Welcome to SR’s Fab 5 – my weekly insider column on the Bucs that features five things that are on my mind. SR’s Fab 5 is now a quicker read, but still packs a punch. Enjoy!

This week, I’ll list five hard truths about the Bucs defense that Tampa Bay fans need to hear heading into the 2023 season. In last week’s Friday’s SR’s Fab 5, I did the same with five hard truths about the Bucs offense.

FAB 1. Logan Hall Will Be A Work In Progress

In the NFL, the higher the draft pick, the higher the expectations. Bucs defensive tackle Logan Hall understands that full well. Hall, the Bucs’ first pick last year at the top of the second round, saw playing time as a reserve D-lineman as a rookie and recorded 2.5 sacks, six QB hits and 17 tackles. It was an underwhelming start to his Tampa Bay career, as Pro Football Focus noted with a woeful 35.3 season grade.

Bucs DT Logan Hall and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

At 280 pounds, Hall wasn’t ready to start and play full time last year. He needed to spend his rookie season learning Todd Bowles’ defense and getting bigger in the weight room. Hall accomplished both of those objectives this offseason and is now close to 300 pounds.

Despite Hall being named as a starter, he’s still very much a work in progress. Bucs fans need to understand that and let him play out his first year as a full-time starter before potentially throwing around the “bust” label.

“For him, it’s been scheme his first year,” Bowles said about Hall on Wednesday. “He’s starting this year. He’s come a long way in the spring, as far as understanding the scheme and the run game. You don’t have to teach him it now, he knows everything. We like where he’s at. He’ll be starting this year.”

Hall needs as many reps as he can get and has been the only starter on defense to see action so far in the preseason. Hall received a 55.8 PFF grade against the Steelers and a 49.1 grade against the Jets. Certainly nothing to write home about, especially since Hall didn’t record a tackle or any stat in either game. So it’s going to take some patience for Hall to develop after a quasi-redshirt season a year ago.

“You know, it’s night and day coming in as a rookie,” Hall said. “Todd’s defense is super complex. It’s a big change from what I came from [being] at [University of] Houston. By adjusting all that, as well as learning the opposing offense that week is really tough as a rookie. But, I’m much more comfortable with the scheme now and that allows me to play faster.”

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That’s what the Bucs want to hear, and all of the game reps he’s received in the preseason should accelerate his learning curve a bit heading into the season opener at Minnesota on Sept. 10. Now that the 6-foot-6, 300-pounder has the mental part of the game down, he needs to really bring the physicality.

“I would say as far as the pass game, diversity. I’m pretty good at some finesse stuff, but incorporating power more into my rushes, [and] giving the offense something else to look at,” Hall said when asked what he’s worked on during training camp. “In the run game, being better with my hands, you know, hand placement.”

Bowles is placing Hall into the starting lineup because he has the talent that made him a second-round draft pick, but also because experience is the greatest teacher. Hall will surely make some mistakes as a first-time starter. Just as long as he makes progress towards living up to his draft status as a result of learning from those mistakes.

FAB 2. Anything More Than 3 Sacks Will Be A Bonus For Calijah Kancey

It’s never good for any rookie to miss the preseason. Just ask cornerback Zyon McCollum, who injured his hamstring after the first preseason game last year and missed the final two exhibition games and the first couple of regular season games as a result.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bucs defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, the team’s first-round pick this year, will miss the entire preseason due to a calf strain he suffered early in training camp. That certainly will impede his progress and slow his development. Not only will Kancey miss all three preseason games, he missed all of the padded practices during training camp while resting and rehabbing his injured calf.

That means that the rookie’s first taste of NFL football in full pads will either come in one practice before the season opener against Minnesota on Sept. 10, or in that Week 1 game against the Vikings if Bowles decides to forego padded practices when Kancey is cleared to return. That’s far from ideal for anyone – much less an undersized 6-foot, 286-pound defensive tackle who has truly not faced an NFL double-team yet.

Kancey has the quickness to penetrate the backfield against the run and the pass and was drafted in the first round due to his ability to get to the quarterback. He registered 16 sacks in three seasons at Pittsburgh, including 14.5 the last two years.

But making the transition from college to the NFL can be quite challenging for defensive tackles. Kancey’s teammate, Logan Hall, led all NFL rookie defensive tackles in sacks last year with just 2.5. That was more sacks than either first-round pick Jordan Davis (none) and Devonte Wyatt (1.5) had combined.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: USA Today

The fact that the last three Pro Bowl defensive tackles in Tampa Bay – Warren Sapp, Gerald McCoy and Vita Vea – all produced just three sacks during their rookie seasons speaks volumes. While Kancey has been compared to fellow Pitt alum Aaron Donald, who is also an undersized yet fast defensive tackle, the nine-time Pro Bowler had nine sacks in his first season while winning the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. That’s the exception, not the rule.

If Kancey actually gets three sacks during his rookie season, it will put him on a Pro Bowl trajectory given what’s happened in the past with Sapp, McCoy and Vea. Anything more will be a bonus for Kancey and Tampa Bay, especially given the fact that his absence during the preseason will likely stymie his growth at the start of the season.

One thing Kancey’s quickness and penetration ability should do for the Bucs is increase opportunities for others. Nothing bothers a quarterback like pressure up the middle. So even if Kancey is just disruptive, his pressure up the middle could create more sacks for outside linebackers Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and perhaps some interceptions from quarterbacks getting rid of the ball too soon.

FAB 3. Bucs’ Starting Cornerbacks Just Aren’t Ballhawks

Bucs CB Carlton Davis III and Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has been preaching creating more takeaways this offseason, especially increasing the number of interceptions, which plummeted from 17 in 2021 to just 10 last year. He’s counting on his starting cornerbacks, Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean, to lead the charge. Both Davis and Dean have established themselves as two of the better cover corners in the league, and each makes at least $13 million per year on average.

