To say that the Bucs defense failed to stop the run would not be true. Todd Bowles’ unit did have moments where opponents found little to no daylight on the ground. But to say they took a huge step back and did not meet expectations in 2022 would be accurate. The Bucs used to shut down opponents’ ground game in year priors, forcing teams to abandoned it altogether.

Last season, teams saw a crack in the armor of the Bucs’ once-impenetrable run stopping force and took advantage of it. That’s why this season the Bucs are focusing on getting back to stopping the run and becoming a Top 5 defense again. It’s no surprise that turnovers were down last season when teams averaged 121.1 yards per game on the ground against the Bucs and a healthy 4.5 yards per attempt. Those were the worst numbers as a unit in the four years that Bowles has been calling defensive plays.

Bucs Plan On Being “Dominant” Stopping The Run Again

“We want to establish back being a dominant run defense again,” Bucs inside linebacker Devin White said. “When we first got here we were always a dominant run defense. I think last year we slacked off tremendously and I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve been focusing on. Obviously we slacked off, the back-end got better so we need to catch back up to them to be a complete defense.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

In 2019 and their Super Bowl-winning 2020 season, the Bucs allowed just 73.8 yards per game and 82.7 yards per game, which were best in the league. In those years opponents gained just 3.3 yards and 3.6 yards per attempt, respectively.

Even in 2021 the yards per game climbed up to 91.6 yards and the yards per attempt rose to 4.3 yards, but those numbers were still third-best in the league. The 2022 season was a different story, ranking Tampa Bay 15th in the league and seeing their biggest increase in yards allowed.

Of course there are a number of reasons of why there was a drop-off last season. The Bucs had previously deployed defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to line up next to Vita Vea, which made it very difficult to run through the middle of them. Tampa Bay also had strong safety Jordan Whitehead, who was great in the box and making tackles in the running game.

Those two players were not on the 2022 team, as Suh played the free agency market for quite a while and then signed with Eagles during the season, while Whitehead got a multi-year contract with the Jets. The Bucs tried to replace Suh by signing Akiem Hicks and drafting Logan Hall, but Hicks missed six games due to injury and didn’t contribute as much as expected, while Hall saw the field sparingly as a rookie. At safety, the Bucs brought in two veterans in Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal. Ryan was solid overall but was out for eight games. Neal had similar traits to that of Whitehead, but didn’t make the same impact on defense.

Improvements Made To Limit The Yards On The Ground

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo By: Cliff Welch P/R

This season the Bucs have taken measures to stop the run with better play up front and in the secondary in run support. They drafted defensive tackle Calijah Kancey in the first round and signed Greg Gaines, who was roommates with Vea at the University of Washington. Kancey is undersized, but incredibly fast and explosive. He has the ability to disrupt run-blocking schemes with backfield penetration and stopping the run before it starts with tackles for loss.

At safety, the Bucs signed the versatile Ryan Neal. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded safety last year and can be used in the box to stuff the run in addition to pass coverage. Tampa Bay also has a great unit of young safeties lobbying to make the roster, including Nolan Turner, Chris Izien, Kaevon Merriweather and Kedrick Whitehead Jr.

An addition was also made at inside linebacker with SirVocea Dennis, a fifth-round draft pick, though Lavonte David and Devin White will be the starters with stopping the run at the forefront of their approach to defense this year. David has made it a personal goal to right the ship in an area where the Bucs had thrived before.

“I just want to get back to our run-stopping defense,” David said. “I feel like that will take care of everything else. Last year we dropped off significantly. That’s not like us, so we definitely made an emphasis on that – getting back to the habit, that mentality of stopping the run. Just having everybody flying to the football, being an aggressive defense that we know how to be.”