Mike Smith’s Master Of Disguise
May 14th, 2016
Reason to drool
Repeatedly, defensive coordinator Mike Smith cracks the beginning of a sinister smirk when he talks about confusing opposing quarterbacks with multiple looks.
So what player or players will be critical to Smith playing Riddler to, say, Sean Payton’s Batman?
Joe’s going to point a finger this at new Bucs linebacker Daryl Smith. The 34-year-old Jaguars and Ravens standout has shined at every linebacker position. He also played for many years under Mike Smith, when he was the Jags’ D-coordinator.
What a weapon Daryl Smith could be with his versatility and knowledge of this defense. Mike Smith should be able to find all kinds of confusing blitzes to be executed by speedsters Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David.
This week, Joe had a 1-on-1 chat with assistant defensive line coach Paul Spicer, a holdover from Lovie Smith’s staff who played for years in Jacksonville with both Smiths.
Without being asked, Spicer referenced Daryl Smith’s versatility and what a weapon that can be.
For a coach like Mike Smith, who loves disguise and adjustments, having a trio of three-down linebackers will be like Joe joining three cheerleaders in a hot tub. All kinds of dangerous options.
May 14th, 2016 at 9:17 am
@Joe
Also keep your eyes out in practice for Noah Spence and Jacquies Smith work on drop and zone coverage!!!! This will be noticable when we see some of the secondary blitzes!!!!!
So exciting to be a Bucs Fan!!!!!
May 14th, 2016 at 9:30 am
Some suggested disguises: 2002 Buccaneers, 1985 Bears, 2015 Broncos, and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Those disguises would be down right scary…
May 14th, 2016 at 9:40 am
If the Bucs D gets really scary…maybe Joe could send opposing QB’s some “depends” so they don’t embarrass themselves in HDTV.
May 14th, 2016 at 9:43 am
adjustments, a forgotten art here in Tampa bay.Gotta say that Hargreaves seems to be built for that role of blitzer.And if Smith does well he has coverage skills to cover vacated area.Or recreate one of my favorite Ronde
Barber plays fake the blitz,drop back,Touchdown Tampa bay!
May 14th, 2016 at 9:57 am
Bob, the Ravens cited his diminishing coverage skills before kicking him to the curb.
Whatever. He can still give us some much needed help. Really like signing both him and Grimes.
May 14th, 2016 at 10:01 am
I can see it now, the Blitzin Bucs.
May 14th, 2016 at 11:17 am
i think kwon and david are our best blitzers and can get to the qb. i would love to see them be aloud to move around and rush from all angles.
May 14th, 2016 at 11:23 am
There’s good misused talent on our defense, hopefully they can get the most out of them. As soon as they fired Lovie I was pleading for some sort of hybrid scheme. Sounds like we might get to see some of that.
May 14th, 2016 at 11:23 am
@ Biff
I meant our 4 th round pick at safety.
May 14th, 2016 at 12:41 pm
Joe says here he’d going to point the finger at a linebacker. But I and a lot of Buc fans are gonna point the finger at the new regime if they cannot/do not win. We don’t want to see that Koetter smile at the post game conferences about we gotta do a better job. WIN. That’s all we want. By 1 or 30. Just WIN. Batter up DC Smith. We got fresh rope waitin for you to if you don’t produce..sir!
May 14th, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Don’t judge Smith at the first of the season until our Defense masters his new type of defense never seen with the Bucs before. However, once mastered I believe it will really pay off big time! Don’t forget our Offense still won games despite Lovie’s screwed up defense, so we can hang in there until the new defense is mastered.
May 14th, 2016 at 1:25 pm
After seeing what the Joes look like in person they’d have zero options with any cheerleader in a hot tub
You’d be surprised by the power of Joe’s intellect and charm.–Joe
May 14th, 2016 at 1:56 pm
I am trying to stay optimistic about Smith and the defense. I just remember how horrible it was forever in Atlanta. I personally will be leaning toward giving most of the credit to Hayes because if the defense is effective its more than likley starting with the pressure up front. I will stay open minded to Smith but I am skeptical
May 15th, 2016 at 12:56 am
Disguised scheming sounds nice but this Defense had a serious lack of fundamentals last year. We can’t let INTs get dropped and we can’t miss tackles or shoot ourselves in the foots with pentalties. Get the fundamentals right. If not it won’t matter what system schemes or disguises were using.
May 15th, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Kvin, I also remember getting soundly beaten several times by Coach Smith & Coach Kotters former teams. Atl and Jax. I for one hope Coach Smith stays as our DC until we Win the Super Bowl. And we are again a tough defense to win against. I believe Coach Kotter will have our Offense in top 10, with a top 15 defense we should be competitive.
Coach Smith was hindered in Atl his GM is not that good. We have a good to better than good GM who I think is trying to build “His” team and structure his plans on the field and within the organization for the long term.