Premier Disrupter
July 3rd, 2021
Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett
One reason the Bucs defense has become so damn good is the lottery ticket they found along the road known as Shaq Barrett.
When the Bucs’ sack king blew up in 2019 and recorded 19.5 sacks, absolutely no one saw that coming. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles thought maybe Shaq could be an eight-sack guy.
Even Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians admitted Shaq’s production took him by surprise. If anyone thought Shaq would have dominated like he did, there would have been a bidding war for him in free agency.
We saw how Shaq can take over games. He hounded Packers drama queen quarterback Aaron Rodgers just enough to throw Rodgers’ timing off in the NFC Championship game. Shaq followed that up by chasing Pat Mahomes around The Licht House like a kid trying to corral a hyper labrador that somehow bolted out the front door.
NFL NextGen stats recently did a deep study of the best disruptors in getting after quarterbacks using all sorts of different stats. Per this formula, Shaq ranks eighth in the league.
How good is Shaq? Joe isn’t convinced the Bucs win the Super Bowl last year without him. May not have even gotten to the Super Bowl.
July 3rd, 2021 at 12:06 am
The fact that Aaron Donald is 6th with all the attention he gets is beast mode. Give respect to get respect.
July 3rd, 2021 at 12:11 am
Shaq is the nicest guy ever & supports the Bolts. Go Lightning ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
July 3rd, 2021 at 12:22 am
It’s interesting to look back and see “what if” vs what happened. Denver took Bradley Chubb at # 5 in 2018 ( who Tampa would have likely taken at 7 ) making Barrett “expendable”. Bucs of course traded out of 7 with the Bills who took Josh Allen ( Winny still had “potential” ) and landed VV and Carlton Davis ( never mind the MJ Stewart pick ). I’d say it has all worked out in a weird yet wonderful way.
July 3rd, 2021 at 1:22 am
The Bucs absolutely pancaked Bosa and Donald in 2020.
July 3rd, 2021 at 6:38 am
I agree with you Joe that the Bucs may not have even gotten to the Super Bowl without Shaq. But I think you could say the same thing about JPP or Suh or LVD or White or any number of other Bucs. Everyone contributed big time and they all complemented each other beautifully IMO.
But not just the defense; the offense complemented our defense beautifully in almost all games last season, and especially during the playoffs. Examples:
1 – During the regular season the Bucs’ defense came up with 25 takeaways. Off of those 25 takeaways, the Bucs offense scored 12 TDs & 6 FGs. That’s awesome IMO. And of the 7 takeaways that they didn’t score on, 4 occurred at End-Of-Game so the offense couldn’t have scored. That represented a total of 102 points of our offense’s 492 points. Pretty impressive IMO.
2 – During the playoffs the Bucs’ defense came up with 9 takeaways. Off of those 9 takeaways, the Bucs’ offense scored 6 TDs & 1 FG. Of the 2 takeaways that they didn’t score on, both occurred at End-Of-Game so the offense couldn’t have scored. That’s a total of 45 points of our offense’s total of 123 points scored in the playoffs. IMO that’s perfection when you ‘get something’ off of every takeaway.
That’s also COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL at its’ finest. One might even call it pretty good team BALANCE too.
July 3rd, 2021 at 7:14 am
Very good analysis DR…..& the main cause for those takeaways was probably our our ability to stop the run forcing the pass….and our ensuing pass rush.
July 3rd, 2021 at 7:40 am
Playing from behind also forced them to pass more, this was another benefit from a great offense.
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:08 am
TBBF … And THAT’S the beauty of having a balanced team IMO. Everything ties together and every part complements every other part.
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:14 am
Yup, great analysis DR, and puts to rest the idea that DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. It clearly doesn’t, as we saw with the Rams last season. COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL does
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:26 am
The way he chased Mahomes all over the field reminded me of the scene in Rocky II, where Rocky is trying to increase his speed by trying to catch a chicken.
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:38 am
No QB, no matter how talented, can excel when under pressure. Articles such as this point out not only the need for a defensive line that can pressure the QB, but also the need for an offensive line that can “disrupt” the disrupters.
I recall the oft said mantra, “Iron sharpens iron”.
Few teams in the NFL today can boast that they have both sides of the trenches loaded with talent.
I’ve heard a few on this site argue that the game is won in the trenches, even with mediocre talent outside of the trenches.
We are very blessed to have top line talent in every aspect of offense and defense.
Truly looking forward to seeing this season play out. With everyone back, familiar with each other, and familiar with the play books, this should be a truly special season!
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:42 am
Cmon Joe D-i-s-r-u-p-t-e-r is not a word , you are a journalist who should strive for correct spelling in the headline at least.
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:45 am
@Show Me
That was a thing of beauty! 400 yards of negative rushing by Mahomie!
It is a testament to his talent, however, that they put ANY points on the board as badly as he was harassed all game!
July 3rd, 2021 at 10:16 am
Show Me the TDs Says:
July 3rd, 2021 at 8:26 am
The way he chased Mahomes all over the field reminded me of the scene in Rocky II, where Rocky is trying to increase his speed by trying to catch a chicken.
That one pass he made with everyone chasing him to the right sideline, with his body completely parallel to the ground (fortunately his guy dropped it) was one of the most incredible plays I’ve ever seen
July 3rd, 2021 at 11:52 am
Shaq wants to have a big year. It would be great to see.
July 3rd, 2021 at 1:47 pm
Been,, that was incredible,, besides bucs winning,that play sticks out,,I rewound it to sho my girlfriend, thankfully he did drop the pass
July 3rd, 2021 at 1:48 pm
Beej
July 3rd, 2021 at 6:03 pm
I hope Mahomes is around for decades, most running QB’s don’t last too long
July 4th, 2021 at 12:12 am
Beeej, that pass sure sticks out for me, still. One of the Bucs on the sidelines said, “He’s a magician!”. It seemed that way to me when I saw that pass right on target, too.