Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator Todd Bowles knows the importance of a versatile, game-changing safety in his defense and the search for that missing piece continues in 2020.
With the ever-expanding offensive explosion in the NFL, the speed and space that spread offenses create and the rising frequency in which nickel and dime defenses are deployed to counter that, the safety position has seen a shift in play style. As Bowles has referenced in the past, many times his safeties can no longer simply be boiled down to free safety or strong safety. They’re hybrid defensive backs that can attack the offense in a number of alignments.
They must be versatile but just as importantly, they have to be “cerebral” players.
Former Jets S Jamal Adams – Photo by: Getty Images
Think of players like Jamal Adams, Derwin James, Tyrann Mathieu and rookie Isaiah Simmons in his time at Clemson, while Simmons may be limited to a linebacker role in Arizona. These players have the athleticism, physicality and – most importantly for Bowles’ defense – instinct to work as a free safety, a box safety, a slot cornerback or rush the passer as a nickel blitzer. Almost acting as a quarterback on defense, similar to a MIKE (middle linebacker), these safeties must be able to diagnose plays before the ball is snapped, make the defensive checks, make split-second decisions and react accordingly. They also have the versatility to play a multitude of roles out of a number of defensive looks as not to tip their hand to the opposing coordinators.
“Mike is exactly what we look for,” The Bucs’ safeties coach Nick Rapone said after Tampa Bay drafted safety Mike Edwards in the third round in 2019. “[Bowles and I] started out together in Arizona and the safeties in Todd’s defense basically run the defense. They have to call out the fronts but they have to play multiple positions and we thought that he had the ability to do everything that we wanted. First of all, he’s physical. Second of all, he can blitz. Third of all, he can cover. Fourth of all, to the best of our knowledge, he is cerebral and a safety in this scheme has to be cerebral. So that’s what we saw, all of those qualities in him. We’re not traditionally the 6-foot-2, 215 pound safety because we’re a man team, we’re an aggressive team, so they have to be able to play man-to-man. So we think he fits exactly what we need our safeties to do.”
Rapone detailed the blueprint for what Tampa Bay wants in a safety and I bring up the aforementioned Pro Bowl-caliber safeties, not because they’re a realistic expectation of what an incoming rookie will be, but because these players have created and essentially perfected the role of a do-it-all safety in today’s game. Oh, and Bowles also played a vital part in drafting Mathieu and Adams, as the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator in 2013 and the Jets’ head coach in 2017.
In 2019 under another aggressive defensive coordinator in Kansas City, Steve Spagnuolo, Mathieu played 171 snaps at free safety, 316 snaps as a box safety, 483 snaps as a slot corner and 83 snaps along the defensive line, per Pro Football Focus. With that versatility changing the way a defense can attack with their safety, primarily out of the nickel in Mathieu’s case, he was able to rack up four interceptions, 12 passes defended, two sacks and three tackles for loss in the 2019 regular season en route to a Super Bowl championship.
Adams played 297 snaps at free safety, 400 snaps at box safety, 131 snaps as a slot corner and 97 snaps along the defensive line in 2019, and for further reference, Adams played 281 snaps at free safety, 489 snaps as a box safety, 172 snaps as a slot corner and 137 snaps along the defensive line in 2018 under Bowles.
Bucs S Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
This versatility, mental processing and the ability to excel in each role makes these safeties a gem for their defensive coordinators.
The Bucs tried to let Edwards loose in that role in 2019, playing the rookie defensive back 349 snaps at free safety, 144 snaps at box safety and 100 snaps as a nickel corner, but he ultimately relinquished the starting safety spot to Andrew Adams after five weeks due to too many blown coverages and too many 300-yard passing days by opposing quarterbacks. Arians and Rapone recently praised Edwards’ play in training camp, describing him as a ball hawk who “gets his hands on probably more balls than anybody” in Tampa Bay’s secondary, but also raised questions about his tackling last season.
Considering Edwards was consistently one of Kentucky’s leading tacklers during his time with the Wildcats, it’s an interesting issue to arise as he transitioned to the NFL level. Arians has stated that Edwards was a “block tackler” coming out of college, or relied too heavily on tackling with his arms. And with no preseason games ahead of the 2020 season to see him tackle live, his tackling issues have been addressed but the questions surrounding that part of his game could be the reason why Edwards hasn’t found himself in the Bucs’ initial starting lineup.
