Hello and welcome to this new weekly, in-depth Bucs-oriented column called “Cover 3” that will appear weekly each Tuesday morning on PewterReport.com.

My name is Trevor Sikkema for those who might be reading my work for the first time. When I joined the PewterReport.com team, my goal was to find an aspect of the game of football or angle of covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that this platform isn’t doing yet, balance that with what fans seem to really like and be able to provide a combination of the two to you – the die-hard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. Thankfully for me, a few of those areas go hand-in-hand with some of the work that I’ve been doing over the last few years.

For about two or three years now I’ve been covering both college and NFL football for SB Nation and a few other platforms. My niche in the way I’ve covered teams and players has been less of the general information and more about asking the question, “why?”

Why has this team really struggled to run the ball consistently? Why has this defense had a hard time with passes over the middle? Why is this college prospect better than the other?

The desire to go beyond general statistics brought me to love being a film junkie – such a love allows me to go as deep into a subject, position, scheme and moment as much as I want to. So, for the past few years, whenever I found myself hearing or forming an opinion, I always came to ask the question “why?” That led me to dig deeper.

Bucs DE Will Gholston – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

That background is what brings us to the here and now – this column specifically. In each weekly “Cover 3” column I’m going to dive deeper into three areas of interest pertaining to the Buccaneers.

The first will be an advanced statistical or analytical finding that has some sort of significance to the Bucs called “Sikkema’s Stat of the Week”. Such a stat could be anything from how the team is doing overall, how a specific unit or player is performing, what schemes work, what areas of the team need upgrading and anything around or in between. The stats can also being draft-related, as you’ll see for most of in the coming months. Whatever it is, there’s a reason why numbers and stats are what they are. We’re going to find out what those reasons are, and how they should be analyzed.

The second is going to be a brand new segment I’m excited about starting called “All Twenty-Tuesday”. Since the column will be published every Tuesday, it’s a fun little play on words for breaking down film. Due to the time of year, the first batch of film reviews will be in-depth looks at possible draft selections for the Buccaneers, but once the 2017 season gets going, the segment will turn into more of a weekly breakdown from coaches and All-22 angles you won’t be able to see by just watching on the broadcast on Sundays.

The third segment is going to involve a little interaction from you all, we’re going to call it our “Read-Option.” Each week I’m going to give you a scenario. It could be anything from pairing one hypothetical draft haul against the other, giving a “this-or-that” scenario with possible free agent signings, roster moves, position battles or game plan preferences. Each choice will come with a little description, usually weighing pros and cons, but each Read-Option, will require some feedback and a decision from you guys. The more feedback I get, the better idea I’ll have about what you all are really thinking, which will, in turn, make for even better situations to propose and research for the weeks that follow.

So enough with the intro. Let’s get into some Cover 3!