Defensive End/Edge: D

The Buccaneers edge presence was awful in 2017.

Even with defensive end Noah Spence getting hurt after one sack-fumble and Jacquies Smith not being able to get back from his knee injury, the guys they had on the squad couldn’t get a quarterback down – hence why Tampa Bay finished dead last in the NFL in sacks with 22.

Bucs DE Noah Spence – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The aging Robert Ayers finished the season with just two sacks and will likely be released in the offseason. Will Clarke, a late add to the team, led the defensive end group with 2.5 sacks (yuck). William Gholston, who was paid handsomely with a five-year, $36.5 million dollar deal last offseason, finished the year with zero sacks in 14 games played. Ryan Russell also recorded two sacks of his own, but no defensive end or edge player was able to record three or more.

This has to change next season and the answer can’t be just to welcome Spence back from his second shoulder surgery in the past 12 months. For reference of how bad the Bucs’ edge rush was, four players on the Jacksonville Jaguars roster individually had more sacks than the Bucs entire defensive end group. Four. On one team.

Defensive Tackles: B-

There was some good and bad among the interior defensive line group, but it was more good than bad, believe it or not.

Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald led the Buccaneers in sacks with six and five, respectively. They were the anchors of production on a defensive line that could not seem to get it from anywhere. McCoy made his sixth Pro Bowl despite fighting off injuries.

The big disappointment on the line was high-priced free agent Chris Baker. Baker was brought in to be another anchor and sack-producing defensive tackle, but he wasn’t. Baker was lazy and unproductive and lost the starting nose tackle job to McDonald. He finished the season with only half a sack and looked out of place, misused or over-matched for most of the year.

The starters for this team next year should be McDonald and McCoy, no debate – if Baker is even still on the team.

Linebackers: B+

Though there was some disappointment with the Bucs linebacker group in terms of certain impact people might have wanted them to have, that was more scheme based than it was the guys themselves. They played great as a whole.

Bucs Linebackers Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

For starters, let’s talk about the player who should be in the Pro Bowl and should have been an All-Pro, Lavonte David. David, despite missing three games, led the team in tackles with 101 (76 solo). He was also second in the entire NFL in fumbles forced (five) and was best in the NFL in fumbles recovered (five). David was also one of three players on the defense to record a touchdown.

Middle linebacker Kwon Alexander recorded 97 tackles himself while missing four games with a hamstring injury. He had a tough year due to the injury, but bounced back nicely at the end, recording a career-high three interceptions.

Then there’s rookie linebacker Kendell Beckwith, the team’s third-round pick. Beckwith was not supposed to be called on this early after tearing his ACL last season. But the Bucs were sure glad he was able to play without incident, and were likely blown away by what he could do. Beckwith finished the season with 73 tackles (fourth on the team), a sack and a forced fumble, and was a key player since becoming a starter early in the year. The Bucs used him at all three linebacker spots during the season, and even used him as an edge rushing defensive end at times.

Tampa Bay also got a good season out of reserve Adarius Glanton, who had a career-high 31 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble before breaking his leg late in the season against Atlanta. That puts his 2018 season in jeopardy.

Cornerbacks: D+

It was an up-and-down season for the entire cornerback group.

For starters, Brent Grimes was not only on-and-off the field with varying injuries, but was also on-and-off when it came to coverages. He was stellar in some moments, but head-scratching in others. The scheme and lack of pass rush certainly didn’t help him, however. Grimes did tie for the team lead with three interceptions, and due to the lack of proven talent on the roster

Second-year corner Vernon Hargreaves was having another rough start to his season before missing the last half of the year with a hamstring injury. He was playing both outside and inside at slot corner, but was much more comfortable inside as the nickel corner while playing closer to the line of scrimmage. Hargreaves wasn’t having a good year, but the defensive scheme to start the season was awful, so that has to be brought into account.

Bucs CB Vernon Hargreaves and S Chris Conte – Photo by: Getty Images

Robert McClain had three interception as well, which also tied him for the team lead. He started the season playing as the nickel cornerback, but then switched to outside when Hargreaves, Ryan Smith or Grimes were out with injury, Though McClain wasn’t a “shutdown corner” his ability to ply any cornerback position helped this team, and he did have a pick-six to start the season.

Finally, Ryan Smith started the season for the first time as a full-time cornerback after playing on special teams last year. He got plenty of opportunities to start, and though he struggled at times against the better receivers, his athleticism did shine and he had a chance to showcase why he can play cornerback. It just might not be as a starter. Yet the cornerbacks, Smith included, contributed to the worst-ranked pass defense in the league.

Safeties: C+

Realistically, this unit could have an even higher grade. When you throw in the fact that Chris Conte was third on the team in total tackles, despite not having consistent playing time, and the fact that rookie safety Justin Evans not only came on late to impact the scheme, but also tied the team in interceptions with three, both of those things are impressive. Evans, the Bucs’ 2017 second-round pick, looks like a solid starter heading into 2018 with the potential to be very good due to his athleticism.

But, what wasn’t impressive was the overall consistency at safety, both in which players were out there and how they performed. How in the world Keith Tandy go from the player who quite literally save the Buccaneers season in 2016 to a player who never even saw the field in 2017 when healthy? The T.J Ward experiment did not go the way the team planned, either. He likely won’t be back in Tampa Bay in 2018, especially after a recent drug arrest.

Safety play and usage has to be better next season for Tampa Bay’s pass defense to climb out of the cellar.

Kicker/Kick Unit: D+

Bucs K Pat Murray– Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Even though Pat Murray did come in and bring some consistency to this kicking group, the grade has to be this low. Roberto Aguayo sucked in training camp and Nick Folk sucked to start the season and cost Tampa Bay a win against the New England Patriots; that caused the Buccaneers to lose games when they were on the team.

Murray hit some nice kicks and was pretty consistent overall, finishing with an 82.6 percent connect rate, but there were a handful of times where he missed on longer kicks that would have made the difference in a few games. He’s brought in to make those kicks – even he’ll tell you that.

Tampa Bay’s kick return unit lacked speed and good blocking and struggled as a result. The Bucs kick coverage unit allowed back-to-back kick returns for touchdowns against Carolina and New Orleans, which was incredibly disappointing.

Punter/Punt Unit: B

Bryan Anger and the Bucs punting group did wel, though it may not have been as stellar as the year before.

Josh Robinson, Ryan Smith and Chris Godwin were key punt coverage guys when all were healthy, and minus a few miscues that have to be cleaned up that led to some blocked punts, when the unit executed, they punted the ball very well. While the punt return unit was lackluster, the best phase of Tampa Bay’s special teams was its punt coverage unit.