Bucs Beat: Pass rush will start with dominant interior 
McCoy Published: April 11, 2015 TAMPA — The Buccaneers are facing the very real possibility of playing the 2015 season without an established or dominant edge rusher. Not to worry, Bucs general manager Jason Licht says.The Bucs could piece together the edges of their defensive front this season and still improve their pass rush, Licht said. How? By getting dominant play from interior linemen Gerald McCoy, Clinton McDonald and Henry Melton.It is certainly not a conventional approach, but Licht recently rolled out some interesting numbers to back his belief that it can work.According to Stats Inc., McCoy ranks first among all NFL defensive tackles in sacks the past two years with 18.Ranking 10th on that list with 10.5 sacks the past two years is McDonald, who starts alongside McCoy.Throw in Melton, who has 11 sacks over his past two full seasons, and you have the makings of a dominant interior, Licht said.“We have four of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL,’’ Licht said without mentioning Akeem Spence (four sacks the past two years).If you’re wondering how the Bucs intend to use those interior linemen, coach Lovie Smith recently laid out that plan.Speaking to a group of Stadium Club members Thursday at the Bucs Front Office Forum at Raymond James Stadium, Smith said his current plans call for McCoy and McDonald to start and for Melton to slide in as part of the first wave of situational pass rushers on passing downs.The Bucs are hoping that game plan and the improvement they expect to get from ends Jacquies Smith (six sacks last year) and T.J. Fatinikun will allow them to push well past the 36-sack total they produced a year ago, when they ranked 21st in the league in sacks.But it’s not like the Bucs have abandoned all hope of adding a dominant edge rusher. They believe strongly that Smith and perhaps even Fatinikun can reach that level and they’re hoping to learn on Monday that they’ve won the right to sign free-agent end George Johnson.Signed originally by the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2010, Johnson had a breakout season (six sacks) as a backup situational edge rusher with the Lions last year after nearly quitting the game because of a lack of playing opportunity.The Bucs signed Johnson, a restricted free agent, to a three-year offer sheet while they were working out Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota last week. The Lions have until Monday afternoon to match the offer and retain Johnson or leave him to sign with Tampa Bay. Spread outLicht said twice during the Front Office Forum that he hopes to find some help for the Bucs’ ailing offensive line in the draft. Drafting offensive linemen isn’t as easy as it used to be, though.Licht said the advent of spread-option offenses in college is forcing more offensive linemen to play with a skill set that is vastly different than what they will need to excel or even play in the NFL.“You’re still looking for the same thing in an offensive lineman that you were looking for before,’’ Licht said. “You still want guys that are smart, tough, physical and athletic.“You’re still looking for that strong kind of guy, but you have to project a little more now than you did back in the days when the spread (offense) wasn’t such a big part of the college game.’’From bad to goodThe Bucs believe that nothing helped to derail their 2014 season more than the season-long absence due to a medical issue of then offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford. Now the coach of the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League, Tedford has been replaced by Dirk Koetter, and Smith sees the change as one of the greatest reasons for hope in 2015.It’s easy to see why. In eight seasons as an NFL coordinator, Koetter has produced a top-10 offense three times, first in Jacksonville in 2007 and again in Atlanta in 2012 and 2014.“The way I look at it,’’ Smith said, “out of something bad came something good, and not only with Dirk Koetter coming here, but with (quarterbacks coach) Mike Bajakian coming here, too.’’ [email protected](813) 259-7979Twitter: @RCummingsTBO
