yards and 2 touchdowns in one half. Beautiful numbers which were mostly run in the no huddle offense and best of all, NO interceptions.

Winston/Evans Connection:

Winston and Evans look as if they are both ready for week one. Evans seems to have found his hands again as he caught everything that touched his fingers. They hooked up on many timing throws and plenty trust throws where Evans is just bigger than the corner and Winston is throwing it up exception Evans to win the battle. Evans came out with 5 catches for 115 yards and 1, 37 yard touchdown that was a thing of beauty. They are primed for one productive season.

These are good signs but again it is preseason and can't get too high as there is more work to be done. The main thing is the team will be full strength for the most part to start the regular season which is 2 weeks away.

Good Test For the Defense This Week

The Bucs defense has been solid so far in their two preseason games but not perfect as their redzone D needs some work as they have allowed 3 Tds in 3 attempts. This week they go against a good test in the Cleveland Browns who have athleticism across the board at their skilled positions. Starting with the Qb in Robert Griffin who has a big arm and is dangerous on the run, so it will be interesting to see if the Bucs front four can harass him and make him make mistakes. The Browns have plenty of speed with Corey Coleman, Josh Gordon, and Andrew Hawkins. Then they have versatile guys in running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson along with a reliable tight end in Gary Barnidge.

With the defense playing at least the first half we should see a good preview of what this defense is going to bring this season. The Bucs are very athletic on defense and should match up well with the Browns athleticism on offense. Hopefully we can see the pass rush return and play like it did against the Eagles. The secondary was pretty good last week so hopefully they can put a complete game together in which the rush and coverage play well. The Browns will run some spread option along with some zone read with RG3 which will be good for the defense to see as the Panthers do similar things in their offense.

The key matchup I will be watching is Noah Spence against pro bowl left tackle Joe Thomas which will be good work for the rookie. Another matchup will be Hargreaves vs Corey Coleman which will be a great battle of two superior athletes. The main things to watch though is can the defense get off the field on third down and make some stops in the redzone because that will be key in the regular season. Tomorrow will provide some answers but most of all it will be a good matchup and test against the Browns.

Look For 3 Quarterbacks to go in the Top Ten

In these past two weeks, we have seen two big trades by the Rams and Eagles as they both moved up to the top two spots in the draft to select their franchise quarterbacks. The Titans and Browns went the opposite direction as they decided to load up on draft picks, hoping they can solve multiple holes on their teams respectively. With Jared Goff and Carson Wentz expected to go to the Rams and Eagles, could there be a third quarterback to go in the top ten? The answer is yes as the Browns have real interest in Memphis Qb Paxton Lynch and could take him with the 8th overall pick.

The #Browns had a predraft visit with #Memphis QB Paxton Lynch on March 28. With pick No. 8, he'll be under consideration there.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2016

Browns need a quarterback and if Paxton Lynch is their guy why not trade down to acquire extra picks and still get the guy you think can make your franchise a winner. If three quarterbacks go in the top ten, that will just help the Bucs land a player like a Joey Bosa, Myles Jack, or Ronnie Stanley. Lets hope this happens as the Bucs could use a impact defender like  Joey Bosa or Myles Jack at 9th overall. It's officially draft week as it's only 4 days away and be prepared for more rumors coming in the next 72 hours.

#Browns Hue Jackson with Paxton Lynch at @leighsteinberg party. #Browns could still grab a QB later in the draft. pic.twitter.com/69fg2vTDDo

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) April 20, 2016

Bucs Targeting Mitchell Schwartz

Even though the Bucs offensive line was much improved last year, it looks like the Bucs have their mindset on making the line even stronger. Last year the unit did a good job in protecting Jameis as they were 4th in fewest sacks allowed with 27. However, Jameis was still getting hit a lot as the line struggled with consistency. With free agency starting today, it looks like the Bucs want to add one of the premier free agent offensive lineman in Browns right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.  According to cleveland.com and per Mary Kay Cabot, the Bucs are showing interest in the big right tackle.

#Browns RT Mitchell Schwartz has interest from #Bucs, #Giants, #Vikings #Falcons, source to https://t.co/o11vJSOExu https://t.co/FMyia764p4

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 7, 2016

Schwartz, 26 has been a everyday starter for the Browns since he entered the league in 2012. Schwartz has gotten better every year and was one of the better right tackles in the league this past year. At 6'5 320, he has the power in the run game, but enough athleticism to contend with the edge rushers as well. Schwartz has a connection with the Bucs in offensive line coach George Warhop who coached Schwartz in his first two seasons with the Browns. Adding Schwartz would be a solid upgrade at right tackle and would create a strength on the right side of the line in Ali Marpet and Schwartz.

The Rise of John Spytek

John Spytek realized early on during his Michgan playing days that he wasn't going to play at the next level. So he started scouting the guys around him as a hobby not knowing that it would turn into his future profession. After finishing his college career in 2002, He would join the Detroit Lions as a football operations intern, where he would learn the ropes there for a year before joining the Eagles working his way up the ladder to pro/college scout in 2007. Spytek would be in that role for three years in which he grew as scout in which he wrote reports on 200 NFL players and 250 college players per year.

In 2010, Spytek was hired by the Cleveland Browns, becoming their director of college scouting where he would truly show his high football IQ and talent as a player evaluator.  It was a quick transition, but Spytek adjusted very nicely. Here is Spytek on the 2010 draft: per cantonrep.com

 “It was challenging, no doubt,” Spytek said, “especially making the move and all the things that come with relocating. All of a sudden I was in this new role where I had to have an opinion on all the top guys.

 “But we all work together so well. We knew it was a huge draft for us. It was a little bit hurried. We couldn’t put in place maybe everything we wanted to but ... I think we did a good job touching on the things that were important.

Spytek helped the Browns get impact players in Joe Haden, Tj Ward, and Shawn Lauvao and would only improve in his next draft. In 2011, the Browns got key players in Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard, Jordan Cameron, and Buster Skrine. Spytek added solid talent for the Browns and was quickly becoming a popular name around the league. In 2013, he would join the Broncos becoming an area scout before being national scout in 2014. At age 35, Spytek has climbed up the ladder very quickly and is now the director of player personnel for the Bucs, in which he will be the right hand man for Jason Licht. This guy is a true football scout and just loves football, here is a quote on him talking about Tom Heckert and how they find value in the middle rounds: per cantonrep.com

 “This business is just identifying players. Tom has proven to be very good at it. You can either watch players or identify players or you can’t. You can learn and get a little bit better, but if you can’t do it, you can’t do it.

 “I mean, it’s easy to put in film on Luck and Griffin and say, these guys are really good. It’s not as easy to continually make really good second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks.

I think the Bucs found a young smart mind in John Spytek, another good pickup by Jason Licht.