FAB 2. SPEEDY BAKER WOULD BE AN IDEAL FIT FOR BUCS SECONDARY
I’m wishing former Tampa Bay strong safety John Lynch good luck on two endeavors this weekend. First, I hope he becomes the fourth Buccaneer to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And second, I wish him luck on becoming the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers despite not having any scouting or personnel experience.

While the Bucs’ current Hall of Famers – defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, defensive tackle Warren Sapp and linebacker Derrick Brooks – would still be a fit in today’s NFL despite playing in a different era, the same probably can’t be said of Lynch. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Lynch was an intimidating presence that roamed the middle of Tampa Bay’s secondary, delivering knockout hits with his forearm and jarring the ball loose from receivers, tight ends and running backs.

Before there was the targeting rule, Lynch would target. He wasn’t trying to purposefully hurt anyone – just make sure they didn’t catch the ball. Back in the 1990s and the early 2000s the league was more liberal about head shots, although you couldn’t lead with the crown of your helmet. That was “spearing.”

Former Bucs SS John Lynch – Photo by: Getty Images

I’m not saying Lynch couldn’t have been successful in the modern day NFL with the rule changes designed to protect defenseless receivers. But I doubt he would be a Hall of Famer without the ability to deliver the punishing shots that forced 16 fumbles and broke up 36 passes in his illustrious 15-year career.

Lynch was essentially a fast linebacker playing safety, and although there are still a few NFL safeties with his body type – notably Pro Bowlers Harrison Smith and Kam Chancellor – the body type at the safety position in the modern day has shifted. At 5-foot-11, Ed Reed ushered in a new breed of safety in Baltimore, the type that was effective in the passing game by picking off passes (64) and scoring touchdowns (13) and earning nine trips to the Pro Bowl along the way.

The better safeties these days are closer in size to cornerbacks than linebackers because they are asked to do more in coverage, such as cover a tight end flanked out wide, or match up with a slot receiver.

2017 Pro Bowl Safeties
New England FS Devin McCourty – 5-10, 195
Oakland FS Reggie Nelson – 5-11, 210
Baltimore FS Eric Weddle – 5-11, 200
Kansas City SS Eric Berry – 5-11, 212
Denver SS Darian Stewart – 5-11, 214
Green Bay FS Ha Ha Clinton-Dix – 6-0, 208
Minnesota FS Harrison Smith – 6-2, 218
NY Giants SS Landon Collins – 6-0, 220

Of the eight safeties voted to the Pro Bowl, only three were over 6-foot tall. Of the four safeties on Tampa Bay’s current roster, the best one, Keith Tandy, is just 5-foot-10, 205. And the fact that there are only four safeties on the Bucs’ roster – Tandy, Isaiah Johnson and two players slated to become unrestricted free agents in Bradley McDougald and Chris Conte – definitely classifies this position as a strong need in the offseason even if McDougald and Conte are re-signed to short-term, “prove-it” deals as I expect them to be.

The safety PewterReport.com has going to the Buccaneers in the second round of its latest 2017 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft is Washington’s Budda Baker. At 5-foot-10, 192 pounds, he’s not physically imposing by any means with his stature, but for such a small player he’s definitely a striker.

Washington S Budda Baker – Photo by: Getty Images

This week I caught up with former Bucs secondary coach Jimmy Lake, who had two coaching stints in Tampa Bay from 2006-07 and again from 2010-11, to talk about Baker. Lake has been the defensive backs coach at the University of Washington since 2013 and has put first-round Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Peters in the NFL, in addition to several Huskies destined for the league this year in cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Kevin King along with Baker.

“He’s 192,” Lake said. “I almost think there should be a nickel position when you draft. It should say ‘N’ for nickel. We like to put players into boxes like ‘corner’ or ‘safety,’ and he can definitely play the middle of the field like an Ed Reed or Eric Berry-type, but this guy will match up with any slot in the league, too. His speed, his anticipation and his cover skills are top notch. This guy knows how to blitz, he knows angles – he’s a football player. That’s what makes him so versatile, the fact that he can cover a tight end, he can cover a slot receiver, he can blitz, and he can play the deep middle. There’s not a lot he can’t do.

“If there is a knock on him it’s going to be his size. He’s not a 200-plus-pound player. But I do remember a certain guy that wore No. 20 [legendary cornerback Ronde Barber] for the Bucs that played at about 180-181 pounds, and he caused havoc in the backfield and in coverage.”

That’s what I was hoping to hear because when I see Baker play I see a player like Barber on film – only faster. In fact, Baker was the second-fastest Husky on the team only behind wide receiver John Ross.

“I personally hand-timed him at a 4.34, but what makes Budda so impressive is that he practices 100 miles per hour every day,” Lake said. “Then you pick up any tape from any game and he plays the exact same way. He’s one of those guys that plays with his hair on fire all the time. When we run gassers at the end of practice he never lets anyone beat him. He always finishes conditioning contests first.”

Baker came to Washington as a prized recruit at 167 pounds and played safety at 174 pounds during his freshman season. As a sophomore he got his weight up to 184 pounds and then bulked up to 192 pounds this season – all while maintaining his speed.

Speed is important at the safety position for Tampa Bay because defensive coordinator Mike Smith often likes to match his safeties up in man coverage and sometimes they have to come down to the line of scrimmage and cover a slot receiver rather than a tight end. Baker, who owns a 36.5-inch vertical leap, not only has the speed to cover receivers down the field, he has the speed to go the distance, too.

When Washington wrapped up its 2016 conditioning, head coach Chris Peterson took his team to the Space Needle in Seattle and had the players race to the top of the 58-story building. That’s 848 steps in case you were wondering. Guess who won?

Washington S Budda Baker – Photo by: Getty Images

“Any running competition he’s going to be first,” Lake said. “Not only is he fast, mentally he’s tough and competitive. He’s going to compete and he’s going to win. One of our last conditioning tests before the 2016 season was a race to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. It didn’t surprise anybody that Budda Baker finished first.”

What makes Baker impressive is not just his speed and athleticism. It’s his work ethic and football IQ that helped him amass 199 tackles, 18 pass breakups, 13 tackles for loss, four sacks, five interceptions and three forced fumbles.

“The work that he puts in in the film room – the extra work he puts in – it’s like he’s a pro already,” Lake said. “He’s wise beyond his years. We’ll play somebody on Saturday and beat them, and then he’s already watched film on our next opponent early on Sunday morning and he’ll shoot texting me about coverages before I wake up. He’s a coach’s dream and a special young man.

“He has a football mind like Ronde and he has a work ethic like Ronde. Ronde wouldn’t leave the building. He would watch film over and over and over. That’s exactly the way Budda operates. He lives and breathes football. He’s a football gym rat. That’s who he is. Whoever drafts him is going to have to run him out of the building because he’s going to want to stay there.”

Baker models his game after Seattle’s Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 202 pounds and plays in the same cities from the Huskies.  NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah called Baker “Earl Thomas lite” in one of his tweets.

Baker might also remind you of Arizona’s Pro Bowl safety-nickel cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, who is even shorter at 5-foot-9, 184 pounds. Who happened to be in charge of drafting the “Honey Badger” for the Cardinals back in the third round in 2013?

Bucs general manager Jason Licht, who was then Arizona’s vice president of player personnel. Don’t be surprised if Tampa Bay’s top personnel man sees a slightly bigger, slightly faster version of Mathieu on film and envisions seeing Baker in pewter and red.