Welcome Back, Ryan Smith
October 1st, 2019
Back in June, head coach Bucco Bruce Arians said the Bucs secondary is “totally fixed” and he named Ryan Smith as one of the team’s “five solid corners.”
(Where are the other four?).
That famous statement was a miscalculation. The Bucs secondary is in a heck of a slump. So that’s why Joe is actually excited about backup cornerback Smith returning this week. Smith’s four-game drug suspension is over and he can return to play Sunday against the Saints if the Bucs officially activate him by Saturday afternoon, which they are expected to do.
Maybe, just maybe, Smith is the best cornerback on the roster right now. Hey, Joe can hope.
In reality, Smith is more likely to impact the Tampa Bay special teams, where he’s an established NFL presence. “Speed on special teams. He’s a special teams player and we look forward to having him back,” Arians said yesterday of Smith.
October 1st, 2019 at 7:02 am
Who gets cut?
October 1st, 2019 at 7:08 am
He will be great for our STs an I mean great the dude balls out in STs play an he will be ok for depth but he shines on STs. Welcome back bud now get into gear an let’s beat NOLA. Go Bucs #endthedrought
October 1st, 2019 at 7:09 am
Maybe he starts at slot?
October 1st, 2019 at 7:10 am
Smith might turn out to be a good nickel back. This will be a good battle between him and stewart.
October 1st, 2019 at 7:29 am
Time to cut SMLB, watch him block on the Whitehead pick. That guy doesn’t belong in the NFL.
Watch him on punt coverage.
October 1st, 2019 at 7:43 am
^^ time for you to change your name. Dude literally has one carry for 0 yards.
Licht and Arians should be on the phone daily with Steve Keim trying to pry Patrick Peterson away. This team now has a legit chance to be 4-2 at the bye, which is when Peterson’s suspension ends
October 1st, 2019 at 7:45 am
Ghost of Darrell I saw that… rooting for the guy but he looked pretty pathetic for what feels like every play I saw him involved in
October 1st, 2019 at 8:00 am
Who got cut to facilitate this? I’m gonna guess Bailey or Harris, could even see Cichy get put on short term IR with that elbow injury.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:02 am
O’connor will be placed back on the PS….
And, yes….Ryan Smith is perhaps our best CB…..been saying it for a couple of weeks….and the sad thing is….I haven’t been challenged.
His presence will be felt on ST…..
October 1st, 2019 at 8:09 am
The other four are playing 12 yard soft cushion coverage, something we were promised would be a thing of the past during the offseason. With the pass rush, run stopping and saftey play there is zero reason to.continue playing these guys that far off. Half the game.I couldn’t even see our corners on the t.v screen. New Orleans short passing game is.much more dangerous than the rams.and for.some reason their defense may be just as good if not better than the rams. That soft cushion aint gonna fly.
Where is todd bowles??? Where is the press, the jammung, the bump and run?
October 1st, 2019 at 8:09 am
“It seems like BA is not going to shake the starting lineup
Ryan Smith doesn’t play the slot, he is the 3rd outside corner
Seems like VH3 move to the inside is not part of their plan
The NFL is a copycat league… they will attack our slot corner MJ Stewart all day”
Son of Kobe Faker
October 1st, 2019 at 8:13 am
Personally I think people like to rag on rookies way too much and forget how dumb they seem their first day on a new job and it taking time to get comfortable it’s really ignorant.
Now MJ Stewart this dude should lead the league in tackles because everything thrown to his receiver gets caught, talk about cement shoes. A slow slot corner is about as useful as a pass rush package that has matt gay as an edge rusher
October 1st, 2019 at 8:17 am
“The Bone Head Game
Bridgewater has taken over the crown from JW3
Bridge because of his injury and still being green makes mental mistakes
JW3 still has mental breakdowns however slowly but surely playing more games, he is improving in limiting mental mistakes
We will win the game because of Bridgewaters mistakes”
Son of Kobe Faker
October 1st, 2019 at 8:22 am
The return of Smith should be an asset.
With Bowles fixated on blitzing like a madman, the DB’s should be given some critical leeway for constantly being hung out to dry. And, for the most part, the Rams did a good job of picking up the blitz. Goff was constantly harassed and made some errors, but not enough to keep him from throwing for over 500 yards.
With the subpar talent level of VHIII, et.al, it will be interesting to see what defensive packages they throw at the Saints.
Do you go after Teddy or play more conventional to give the DB’s the help they so sorely need?
