FAB 2. PewterReport.com’s 2019 Bucs Season Awards

I’ve already labeled Bruce Arians’ first year in Tampa Bay a success and explained why in Fab 1. Now it’s time to recognize some of the Bucs’ top performers and dish out PewterReport.com’s 2019 Bucs Season Awards. Let’s get right to it.

BUCS DEFENSIVE MVP

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Getty Images

OLB Shaquil Barrett
Barrett had one of the most dominant seasons in Tampa Bay history in his first year with the Buccaneers. Simply put, he was the team’s best player in 2019. Barrett went on to not only break Warren Sapp’s single-single sack record of 16.5 sacks, but he also became the league’s top sacker in 2019 with a career-high 19.5 sacks, a team-high six forced fumbles and an interception, to go along with 58 tackles. Barrett is the top priority when it comes to offseason free agent signings by the Bucs’ front office.

BUCS OFFENSIVE MVP

WR Chris Godwin
Arians wasn’t kidding when he said that Godwin wouldn’t be coming off the field in 2019. Godwin was moved to the slot to play the Larry Fitzgerald role in Arians’ offense and had a career year and actually wound up with more catches (86) for more yards (1,333) and touchdowns (nine) than Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans (67 receptions for 1,157 yards and eight TDs). Godwin, who was an outstanding blocker, finished third in the league in yards and made his first Pro Bowl and will join Evans in Orlando.

BUCS SPECIAL TEAMS MVP

K Matt Gay
This selection might upset some Bucs fans, especially since his 0-for-3 outing against Atlanta cost Tampa Bay a win in its season finale. But Gay, a rookie, has clearly been the best kicker in red and pewter since Connor Barth. Gay entered the Falcons game making 84.3 percent of his kicks, but his three misses in the south end of the field, where he has had his struggles this year, dropped his average to 77.1 percent. Outside of Gay, Tampa Bay’s special teams were mediocre at best, so the promising young kicker wins this honor by default.

BUCS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

LB Devin White
White was as good as advertised when the Bucs made him the fifth overall pick in 2019. Despite missing three and a half games, White still posted 91 tackles and had two games with double-digit stops. More importantly, White made a ton of splash plays for Tampa Bay’s young defense – just as the team had expected him to. White finished his rookie season with four fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, three pass breakups, 2.5 sacks, two defensive touchdowns and one interception. White learned from one of the best in Lavonte David and is one of the developing leaders in Tampa Bay.

ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR

Cornerbacks Coach Kevin Ross
Todd Bowles get some much deserved recognition here, but no assistant coach in Tampa Bay did a more remarkable job than Ross did. He was charged with the difficult responsibility of trying to turn around a potential draft bust in Vernon Hargreaves III, improve second-year players Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart and prepare two rookies in Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean to start – all without the benefit of a proven veteran in the room. The Bucs’ pass coverage was ugly early on, but after Hargreaves was released and Stewart was benched, Davis, Murphy-Bunting and Dean have turned into three young, promising playmaking corners thanks to Ross’ steady, unwavering tutelage. The Bucs secondary gave up five 300-yard passing days in the first half of the season, including two over 450 yards, but only surrendered one 300-yard day over the second half of the year, and none in the final seven games of the season.

MOST IMPROVED OFFENSIVE PLAYER

RB Ronald Jones II
No player on offense made more of a bigger jump on offense than running back Ronald Jones II, who had a terrible rookie season in 2018 while rushing for just 44 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries (1.9 avg.). He became Tampa Bay’s leading rusher this season with 172 rushes for 724 yards and six touchdowns. Jones also improved as a receiver with 31 receptions for 309 yards after catching only seven passes for 33 yards (4.7 avg.) last year. That gives Jones over 1,000 total yards for the season.

MOST IMPROVED DEFENSIVE PLAYER

Bucs CB Carlton Davis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

CB Carlton Davis
Davis made big strides this season – not just from last year but also from the start of his second season with the Bucs. His penalties went down and his pass breakups went up. Davis recorded 40 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and four pass breakups as a rookie. This year while playing a tighter, press-man coverage, Davis is among the league leaders in pass breakups with 19, in addition to 60 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and his first career interception, which came in dramatic fashion at Atlanta in an upset win. Davis’ play against Houston Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins (five catches, 23 yards) was a masterpiece.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER – OFFENSE

TE O.J. Howard
Expectations were high for Howard entering his third season in Tampa Bay. After averaging 16.6 yards per catch, 5.5 touchdowns and nearly 500 yards in his first two seasons with the Bucs, Howard’s production was limited in 2019. He was one catch away from establishing a career-high with 35 receptions, and his 459 receiving yards was on par with previous years’ production. Yet Howard’s game hasn’t reached a new level, and he only had one touchdown in 2019, while his longest pass play is just 33 yards.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER – DEFENSE

CB M.J. Stewart
Cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III would be the clear-cut winner if he was still on the team, but his lack of hustle and questionable work ethic prompted his release at midseason. Stewart, last year’s second-round pick, gets the nod as he’s slipped down the depth chart behind rookie cornerbacks Sean-Murphy Bunting and Jamel Dean and second-year cornerback Carlton Davis. Stewart finished with 35 tackles in 2019 and just two pass breakups. The Bucs will likely draft another young cornerback to throw into the competition mix in 2020 to replace Hargreaves, and Stewart, who lacks deep speed and elite athleticism, could be the odd-man out.

