The Good And The Bad
July 10th, 2019
Run stopper.
If there was a glimmer of hope on the atrocity that was the shameful Bucs defense last year, it was the light coming from the play of rookie cornerback Carlton Davis.
No, Davis was nowhere near a Pro Bowl player. But as horrible as that defense was, Davis made a play here or there that gave Bucs fans hope.
Now the PFF tribe senses the same thing. They had twittered out that Davis had seven run-stops last year. Basically, a “run-stop” is preventing a ball-carrier from getting a first down by tackle, assist, forced-fumble, recovered fumble — you get the drill.
By the tribe’s calculations, Davis had the second-most run-stops of any rookie corner.
But here is the thing: any corner in the secondary should not be known best for stopping the run. Unless a corner is constantly blitzing, that means a running back is often getting to the second level. That’s not good.
Of course, neither was the Bucs defense last year.
In a passing league, a corner should be making a name for himself in coverage.
Will the new Bucs’ defensive staff be able to boost Davis’ career? We shall see. But remember, the Bucs drafted two corners on the second day of the draft. That sure tells Joe the new staff didn’t like the play of at least one (or more?) of the 2018 Bucs corners.
July 10th, 2019 at 8:23 am
Davis can ball too.
Mj stewart, VH3, Ryan Smith, all garbage the rest are serviceable even Harris. Not sure why we let Elliot go as he was by far our best slot corner but wtfdik
Reminder: Licht drafted MJ Stewart over Donte Jackson. #GoBucs
#ItsAmentality
July 10th, 2019 at 8:24 am
To be honest, I am all for corners getting tackles. I would have to see some NFL Next Gen Stats 😉 but it could mean that they are setting that edge after the last man on the line of scrimmage. See: Donnie Abraham and Ronde Barber
Especially if the tackle stat is for stopping a first down!
July 10th, 2019 at 8:30 am
@Joe … “In a passing league, a corner should not be making a name for himself in coverage”. Uhhh, au contraire, yes he should.
Might want to reverse that & rewrite it as a question Joe … “In a passing league, should not a corner be making a name for himself in coverage?”
Agree that the “new staff didn’t like the play of at least one (or more?) of the 2018 corners” Joe. Pick a corner. Any corner. But apparently you can’t fire the whole team so some will stick. For now.
July 10th, 2019 at 8:41 am
All Davis needs to do is “cheat a little bit” like probowl Cowgirls CB’s do against ME13.
July 10th, 2019 at 8:48 am
Db55 you almost made a good point until you said Javien Elliot was pure best slot corner when he was just as garbo as MJ Stewart.
Say what you will about Vernon but he was far and away our best nickel before he got hurt.
Also the real studs of the secondary will be SMB and Mike Edward’s. Both have complete skill sets and a knack for tracking the ball in the air and making plays on it.
July 10th, 2019 at 9:01 am
“Reminder: Licht drafted MJ Stewart over Donte Jackson.
Reminder: Licht drafted Sean “Murphy’s Law” Bunting over Treyvon Mullen. LOL!
July 10th, 2019 at 9:04 am
Reminder: Licht drafted Dean and Edwards over the best RB is all of college football history (8.2 YPC), Darrell “Freaking” Henderson! LOL!
July 10th, 2019 at 9:05 am
“That sure tells Joe the new staff didn’t like the play of at least one (or more?) of the 2018 Bucs corners.”
________________________________________
Or the fact we were down to backup and developmental players by the end of the season.
July 10th, 2019 at 9:40 am
…..and that’s why you want big physical corners.
July 10th, 2019 at 9:40 am
and of course a Devin White.
July 10th, 2019 at 9:41 am
remember: VHG was playing lights out until he got hurt vs the saints week1…..
GO BUCS!!!!
July 10th, 2019 at 9:49 am
and folks keep getting things twisted….lol…
we drafted 2 CB’s to compete and push the vets along with providing depth….once VHG went down, we had to depend on ryan smith & mj stewart as our primary back ups…..
TB knew 1 injury to the secondary and we’re back to square 1…..
playing in smittys defense combined with lack of proper coaching has hurt VHG, spence and justin evans more than their injuries have….
GO BUCS!!!!!
July 10th, 2019 at 9:51 am
Jalen Ramsey is a stud tackler. Makes him that much better than cover corners.
He’s also as lock down as it gets lol would rather have that.
July 10th, 2019 at 10:16 am
Maybe DAVIS should have stepped aside during all running plays and stuck with a WR on the way to nowhere. He could have made a name for himself as a cover corner— “best lockdown corner during running plays. Held all his receivers to zero catches for entire year as tailback breezed by him for an easy score.”
July 10th, 2019 at 11:37 am
Joe should also remember that the bucs lost their “#1” corner in Brent grimes and by default are short a guy. They will also be playing more press coverage and have a couole guys who have battled injuries.
ITS COACHING!!!!!
July 10th, 2019 at 11:38 am
I am going into this season thinking of the entire secondary as a blank slate in terms of evaluating what we actually have.
Over the last 4 years, only Grimes put in some good seasons but his style of play still hampered the defense.
In that same time, if you isolate the snaps Hargreaves had in press coverage, he was our best corner.
We will see. I don’t honestly care who the CBs/Ss are if they get the job done and make this pass defense at least average or better
July 10th, 2019 at 11:55 am
I still like a corner who can tackle. He needs to be in man coverage closer to use his length to his advantage. Hes not a twitchy guy. But hes tuff as nails. He has showed me more than VH3 has. I can see Carlton being a Pro Bowl type player.
July 10th, 2019 at 1:18 pm
Almost every team has a starting WR over 6-2. Davis might not be lightning fast like Dean but he has the length and size to compete with the bigger WR. He did fine as a rookie in a terrible defensive scheme. I expect a big improvement this year. Interesting, Dean and Davis played together at Auburn where Davis was better but a year ahead of Dean.
July 10th, 2019 at 1:33 pm
Jean- You hit the nail on the head! We had ZERO depth and had to rely on guys straight off the couch to start, of all things. VHIII was injured, Grimes was injured, Davis, Conte, even MJ were injured. And that’s not even a full list!
Going in to THIS season you know that you have to replace a “starting” outside corner, you cannot rely on Hargreaves, and one of the corners drafted last year is slower than molasses. When you consider that Davis has the best chance to start and produce, this year’s draft makes a whole lot more sense.
AND, think about the impending injuries that WILL happen. It’s not ‘if’ it’s ‘when?’
July 10th, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Throw all evaluations of any Bucs players who have only played in the NFL under a Mike Smith defensive scheme.
That is all.
July 10th, 2019 at 2:32 pm
Right on snook. After this year let’s see how a lot of these draft picks are progressing with better coaching and developing.
July 10th, 2019 at 3:05 pm
I guess I missed whatever it is that made people think Davis was good. He looked like trash to me and I think that is a big reason why Arians went to heavy in the secondary this offseason. Davis looked like he probably should have been a 4th rounder to me. Was hoping he would be good, and maybe he will be, but I didn’t see much that gave me hope for him going forward.
July 10th, 2019 at 4:02 pm
Think these rookies are going to ball out they are faster stronger bigger and probably smarter than what we got now in the secondary.
July 10th, 2019 at 5:45 pm
I’ve been voting Dean for #2 CB since he got here. Two second rounders that played across each other at Auburn playing a man defense. Dean 6’2″ 220. Davis 6’1″ 205 lbs.
July 10th, 2019 at 5:59 pm
I don’t think Licht had any role in picking Bunting… other than saying “Yes sir, Mr. Bruce. Would you like another?” These rooks are all Bruce and Todd… not Licht.