All I do know is that the Bucs cannot continue to be ceding 40 points to their opponents and expect to win. Forty points allowed with four turnovers is not a recipe for success.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:22 am
Arians is trying to build confidence.
Its working.
We gotta outscore people, get used to it. Works in KC. Their defense is horrific also.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:27 am
Cant be worse then Stewart…..Not sure what the thought process was there with drafting Stewart, his measurables aren’t there. I’ve always felt Smith had potential but he too started at one position, then switched, the defense changed….If we’re striving for developing players, they need consistency to develop. They need to stay at ONE position in the same system for 2-3 yrs. That’s how developing works. I believe Smith works out for us in the end. Stewart, i just dont see it. He’s obviously slow….everyone sees it.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:34 am
Whos got the 2 best starting corners in the game? Arguably the Rams. Howd that work out for them when a QB people wana run outa town hung 48 and 4 TDs on them? Its a passing league now everyones gona give up yards unless the pass rush gets there. These guys will be ok as long as the pass rush keeps bringing it. No need to trade for a headache of a corner just so people can try to run him outa town too.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:38 am
Statistically – Ryan Smith was the the best CB on the team last year….
Patrick O’Conner is this year’s yoyo player. Up, Down, Up, Down…. At least he made a couple full NFL min paychecks to tide him over this year. Injuries are likely so O’Conner will probably be back “up” at some point.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:40 am
Darin:
Great point
October 1st, 2019 at 8:46 am
DARIN
BINGO!!!!!!!!
lol….folks keep talking about our DBs but bucs Wrs are lighting CBs up too….plus the rams offense was 1 of the most explosive offenses in the league last year….they were just playing in the SB….
i will say imo ryan smith will do better than MJ stewart in the slot….MJ looks more and more like a ST type of player….
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 1st, 2019 at 9:06 am
Pretty sure RS is an outside corner. Would like to see him on the other side of Davis with VHIII in the slot but don’t think coaches will do that. Also when is Dean going to be back?
October 1st, 2019 at 9:52 am
Arians called him a special teams player.
October 1st, 2019 at 9:53 am
lol. i dont know how i missed the last paragraph or 2. rough night.
October 1st, 2019 at 9:54 am
Sign D.J Swearinger!!
October 1st, 2019 at 11:18 am
@Eric their defense doesn’t create as many turnovers though. I actually think Todd is playing D just how he wants to, he’s not concerned with stats or yards. Confuse the hell out of the qb and pressure him so he makes mistakes (4 turnovers) and tighten up in the red zone, that didn’t work as well as it has been, but I think it’s a good strategy when you know your DBs are young and gonna get beat anyway, we’re lucky they’ve been making their tackles too.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:20 am
Some more screeching about DBs playing their fifth reg season game under a NEW HC regime. JCOAFC!!! STs could use more help. Glad Smith is back. What did he get popped for?
October 1st, 2019 at 11:53 am
Orl
P E D’s
October 1st, 2019 at 11:57 am
I think on 3rd down you have to move vh3 inside.. hes slower than smith but faster than stewart. and tbh I think stewart is more of a SS in this defense not an nickel
October 1st, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Ghost of Darrell Henderson Says:
October 1st, 2019 at 7:29 am
Time to cut SMLB, watch him block on the Whitehead pick. That guy doesn’t belong in the NFL.
Watch him on punt coverage.
——————–
Cut our 2nd round pick? And go back in time to draft Darrell “Will Never See the Field” Henderson… because RoJo sucks? Got it. You’re a genius….
I’m thinking we should do the opposite of whatever you think.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:21 pm
We need a corner at slot that can turn and burn, Mj is tough but not fast enough against small fast wrs running drags and it shows on tape
October 1st, 2019 at 1:35 pm
Hope Smith is in football shape. Any news on JPP?
October 1st, 2019 at 3:12 pm
“We’ll see him and Jamel [Dean] run today, so hopefully they’ll practice on Wednesday.”- BA on White and Dean.
Would love for Dean to come back healthy and quickly make his way to the starting outside CB spot over VH3. Move him to nickel. They said they were gonna play MJ Stewart as a safety this year. He’s a hard, downhill hitter and would be much faster in a box safety position.
October 1st, 2019 at 3:48 pm
The same morons talking about rookies this time of year are the same morons last season calling Vita, “velcro” and saying we needed to cut Rojo – not to mention they were the same idiots saying we needed to cut Winston and give Fitz a longterm deal.