BEST FREE AGENT ACQUISITION

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

OLB Shaquil Barrett
Barrett is not only the best free agent acquisition by general manager Jason Licht this year, he’s also the best free agent signing by any NFL team this year. Licht and the Bucs got an absolute steal in signing Barrett to a one-year, $4 million deal this past offseason. The good news isn’t that the 27-year old Barrett wound up as the Bucs’ leading sacker and one of the league’s top pass rushers. It’s that he loves Tampa Bay and wants to return in 2020 instead of hitting the free agent market. Look for a long-term contract extension to be hammered out in the offseason.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

CB Sean Murphy-Bunting
While inside linebacker Devin White is the Bucs’ Rookie of the Year, Murphy-Bunting, the team’s second-round pick, deserves some recognition, too. Murphy-Bunting gets the nod over defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and led Tampa Bay with three interceptions, including two really big ones in the month of December. Murphy-Bunting’s end zone interception at Jacksonville staved off a Jaguars rally, and his 70-yard pick-six at Detroit also stopped the Lions’ fourth quarter rally. Murphy-Bunting also recorded 44 tackles, eight pass breakups and a forced fumble during his first season with the Bucs.

UNSUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LB Lavonte David
Another year, another Pro Bowl snub for David despite another stellar season. So what’s new? Once again David led Tampa Bay in tackles with 122 stops, in addition to seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. David, a long-time team captain, has really stepped up his leadership in recent years and was an excellent mentor to rookie inside linebacker Devin White.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL PLAYER

Bucs OLB Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

OLB Jason Pierre-Paul
The Bucs didn’t know just how much they missed Pierre-Paul until he returned from his fractured neck that forced him to miss the first six games of the season. During that span, Tampa Bay went 2-4. When Pierre-Paul returned the Bucs went 5-5 as he racked up 8.5 sacks in the 10 games he played in, including five sacks and a key forced fumble in the last two games of the season. Pierre-Paul is a tremendous leader and had he been around during the OTAs, mini-camp and training camp, he would have been chosen a team captain – likely over fellow outside linebacker Carl Nassib.

MOST OVERRATED PLAYER

LT Donovan Smith
Smith became the seventh-highest paid offensive tackle in the NFL, and the fifth-highest paid left tackle in the offseason when Tampa Bay signed him to a three-year, $41.25 million deal that included $27 million guaranteed. Smith had a 68.9 overall grade by Pro Football Focus after he gave up five sacks and committed eight penalties in 2019. Smith is a good left tackle, but not a great one, and is he worth an average of $13.75 million per year and the distinction of being called a Top 5 left tackle – at least economically?

JOHN LYNCH GENTLEMAN’S AWARD (BEST INTERVIEW)

ILB Kevin Minter
The Bucs have a locker room full of good guys and a lot of players cooperate with the media during the win after games – win or lose. Long-time veterans like right tackle Demar Dotson and linebacker Lavonte David have always been upstanding guys that always deliver great quotes. But one of PewterReport.com’s favorite players this year was reserve linebacker Kevin Minter, who did a great job with his Bucs Training Camp Diary and provided great support quotes about other Bucs players all year. And Minter was always accessible and in the mood to talk.

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

BUCS’ RECORD NEXT YEAR – 9-7
Tampa Bay made some strides this past year going from back-to-back 5-11 seasons to 7-9 in 2019. Will the Bucs take the next step in 2020? They should, but the NFC South is not a pushover division. New Orleans swept Tampa Bay and still rules the division. The Panthers split with the Bucs this past season and the team split with the Falcons, so until Tampa Bay can exert some supremacy in the division it will likely suffer a few losses to its rivals.

The Bucs will host some high-powered offenses led by some of the league’s best quarterbacks next year in Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Los Angeles’ Jared Goff and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. The Bucs went just 2-6 at home in 2019 and winning at Raymond James Stadium could once again prove to be difficult. The Bucs were 5-3 on the road and could have an easier time winning away from Tampa Bay once again with winnable games at Detroit (3-12-1), Denver (7-9), Las Vegas (7-9) and Chicago (8-8).

So let’s suppose the Bucs can go 5-3 on the road again – with far less actual travel this year – but improve the home record to 4-4. That’s a 9-7 record and another two-win improvement over the 2019 season. A 9-7 record might be able to get the Bucs into the playoffs as a wild card team, too.