Problem is do you believe Bowles and Licht can draft an edge and develop them?
This is the $6 million question.
and a question we should not want to keep finding out. Rather, just go get the solution like they did previously with the likes of JPP and Shaq Barrett
2024 - drafted LB Chris Braswell in the second round. had a bit of a "Just another guy" type of rookie year. Bucs brought a guy out of retirement to give Snaps to over him. Struggled to steal snaps away from Joe Tryon? most likely not the answer.
2022 - drafted DE Logan Hall. Not sure if they were looking for the new William Gholston or for pass rush. Either way, didnt get pass rush here
2021 - drafted OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. What a dud
2016 - drafted DE Noah Spence. Didnt work out
Even before Licht
2011 - drafted Adrian Clayborn and DaQuan Bowers in first 2 rounds, both were duds with Tampa.
2007 - drafted Gaines Adams. Bust.
2003 - drafted DeWayne White - nothing.
i mean shit, this franchise sans Lee Roy Selmon, draft a decent end/edge? Feel like we needed to go get Simeon Rice to help out there back in our 2000s run.
Bucs should stop trying to challenge history and go trade or sign the help
Problem is do you believe Bowles and Licht can draft an edge and develop them? It
Yeah. Bowles has done a bang up job developing them into coverage guys.
That is why you draft players like Verse and Fisk that are not really developmental prospects but known quantities at the collegiate level.
Bucs have drafted exclusively with project players on defense with the exception of Dean and Davis at CB and then Whitehead and Winfield Jr at safety. Kancey and Diabyare kind of more of a known quantity from college than a project players respectively but not as polished coming out like Winfield Jr
. But Hall, JTS, McCollum, White, etc are all project players and took a long time to develop. White never fully developed and JTS developed but his ceiling ended up being low. Similar to Hall and McCollum is the only true project player on defense that developed into a full fledged legit upper level starter.
So if the Bucs focus on collegiate productive sack artists in the draft at edge and interior DL they will solve a big problem for the defense overall.
FSU fan?
Not a FSU fan but if the Bucs want to solve the riddle of not drafting a NFL caliber edge rusher they have to look at production at the collegiate level.
No faith in this defensive crew to pick someone at #19 that will be able to produce 10 sacks…
That should mean we trade for an a younger vet edge, or get off our wallet for an elite FA.
I like the Hendrickson trade idea but Cincy has identified him to re-sign. Myles is staring at you - but Licht won’t part with two number ones… and it may be that Cleveland re-signs him as well - Maxx Crosby isn’t getting out of Spytech’s grasp - but there ARE other options.
Have been preoccupied with life/work issues - but the updates/reading I have done - doesn’t give me the sense we’re going to make a splash in FA. Also not feeling that Licht will pull off any massive trades for an edge… but that remains the biggest need.
That is why you draft players like Verse and Fisk that are not really developmental prospects but known quantities at the collegiate level.
Bucs have drafted exclusively with project players on defense with the exception of Dean and Davis at CB and then Whitehead and Winfield Jr at safety. Kancey and Diabyare kind of more of a known quantity from college than a project players respectively but not as polished coming out like Winfield Jr
. But Hall, JTS, McCollum, White, etc are all project players and took a long time to develop. White never fully developed and JTS developed but his ceiling ended up being low. Similar to Hall and McCollum is the only true project player on defense that developed into a full fledged legit upper level starter.
So if the Bucs focus on collegiate productive sack artists in the draft at edge and interior DL they will solve a big problem for the defense overall.
FSU fan?
Not a FSU fan but if the Bucs want to solve the riddle of not drafting a NFL caliber edge rusher they have to look at production at the collegiate level.
Verse had a ton of pressures and is clearly a good player but how many sacks did he produce?
4.5
Which is the same as Yaya.
Fisker had 8.5 sacks. Vea has 7 so... Close
So idk... I get that pressure, eye ball test, DROY and all that with Verse but he still only had 4.5 sacks.
4.5 to 7 sacks from an “edge rush” isn’t significant enough to reset this defense to NFC championship/Super Bowl caliber.
in order to get a significant set-piece at Edge to begin the reset of the defense, you have to get someone with proven production, not one closing out his career…that may have one or two seasons left…
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover, a couple of corners, maybe a safety.