The Bucs’ also tried to get versatile with safety Jordan Whitehead last year, despite Whitehead simply not fitting that mold.
Whitehead is an extremely physical downhill player who never fears putting his nose into the play and doing the dirty work. He’s at his best as a down linebacker in the box where he can use that physicality to make open-field tackles or blitz off of the edge, but he lacks the mix of size and agility to make a regular impact when consistently tasked with covering tight ends or running backs in man and lacks the range to make a regular impact when consistently dropped into a single-high look or half-field coverage.
Bucs safeties Mike Edwards and Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
With that said, the Bucs largely split Whitehead’s snaps with 368 snaps at box safety where he’s at his best, 306 snaps at free safety and 139 snaps as a slot corner. His snap counts as a slot corner make sense given his physicality needed at the position and the value placed on the nickel corner’s ability to play the run in Bowles’ defense, but with the addition of the versatile safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., Whitehead will likely be more free to stay where he’s best and not be asked as frequently to overcome his weaknesses in 2020.
This may offer a glimpse into Edwards’ and Whiteheads’ potential roles in 2020, but the Bucs’ staff clearly wasn’t satisfied as they drafted Winfield out of Minnesota in the second round this year, already listed as the Bucs’ starting free safety across from Whitehead heading into Week 1 at New Orleans. Tampa Bay’s safeties totaled just two interceptions between the unit last year, while Winfield had seven in his final year of college at Minnesota.
Winfield’s ability to get up to speed quickly with Bowles’ complicated defensive scheme has been a huge factor in him nabbing the starting role as a rookie, even despite a unique offseason that included no spring football to help his transition to the NFL.
“If you walk in his shoes, there’s nothing that’s too big for the young man,” Rapone said “He was raised under the bright lights, and I’ve never met his father and mother but they’ve done a fabulous job. This is a well-grounded young man that understands what the NFL is all about, I mean his dad played 14 years. He’s just a heck of a kid and the biggest thing is that he’s so grounded. He takes copious notes in the meeting room, he always wants to learn, you only have to tell him once and the second time he’ll correct and he’s extremely coachable. He’s way more mature than most rookies would be, believe me.”
Bucs S Antoine Winfield – Photo courtesy of Minnesota
From a game-planning standpoint, Winfield has extreme upside despite a few red flags. Winfield did suffer through two medical redshirts at Minnesota, a reported hamstring injury in 2017 and a foot injury in 2018, and stands at just 5-foot-9. Winfield may be short for the position, but he isn’t limited by his size and that showed from his tackling and ability to blitz in college. The Bucs’ rookie safety has shown to be a sure tackler but his best traits entering the NFL are his versatility and his instincts.
“But the thing about Winfield is that although he’s short, he isn’t small, as his 203-pound frame is easily heavy enough to check the box for a safety,” wrote Jon Ledyard in a previous PewterReport.com article. “And for all his season-ending injuries, Winfield hasn’t lost a shred of athleticism, running a 4.45 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine and jumping 36 inches in the vertical and 10’4″ in the broad.
“One of the biggest reasons the Bucs are so dead set on getting Winfield on the field, is that they believe he has the unique skill set to change the game in an instant. The same play-making skills that showed up last season at Minnesota for Winfield when he intercepted those seven passes and forced two fumbles have again reared their glorious head at training camp in Tampa Bay.”
Arians also emphasized Winfield’s versatility during training camp, looking back at some of the great safeties that he’s coached in the past.
“Yeah again, he’s an extremely bright football player that’s got great bloodlines,” Arians said. “He is so position flexible – half-field, deep-field, middle-field, nickel, dime, linebacker, he’s got so many positions that he can play. We love to mix it up with our safeties when they’re interchangeable. He’s part Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) and he’s part Budda Baker, he’s that style player that we can use in a different type of role along with our other safeties who are interchangeable.”
Bucs S Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Getty Images
It’s Winfield’s all-around talent that landed him with Tampa Bay despite his red flags, and it’s Winfield’s all-around talent that could potentially make him one of the most impactful players on Tampa Bay’s defense in 2020.
It’s going to be extremely interesting to see how variable Tampa Bay will use Winfield early, but heading into his second season as the Bucs’ defensive coordinator, Bowles is now on his second attempt to find his do-it-all safety. Only time will tell whether Winfield can in fact be that guy, but he’ll get his first chance to prove it this Sunday in New Orleans.
