FAB 2. Where Will The Bucs’ Sacks Come From To Replace JPP?

Bucs fans are absolutely beside themselves over the news that defensive end-turned-outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul will likely miss most or all of the 2019 season due to a fractured vertebrae in his neck stemming from a car crash weeks ago.

Despite battling a myriad of injuries, Pierre-Paul had a triumphant debut in Tampa Bay, recording 12.5 sacks and breaking the double-digit sack drought that has plagued this franchise since Simeon Rice last accomplished that feat in 2005.

Bucs DE Jason Pierre-Paul and DT Gerald McCoy – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Now Bucs fans are wringing their hands, wondering where those sacks will come from in 2019, especially if the team parts ways with defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who was responsible for six sacks of his own last year. Eighteen and a half sacks is a lot to replace considering that the Bucs had just 38 sacks last year, with JPP and McCoy combining for nearly half that total.

Notice how I said that Bucs fans are wringing their hands – and not necessarily the Buccaneers themselves? That’s because I don’t think they are.

New coordinator Todd Bowles is a defensive mastermind that will bring plenty of pressure and blitzes from all over the field. He never got the chance to coach Pierre-Paul, so outside of watching film from last year, he doesn’t know what he’s missing and will work around his absence.

Would Bowles prefer to have JPP suit up in and red and pewter this season? Of course, but he likely won’t and Bowles and the Bucs will march on without him. Tampa Bay has edge rushers Carl Nassib, Noah Spence and newly signed Shaq Barrett all in contract years, in addition to draft picks Devin White, who will blitz from the interior, and Anthony Nelson, who will play outside linebacker and bring pressure from the edge. While JPP was the most accomplished at getting to the quarterback, the cupboard isn’t bare.

Here is a look at how the sacks were spread out in Arizona over a lot of different players in Bowles’ two seasons with Arians.

Cardinals’ 47 Sacks In 2013

OLB John Abraham – 11.5
DE Calais Campbell – 9
ILB Karlos Dansby – 6.5
DT Darnell Dockett – 4.5
OLB Matt Shaughnessy – 3
ILB Daryl Washington – 3
OLB Marcus Benard – 2.5
OLB Dontay Moch – 1
DT Dan Williams – 1
SS Yeremiah Bell – 1
OLB Sam Acho – 1
CB Javier Arenas – 1
DT Frostee Rucker – 1
SS Tyran Mathieu – 1

A total of 14 players registered at least one sack that season in Arizona with 28.5 sacks coming from linebackers, including a combined 9.5 from inside linebackers Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington. The defensive line accounted for 15 sacks, and the secondary added three sacks in 2013.

Cardinals’ 35 Sacks In 2014

OLB Alex Okafor – 8
DE Calais Campbell – 7
DT Frostee Rucker – 5
ILB Larry Foote – 2
ILB Deone Bucannon – 2
FS Rashad Johnson – 1
OLB Marcus Benard – 1
CB Patrick Peterson – 1
CB Jerraud Powers – 1
DT Dan Williams – 1
SS Tony Jefferson – 1
OLB Sam Acho – 1
ILB Kevin Minter – 1
ILB Lorenzo Alexander – 1
DE Kareem Martin – 1
DE Tommy Kelly – 1

Without Abraham, who suffered an early season concussion that forced him to retire in September, a total of 16 Cardinals registered sacks, as Bowles’ piece-mealed the team’s pass rush. A total of 16 sacks came from linebackers, including a combined six from inside linebackers Larry Foote, Deone Bucannon, Kevin Minter and Lorenzo Alexander. Fifteen sacks came from defensive linemen, and four sacks came from the secondary.

Bucs’ 38 Sacks In 2018

OLB Jason Pierre-Paul – 12.5
OLB Carl Nassib – 6.5
DT Gerald McCoy – 6
ILB Lavonte David – 3.5
DT Vita Vea – 3
DE Vinny Curry – 3
DE Will Gholston – 1
ILB Kwon Alexander – 1
ILB Kevin Minter – 1
ILB Adarius Taylor – 1

The Bucs played in a 4-3 defense last year, but let’s convert the positions those sackers played last year into what they will be playing this year. A total of 10 players recorded at least one sack in Tampa Bay in 2018 with 25.5 sacks coming from linebackers, including 6.5 sacks from inside linebackers Lavonte David, Kwon Alexander, Adarius Taylor and Minter. The defensive line accounted for 13 sacks and no one from the secondary recorded a single sack.

Mike Smith’s defense that both he and interim defensive coordinator Mark Duffner deployed relied heavily on pressure from the Bucs’ four-man front and rarely dialed up blitzes. In 2017, the Bucs had just 22 sacks, led by McCoy and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, who each had six. The linebacker unit produced just two, and for the first time in his illustrious career, David didn’t post a single sack in a season during the 2017 campaign.

The year prior in 2016, David had five, while middle linebacker Kwon Alexander had three. In that year, Jude Adjei-Barimah had two sacks, which are the only sacks generated by a defensive back in Smith’s defense during his 2.5 years in Tampa Bay.

Without Pierre-Paul, I could see Bowles blitzing Devin White and Lavonte David more up the middle, in addition to bringing safeties and cornerbacks on blitzes from the slot to compensate for his loss. Here’s what 38 sacks could look like this year in Tampa Bay without Pierre-Paul or McCoy.

Bucs’ Projected 38 Sacks In 2019

OLB Carl Nassib – 8
OLB Shaq Barrett – 5
ILB Lavonte David – 5
ILB Devin White – 5
DT Vita Vea – 5
OLB Anthony Nelson – 3
ILB Deone Bucannon – 2
ILB Kevin Minter – 1
DE Will Gholston – 1
SS Mike Edwards – 1
CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – 1
SS Jordan Whitehead – 1

Keep in mind that Tampa Bay’s 2019 season doesn’t start tomorrow, as Arians noted a week ago at the conclusion of the Bucs rookie mini-camp.

“It’s easy. When we get to training camp, we will have the guys that we want in there,” Arians said. “When I was in Arizona, every year that last week we would always add the missing piece. We’re looking for the missing piece right now. There is somebody out there. John Abraham came in, Dwight Freeney came in – guys that really impacted our defense and Todd did a great job of matching them up. We’re nowhere near where we are going to be in September, so we will just wait and see.”

Bucs DT Gerald McCoy and DE Carl Nassib – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In Arizona, Arians and general manager Steve Keim signed Abraham on July 25, 2013 and he wound up leading the Cardinals in sacks with 11.5 that year. During the 2015 season, the Cardinals signed Dwight Freeney on October 12 and he wound up with a team-high eight sacks and three forced fumbles, even earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in Week 16 with three sacks and a forced fumble.

In Tampa Bay, Licht signed Jacquies Smith on September 10, 2014 and he went on to post 6.5 sacks, which ranked second on the team, and one forced fumble that season. Last year, Licht claimed Carl Nassib off waivers on September 3, and he wound up eventually starting for the injured Vinny Curry and posting a career-high 6.5 sacks

The Bucs’ leading sacker in 2019 won’t be Pierre-Paul, but he may not even be on the team right now. Whoever that leading sacker ends up being, Bowles will make sure he has plenty of help when it comes to getting to the quarterback this season.