This draft should be for depth, and maybe a WR that can take the top off of an offense?
$22mil extra cap space, extensions, cuts…we have the means, we have some opportunity, but do we have motive?
Sorry, been binge watching the old “Castle” series…
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover
FWIW, the Eagles win the Super Bowl with Sweat, whose pass rushing grade on PFF is inferior to Diaby (and who only has two more sacks), and Nolan Smith Jr (a #30 pick) who had a handful of sacks. Good player, maybe grat one day, but not in 2024.
The Bucs should get another great edge rusher IF THEY CAN, but there are many easier ways to ALSO improve the defense, including the pass rush.
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover
FWIW, the Eagles win the Super Bowl with Sweat, whose pass rushing grade on PFF is inferior to Diaby (and who only has two more sacks), and Nolan Smith Jr (a #30 pick) who had a handful of sacks. Good player, maybe grat one day, but not in 2024.
The Bucs should get another great edge rusher IF THEY CAN, but there are many easier ways to ALSO improve the defense, including the pass rush.
Just grab great players... Especially on defense. A great secondary can mask a below average pass rush and vice versa.
In my opinion it has to be edge rush. We already have the interior pass rush and combining it with an edge rush would flip the defense around. The free agents are going to be available and Mike Green is in reach with a trade up.
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover
FWIW, the Eagles win the Super Bowl with Sweat, whose pass rushing grade on PFF is inferior to Diaby (and who only has two more sacks), and Nolan Smith Jr (a #30 pick) who had a handful of sacks. Good player, maybe grat one day, but not in 2024.
The Bucs should get another great edge rusher IF THEY CAN, but there are many easier ways to ALSO improve the defense, including the pass rush.
Just grab great players... Especially on defense. A great secondary can mask a below average pass rush and vice versa.
an average secondary and the Bucs probably win another game or two and maybe a playoff game. The Bucs secondary was in the bottom 5 in terms of interceptions and gave up massive yards.
the Bucs d-line was close to the same number of sacks as last years #7 scoring defense
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover
FWIW, the Eagles win the Super Bowl with Sweat, whose pass rushing grade on PFF is inferior to Diaby (and who only has two more sacks), and Nolan Smith Jr (a #30 pick) who had a handful of sacks. Good player, maybe grat one day, but not in 2024.
The Bucs should get another great edge rusher IF THEY CAN, but there are many easier ways to ALSO improve the defense, including the pass rush.
Just grab great players... Especially on defense. A great secondary can mask a below average pass rush and vice versa.
an average secondary and the Bucs probably win another game or two and maybe a playoff game. The Bucs secondary was in the bottom 5 in terms of interceptions and gave up massive yards.
the Bucs d-line was close to the same number of sacks as last years #7 scoring defense
On massive blitz rate
Last season we had NFC championship-level play from the offense.
But that still leaves an ILB that can cover
FWIW, the Eagles win the Super Bowl with Sweat, whose pass rushing grade on PFF is inferior to Diaby (and who only has two more sacks), and Nolan Smith Jr (a #30 pick) who had a handful of sacks. Good player, maybe grat one day, but not in 2024.
The Bucs should get another great edge rusher IF THEY CAN, but there are many easier ways to ALSO improve the defense, including the pass rush.
Just grab great players... Especially on defense. A great secondary can mask a below average pass rush and vice versa.
an average secondary and the Bucs probably win another game or two and maybe a playoff game. The Bucs secondary was in the bottom 5 in terms of interceptions and gave up massive yards.
the Bucs d-line was close to the same number of sacks as last years #7 scoring defense
On massive blitz rate
this stuff was discussed all season but Bowles addressed it directly in the press conference.
“
“It would really help us if we could rush the passer with four guys,” Bowles said.
“Other than YaYa Diaby — on the outside I’m talking here, not the inside guys — we didn’t get consistent pressure from the other side. And at the same time, when you’re down a corner and a safety, you gotta give them help from somewhere. So when those guys weren’t rushing the passer [effectively], we decided to drop [edge rushers in coverage] a little bit more than normal and get pressure from other ways like up the middle with Lavonte [David] and doing certain things like that with [Calijah] Kancey and moving him around. So we’d like to get pressure with four, that would help the secondary immensely.”
The Super Bowl team had JPP, Barrett and White
