Let’s look at the timeline of things. First there was the draft. The Bucs spent three Top 100 picks on defensive backs in 2019, which made it six picks for the secondary in the last two years. Then there was the proclamation by Arians back in early June that the secondary was “fixed,” a bold statement for a man who had yet to even see his young secondary play a regular season football game, or even get into the dog days of training camp.
As one should have expected, then came the struggles. As the Bucs run defense ascended to No. 1 in the NFL during the first quarter of the season, the team’s pass defense went the opposite direction, falling all the way to dead last in the league. With limited options outside of playing first-year rookies, Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles were grasping at straws. But that’s what they had to do, and as the weeks went on we saw young guys like Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean be thrust into key roles and even starting positions.
The turning point seemed to come when the Buccaneers announced Jamel Dean would be starting against the Seattle Seahawks. The motion was more accidental than calculated, as the decision stemmed from Carlton Davis getting hurt in warm-ups – not due to Dean winning the job outright. But Dean played and though he struggled, giving up three touchdowns in coverage, he learned as the game went on, as was evident by his four passes defended and six tackles. For the first time, it felt like the Bucs struggles were actually building towards something.