The problem is that neither Davis nor Dean has great hands. Bucs fans just may have to accept that unless Davis or Dean can change our minds with a breakthrough season.

In five NFL seasons, Davis has just seven interceptions. He’s only recorded more than one interception in a season once, and that came in 2020 when he had a career-high of four. But given the fact that he’s had just one pick in each of the last two years makes that seem like a the exception and not the rule.

Dean has seven interceptions in four years, but no more than two in any given season. He got his two last year in Week 2 against Jameis Winston in New Orleans and then didn’t record another pick the rest of the year.

Bucs LB Lavonte David, OLB Shaq Barrett and CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

If there is a ray of hope for either Dean or Davis – or both – look no further than Bucs legend and Hall of Fame cornerback Ronde Barber. The Bucs’ all-time interceptor had just six INTs in his first four years in the league before recording an NFL-high 10 picks in 2001. That was Barber’s first season as Pro Bowler – his first of five in Tampa Bay. Barber got nearly one-fourth of his 47 career interceptions in that magical 2001 season.

The issue is that Barber had a track record of picking off passes in college, registering 15 interceptions in just three years at Virginia, while Dean and Davis didn’t. Dean had just two INTs in three years at Auburn, while Davis had four picks in three seasons at the same school. Three of Davis’ interceptions came during his freshman year, while a whopping eight of Barber’s INTs came during his freshman season.

That’s not to say that Davis nor Dean can’t improve their interception totals this year. Just don’t expect it to happen as neither has natural hands and will drop more passes than they pick off.

FAB 4. The Secondary Will Struggle If Injuries Hit

On paper, the Bucs have a very experienced and talented starting secondary. It could be the most talented Tampa Bay secondary since Hall of Famers John Lynch and Ronde Barber roamed the defensive backfield with Dexter Jackson, Brian Kelly and Dwight Smith.

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

Free safety Antoine Winfield Jr. already has one Pro Bowl berth on his football card. Newcomer Ryan Neal was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded safety during the 2022 season in Seattle. Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean have been handsomely paid as two of the best outside cornerbacks in the game.

It looks like Dee Delaney, a three-year veteran, will get the start at nickelback this year if he performs well on Saturday versus the Ravens and holds off rookies Christian Izien and Josh Hayes. Delaney has definitely become a steady Eddie in the secondary, and a versatile piece for head coach Todd Bowles, who loves the fact he can play outside cornerback, slot corner and both safety spots.

This starting quartet is all well and good – until injuries strike. And they will strike.

Davis and Winfield each missed four games last year, while Dean missed two. Neal was out for three games in Seattle last year due to injuries.

The Bucs’ final 53-man roster hasn’t been set yet, but one thing is for sure. The first outside cornerback off the bench to fill in for either Davis or Dean will be Zyon McCollum, who enters his second year in Tampa Bay and is far from a finished product. The Bucs just don’t have a lot of veteran depth in the secondary, and the team could wind up with as many as four rookies in the secondary on the roster.

Bucs S Chris Izien – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay is high on safeties Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather, a pair of undrafted free agents, as well as cornerbacks Josh Hayes, a sixth-round pick, and Keenan Issac, an undrafted free agent. Hayes and Izien are competing with Delaney for the starting nickelback job.

So if the Bucs keep nine or 10 defensive backs between safeties and cornerbacks – 40% of the secondary could be rookies. In fact, Delaney would be the most experienced reserve on the team.

With young players come growing pains. If a starter or two gets hurt in the secondary, expect some struggles because there is a big drop off not just in experience, but also talent from the starters to the backups.

After seeing veteran safeties Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal struggle to run last season, Todd Bowles wants to get faster in the secondary. But gaining more speed and youth will come with price – and that is a lack of experience.

FAB 5. This Might Be Lavonte David’s Last Year In Tampa Bay

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David may never make the Pro Football Hall of Fame because he has just one All-Pro berth and Pro Bowl in his illustrious career. He’s been robbed of Pro Bowls throughout the years, but he’ll certainly make the Bucs Ring of Honor after he retires. There’s no doubt that David is one of the most beloved Bucs of all time and the team’s second-best linebacker behind only Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks.

But like Brooks and so many other Tampa Bay legends, all good things must come to an end. David will turn 34 next January and the Bucs will have to evaluate his play to see if he’s worth another one-year deal to suit up in red and pewter once more in 2024. At some point in time, Father Time will catch up to David and tell him he’s no longer a starting-caliber NFL linebacker.

That could come this season, which means it might be his last year with the Bucs. David has actually had a great training camp and been one of the standouts on defense. But the NFL season is 18 weeks long with 17 grueling games. The older the player is, the longer it takes to recover from getting banged up, bruised and injured.

Not only will David’s contract be up after the 2023 season, but so will that of fellow inside linebacker and team captain Devin White. Will Todd Bowles and the Bucs go into the 2024 season with two new starting linebackers? That’s certainly not ideal.

Bucs ILBs Lavonte David and Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

But which player will return? The Bucs don’t seem to be in any hurry to consider paying White and meeting his contract demands of $18 million-$20 million per season. It’s hard to blame the team for taking that stance because White has not achieved the level of consistency that David has had throughout his Tampa Bay career.

If David loses a step or gets hurt this year, it may be hard for the Bucs to consider bringing him back for another year despite his popularity and the leadership he brings. All legends eventually have to retire – and it’s usually not on their timetable.

It will be fascinating to see how this season plays out for David and White. And to see if the Bucs feel comfortable in SirVocea Dennis’ development behind the scenes to where he could step into the starting lineup to replace one of those linebackers next year.