FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

Bucs RB Peyton Barber – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

• We’re hearing that the Bucs may move on from running back Peyton Barber and draft a running back to complement leading rusher Ronald Jones II. Barber may be offered a one-year deal close to league minimum to come back and compete for a reserve role with Dare Ogunbowale, but Barber was given the last two seasons to win the starting job but his lack of explosive plays held him back.

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• Carolina defensive tackle Gerald McCoy signed a one-year deal with the Panthers last year after the Bucs parted ways with the six-time Pro Bowler. With the head coaching change in Carolina there will be plenty of changes to the Panthers roster, and the guess here is that McCoy won’t return, as the team’s run defense regressed upon his arrival.

Panthers DT Gerald McCoy – Photo from Panthers Twitter

McCoy has been one of the better pass rushing defensive tackles in the league during his career, but had just five sacks last year, which was his lowest output in seven years. Half of those sacks (2.5) came against Tampa Bay in a Week 6 game in London. McCoy is set to turn 32 later in February and is on the decline.

Should he not return to Carolina, Tampa Bay won’t be an option as the Bucs have moved on from McCoy for good.

• Rivers To Tampa Bay? We followed up last week’s SR’s Fab 5 column on Philip Rivers possibly coming to Tampa Bay to replace Jameis Winston with an enhanced discussion on that topic from all of the Pewter Reporters. We’re only doing one Pewter Nation Podcast per week during the offseason, so make sure you listen to this one. It’s a good one!

Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 179: Is Rivers In Play As Bucs’ Next QB?

The Pewter Report staff will tape a brand new Pewter Nation Podcast on the afternoon of Friday, February 7. The new podcast will be posted later in the afternoon. Stay tuned.

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast, which is presented by Chris Garrido of Westshore Financial, than on your drive home from work on Friday or early Saturday morning at the gym or running errands.

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here. And of course the Pewter Nation Podcast is also available on iTunes. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• Having lived in Overland Park, Kansas – a suburb of Kansas City – from age six to 18 before going to Kansas State University for five years, I was definitely rooting for the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl last Sunday. When they did, my thoughts immediately went towards one of the greatest Chiefs – and NFL players – of all-time, Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Thomas. D.T., as he was known in K.C., was my favorite Chiefs player growing up.

Sometimes a single draft pick can turn a franchise around, and that was the case with Kansas City selecting Thomas with the fourth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, which was one of the greatest drafts in NFL history. There were five Hall of Famers selected in that first round alone, including quarterback Troy Aikman (No. 1 to Dallas), running back Barry Sanders (No. 3 to Detroit), Thomas (No. 4 to Kansas City), cornerback Deion Sanders (No. 5 to Atlanta) and safety Steve Atwater (No. 20 to Denver).

Of course the Bucs picked sixth that year, and just missed out on Aikman, Thomas and both Sanders. Tampa Bay was left to choose linebacker Broderick Thomas instead. It’s safe to say that the Chiefs got the better Thomas, as he led the league in sacks his second year with 20 and finished his career with 126.5 sacks and 41 forced fumbles.

Sadly, Thomas died prematurely at age 33 following complications from a very serious car accident that left him paralyzed. Thomas was braving the snowy and icy roads on I-70 on his way to St. Louis to watch the Rams host the Buccaneers in the 1999 NFC Championship Game.

Thomas was 12 sacks away from entering the NFL’s Top 10 all-time sack list, and he was 25 sacks away from cracking the Top 5. He simply was one of the most dangerous pass rushers of all time with seven years of double-digit sacks.

If you are of a younger generation and haven’t seen Thomas’ highlights, watch the tape. You’ll also see some similarity between Thomas and Tampa Bay’s leading sacker, Shaq Barrett, beyond the fact that both wore No. 58.

(WARNING: the song in the video contains profanity)

• And finally, I want to welcome Jon Ledyard to the Pewter Report team as our new Bucs beat writer, replacing Trevor Sikkema, who recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and will be working at The Draft Network full-time. I actually met Ledyard through Sikkema back in 2018 as the two did the Locked On NFL Draft podcast and teamed up to start The Draft Network that year.

PR’s new Bucs beat writer Jon Ledyard

Ledyard has plenty of experience covering NFL football and the NFL Draft, having spent the last few years as a Steelers beat writer living in Pennsylvania. Ledyard made his debut on PewterReport.com this week with his own Bucs Roster Analysis breakdown, and a story on the possibility of Cardinals running back David Johnson reuniting with Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay this year.

You can read more about Ledyard, who will be relocating to Tampa this summer to cover Bucs training camp and the regular season full-time, by clicking here for his introduction story. Ledyard will make his debut on the Pewter Nation Podcast in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine the last week of February.

Ledyard will begin a weekly column on PewterReport.com in the coming weeks that features video breakdowns and analysis similar to what Sikkema did in his weekly Cover 3 column. Make sure you welcome Ledyard to the PR team in the article comments below and follow him on Twitter at @LedyardNFLDraft.