Bucs Film Room: Leverett Has Earned LG Role

Here Leverett attempts a punch, but it gets fought off by Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike as he tries to cross Leverett’s face. But watch as the Bucs offensive lineman re-engages. Leverett is able to get his hands into Madubuike’s chest as he opens his hips to the inside to regain leverage. This gives him the opportunity to reset and regain inside positioning. With each twist of his hips or step he makes, his hands move in concert, so he doesn’t get out over his toes.

Here is a comparable rep for Goedeke to show the difference.

You can see Goedeke’s movements are more purposeful and deliberate. Because of that his lower half is slow to move forward with his upper half. This allows the Falcons Ta’Quon Graham to move to the Bucs rookie’s outside and throw him to the side. Because Goedeke’s upper and lower halves are not in sync he can’t adjust to the outside move. He’s still in the process of making his first lower half movement. This is the difference between someone using their two halves together and someone with disjointed movement because he is still thinking step-by-step what he has to do and then is doing those steps deliberately.

Re-Anchoring

Leverett is not a physical freak. He doesn’t have un-Godly tools. This is no more apparent than when you watch him try to drop his anchor and handle a bull rush. He just doesn’t have the lower body strength to dig in and create a hard stop for the defender. But he doesn’t have to be to be overly successful. Leverett has learned how to survive with a lighter anchor.

Here Leverett has to take a bull rush from No. 94 Isaiah Mack. Mack, like Leverett, is an undrafted free agent who has bounced around the league on several teams since entering the league in 2019. He was a practice squad call up for the Ravens last Thursday. Again, not the greatest tools. So, when you see him use a bull rush to move Leverett back it should really drive home the lack of anchor for Lev. However, what Leverett lacks in the physical strength department he makes up for in technique.

It’s really quite a sight to see how Leverett is able to constantly reset his feet over and over, never letting Mack overpower or move laterally. Yes, Leverett is moved backwards, but he controls and slows the process to where Mack never actually gets pressure and Bucs quarterback Tom Brady has plenty of time to get the ball out.

Use of Hands/Grip Strength

One of my favorite things in watching Leverett’s tape is just how consistent he is with his initial stab/punch as well as his ability to maintain his grip once he lands his blows on defenders. The consistency in technique is a testament to his investment in his development and his craft.

Here the Leverett is working against former Bucs pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul. You can see Pierre-Paul attempts to use a powerful club to move Leverett to the side. But JPP is unsuccessful. Why? Leverett gets clamps on Pierre-Paul’s chest. And usually when that happens, he isn’t letting go. You can see Leverett keeps that grip until he is sure the ball has been thrown. The hand placement is phenomenal, always inside which means he will be unlikely to draw a holding call. Great rep.

Playing In Space

While Leverett isn’t the best athlete, he can still contribute in space. Like on this screen pass.

Leverett helps to spark this 8-yard gain for Chris Godwin by clearing the road for him just after the catch. He engages one Ravens defender, shoves him aside and then pancakes another. The Bucs guard isn’t speedy, but he knows his assignment and commits to it without any hesitation. You see this when he climbs to the second level on run plays as well.

Contributions To The Run Game

Speaking of the run game, while he will never be Shaq Mason, firing off with lightning-quick reflexes. Yet Leverett is no slouch here either. Again, it comes down to him knowing his assignment and committing with good technique and without hesitation. Take a look at him pulling through the right side “B” gap to take on Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen.

Leverett is able to quickly pull through the use of good footwork on the shuffle. He then finds the gap he needs to pull through, locates Queen and gets a hat on him. He doesn’t blow Queen up or push him 15 yards downfield like Ravens rookie center Tyler Linderbaum did to Bucs inside linebacker Devin White. You can see Queen actually does a decent job of initially stacking the Bucs guard. But Leverett doesn’t quit, continuing to drive his legs until he eventually gets Queen to move.

Another great example is in this third-and-short. This has been an area the Bucs have struggled in mightily this season. But watch on this rep how the team runs behind Leverett and how he gives the necessary room for running back Rachaad White to pick up the first down.

After successfully working the double team block with left tackle Donovan Smith, Smith attempts to move to the second level to take out Queen. This leaves Leverett to finish on Madubuike. He is successful because of the aforementioned grip strength. He just won’t let go of Madubuike’s chest and continues to drive him inside. This allows White to bounce the run to Leverett’s outside and up field for the first down. Leverett was able to use Madubuike’s weight against him once he fell off balance.

Leverett Is The Man For The Job This Year

While many may have already written Goedeke off as a bust who will never amount to anything in the NFL that simply isn’t true. Offensive linemen are notoriously bad in their rookie years. The things that NFL offenses ask of linemen are just so different from what they are asked in college the transition is quite the daunting task.

For Goedeke the ask is amplified exponentially by the additional complicating matters of the level-jump in competition (moving from a MAC school to pro-ball is like leveling up times three). And moving from the right side of the line, where he played in college, to the left, and moving from tackle to guard – that’s the tallest of asks.

Over the past few years NFL fans have become spoiled in their expectations of rookie offensive linemen due to the play of guys like Tristan Wirfs and Rashawn Slater, but the reality is most rookies struggle. And Goedeke has struggled the most.

Due to his second-round draft status and the injury to Ryan Jensen he was thrown into the fire early and got burned. But with the excellent play of Leverett there is no need to continue to let the Bucs rookie get burned.

Robert Hainsey was given a redshirt season of sorts last year to make similar transitions and he has come out of it looking like a quality center this year. Goedeke may still have that in him next year. But for 2022? The answer is clear. Leverett needs to be the Bucs starting left guard go-forward. Even after Goedeke is healed from his injury.