The Bucs have added several pieces on defense this offseason. Between safety Jordan Whitehead, defensive back Tykee Smith, cornerbacks Bryce Hall and Tavierre Thomas and outside linebackers Chris Braswell and Randy Gregory (maybe), head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles certainly has an upgraded defensive roster this year.

But whether Bowles can determine how to best deploy those resources will be the true, defining factor of how good the Bucs defense can be. And with that, here is my case for a seldom-used nickel package.

Bucs Should Deploy More 5-1-5 Nickel Packages

The 5-1-5 is a personnel package consisting of five defensive linemen/edge rushers, one off-ball linebacker and five defensive backs.

Bucs OLBs coach George Edwards and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs have an ideal roster construction to help execute this package, as it would enable them to keep their two best interior rushers on the field in Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey with three, rather than two outside linebackers adding to the defensive front.

This would ask one of Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Anthony Nelson or Yaya Diaby to kick inside as a four technique with their hand in the dirt.

The benefits of this type of formation against the run is that it is makes life more difficult for teams trying to run mid/wide or outside zone. With five defensive players on the line, offensive linemen cannot move to the second level as often or easily to create creases for running backs to move through. Against gap schemes that look to create double teams, it creates difficulty for opposing offenses because an extra man on the line takes away a blocker from helping create said double team.

The Bucs used a variation of this scheme to effectively dismantle the Eagles offense in the playoff victory. After Philadelphia ran for 201 yards in a 25-11 win at Tampa Bay in Week 3, Todd Bowles deployed a five-man front to hold the Eagles to just 42 yards rushing on 15 carries in the team’s 32-9 win.

Keys To Deploying A 5-1-5 Successfully

The way I see it, this package requires four things to make it work. And the Bucs would seem to have those keys.

1. A Strong Safety Who Can Play At A High Level In The Box

Former Bucs SS Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Most 5-1-5 packages are going to ask the strong safety to play up in the box. If a defense were to run with an extra man in the box and a two-high shell, they would leave just one defender at the second level. That would invite the run from the offense and if a single thing goes wrong on the line, it’s an automatic chunk run.

With the return of one of the best box safeties in the NFL in Whitehead, Bowles and the defense have the opportunity to take advantage of his excellent run defense and box skills with this scheme. Whitehead has graded as an above-average run defender by Pro Football Focus in three of his last four years.

2. An Elite Free Safety Who Can Operate In Single-High In The Modern NFL

See: Winfield Jr., Antoine.

3. Athletic And Versatile Edge Rushers Who Can Drop Into Coverage

Using a 5-1-5 front forces the offensive line to plan their protections for a five-man rush on every snap, but it doesn’t mean the defense will bring five every time. In order to operate this defense well, it requires edge rushers who can drop into coverage effectively on a semi-routine basis.

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

As I have discussed previously on the Pewter Report Podcast, the Bucs have perhaps the best coverage edge player in the NFL in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Yaya Diaby has the athleticism to drop into coverage as well. He looked fairly adept at it in his rookie year.

The 5-1-5 front won’t ask these players to become Cover-2 pole runners, but they have to feel comfortable spreading to flats and dropping to hooks. These are things these players are already asked to do. At the same time, both of those players, along with Anthony Nelson, have the versatility to occasionally come inside and rush against guards.

Bowles has spoken glowingly of Tryon-Shoyinka’s versatility, which would play right into what is needed for this front to succeed.

“Joe is very valuable for us – extremely valuable,” Bowles told Pewter Report. “He can do things – he’s the only one who can go across the board and play all of the positions on the defensive front and he can play the linebacker position.”

4. A Creative Defensive Mind To Optimize The Possibilities

If there is one thing Todd Bowles is, it is a pressure genius. His exotic blitz looks have been the stuff of legend around the NFL for over a decade now. The 5-1-5 front gives him an immediate leg up on the offense by forcing them to create blocking rules that set up immediate one-on-ones across the line and make it difficult for designed double teams to get executed.

Bowles can then take it to the next level by playing chess with how he lines up those pieces. Maybe he moves Calijah Kancey to the nose or one technique lined up over the top of an undersized center, while shading Vea to the three technique to the short side of the line. With a rushing edge from that same side, it ensures both Vea and Kancey get one-on-one rush opportunities.

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bowles can build on that creativity with a same-side package with all three outside linebackers, or rotating Logan Hall into advantageous looks. The options are nearly limitless for a creative mind like Bowles. All of this can be done with the Bucs still deploying five defensive backs to keep a strong answer to 11 personnel packages deployed by opposing offenses.

For almost two years now, I have privately been hoping for an increase in this unique defensive setup. Bowles actually used it in a convincing win against Philadelphia in the playoffs and to a degree against Detroit.

This is my official public call to action. It subs an additional rusher in for a limited coverage player in K.J. Britt. It creates more advantageous matchups for the elite players on the team and creates difficult numbers propositions for offensive coordinators.

It’s my hope we see more of these in 2024.