You stated they wouldn't start. Yes, they would.
Yeah if the Bucs draft a Verse in round 1 they will start. They are not going to keep that player on the bench for Nelson but if Bowles does that well...he isn't the brightest.
@evans-is-my-daddy - thanks for your message. I wasn’t directing my comments to you, just stating the issue with depending on a rookie edge to be much help. There are more busts at the position than most. And maybe one rookie a season makes much of a difference for a team. If we’re picking the 4th or 5th best edge, the likelihood won’t be that he’ll make much of a difference. Verse was my favorite edge two years ago, and he fell in the draft. I just hear every year from the fans that we’ll draft an edge this year and he’ll be our answer. That’s very rare. And I totally agree that sometimes Bowles just blitzes to blitz. At all levels of football I see those coaches that don’t have an answer, and they just jump to blitz, because they can’t figure it out that day.
@alldaway - that’s a big “if.” Who is this draft is Jared Verse? And whoever is closest to a Verse type, will probably be gone by our pick.
Verse was picked 19th overall in 2024 draft so if there is another run on offensive players like the past two drafts it is possible. That is how Egbuka fell to the Bucs at 19 in 2025.
In 2023 the 19th overall pick was Kancey to the Bucs.
The problem is the Bucs need more than a Crosby or Henderson for this off season to be any kind of homerun.
Priority #1 for the Bucs was to upgrade their talent level
I am not sure that is priority #1 and they certainly seem like base hits are okay
basehits are ok if you are just looking to field a team an win 6 to 9 games next year
if you actually wanted to do better than that, they aren’t there yet minus the “blind homer” any given Sunday motto
Base hits are fine for a team winning a division and advancing in the playoffs. This Bucs team collapsed and did not win the division. And the rest of the division improved too.
Crosby has said he is happy to be with the Raiders now and if that is true then I am not sure any team will trade for him at this point. The Raiders have improved their team dramatically and will be building their team around their QB.
Anzalone is just replacing LVD and Robinson is replacing Hall. Killebrew is just off setting the loss of Izien. The only true upgrade is Muhammad but he is just replacing Reddick.
So the Bucs haven't really added talent as they are just signing talent to off set their losses so far.
I would disagree. I think its pretty clear they are better than last year on defense at least.
Anzalone at this point in his career is clearly an upgrade over LVD/SVD (still need to add another ILB).
Robinson is an upgrade over both Hall & Gaines, and an upgrade by a large margin imo.
Izien was a good depth piece but didnt play many reps so not much of a loss there.
I do not see us trading for Crosby, there is simply no cap space for that, but he would be perfect fit for Bowles defense.
OK, he would be huge improvement for any defense, but his impact in a soft zone that has close to zero pass rush would be immense.
Anzalone is just replacing LVD and Robinson is replacing Hall. Killebrew is just off setting the loss of Izien. The only true upgrade is Muhammad but he is just replacing Reddick.
So the Bucs haven't really added talent as they are just signing talent to off set their losses so far.
I would disagree. I think its pretty clear they are better than last year on defense at least.
Anzalone at this point in his career is clearly an upgrade over LVD/SVD (still need to add another ILB).
Robinson is an upgrade over both Hall & Gaines, and an upgrade by a large margin imo.
Izien was a good depth piece but didnt play many reps so not much of a loss there.
Robinson is slightly better same with Anzalone. Don't see the big difference.
Now if the Bucs sign another veteran ILB, edge rusher and CB then yes that starts to move the needle before the draft.
Anzalone is just replacing LVD and Robinson is replacing Hall. Killebrew is just off setting the loss of Izien. The only true upgrade is Muhammad but he is just replacing Reddick.
So the Bucs haven't really added talent as they are just signing talent to off set their losses so far.
I would disagree. I think its pretty clear they are better than last year on defense at least.
Anzalone at this point in his career is clearly an upgrade over LVD/SVD (still need to add another ILB).
Robinson is an upgrade over both Hall & Gaines, and an upgrade by a large margin imo.
Izien was a good depth piece but didnt play many reps so not much of a loss there.
i would argue we are slightly better on defense but i dont think we moved the needle. Still see the team struggling to pressure the QB
The problem is the Bucs need more than a Crosby or Henderson for this off season to be any kind of homerun.
Priority #1 for the Bucs was to upgrade their talent level
I am not sure that is priority #1 and they certainly seem like base hits are okay
basehits are ok if you are just looking to field a team an win 6 to 9 games next year
if you actually wanted to do better than that, they aren’t there yet minus the “blind homer” any given Sunday motto
Yes, I was not defending the practice I was suggesting that some are banging their head against the wall because they see the Bucs differently than the Bucs see themselves (for whatever reason)
Anzalone is just replacing LVD
if you dont see that as an upgrade, I am not sure what to say lol. Should they do more, yes, but the idea that they are in neutral by going from LVD to Anzalone is hard to understand
My thought is- talent and ability aside. This defense was pretty small and soft last year. Robinson & Muhammad will at the very least bring some toughness that they are sorely lacking.
My thought is- talent and ability aside. This defense was pretty small and soft last year. Robinson & Muhammad will at the very least bring some toughness that they are sorely lacking.
Yes agreed
To the early point about Anzalone v LVD, as much as we all love LVD he and SVD were one of the worst LB corps in the league. LVD of 2025 was obviously NOT LVD of 2020. Football smarts, which he has in loads, doesnt matter much when a RB or TE is running way from you.
" opposing running backs had finished with 79 catches, the 10th-highest total in the league."
"Those 79 receptions resulted in 860 yards allowed, the most in the NFL."
"opposing tight ends latched onto 100 catches against the Bucs. Only seven teams yielded more."
'They reached the end zone 12 times. Only the Bengals (16) allowed more."
One reason (not the only) that the Bucs sack number were down is because it was so easy for opposing offenses to dump it off underneath for big gains or easy miving of the chains. Anzalone is NOT a HOFer, but he should be better than the current version of LVD
LVD had 114 comb tkl, 61 solo, and 53 assists with 8 TFLs, 6 QB Hits, 3 PD, 3 FF, 3.5 sacks and 1 INT in 17 games.
Anzalone had 96 comb tkl, 52 solo, 43 assists with 4 TFls, 6 QB Hits, 9 PD, 0 FF, 2.5 sacks, and 1 INT in 16 games.
Again, Anzalone isn't that big of an upgrade even with LVD in the twilight of his career. Other than pass defense Anzalone is just about more of the same if he is taking over the money backer spot.
opposing running backs had finished with 79 catches, the 10th-highest total in the league."
"Those 79 receptions resulted in 860 yards allowed, the most in the NFL."
"opposing tight ends latched onto 100 catches against the Bucs. Only seven teams yielded more."
Ignoring the facts as usual to push a narrative:
Bucs Diaby and Nelson are not suited to defend RBs and TEs in the flat why are the ILB taking flak for this? Every single ILB that has started in Bowles scheme is catching strays for things they do not control since 2019.
Bucs played a lot of off coverage which means the space between ILB and DBs is open not only in the middle but the boundary sidelines. In a conventional cover 2 it is the only middle that is open. In off coverage the DBs vacate the boundary and the ILB are responsible for covering the middle and the boundary which is a lot of real estate. Bowles calls fire zone blitzes trying to use OLB to fill the gap in the flats but again that is a mistmatch for RBs and TEs that slip out.