How Good Is The Bucs’ Secondary?
July 3rd, 2022
Top secondary?
Joe embarrassingly admits to being triggered into writing this on a lazy Sunday of a three-day weekend to celebrate Uncle Sam’s birthday — the best holiday of the year!
(Thanksgiving is a very, very close second. You can thank the Cowboys and the Lions for dragging down Thanksgiving to second place.)
The PFF Tribe decided to rank the best secondaries in the NFC. They had the Bucs at No. 1. Joe just cannot go there.
Do the Bucs have the talent to possibly be the best? Yes.
Carlton Davis could be a Pro Bowler and Joe thinks he is underrated. Antoine Winfield is growing into one of the best safeties in the game. Mike Edwards is a proven ballhawk. Jamel Dean is solid if not good. Sean Murphy-Bunting needs to play more like his 2020 postseason self, when he was excellent and had three picks in four games.
Joe is eager to see what, if anything, Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal add to the mix.
Yes, the Bucs could be one of the better secondaries in the conference. Just look how they shut down the Chiefs passing attack in the Super Bowl two years ago. But the best? Well, the best secondary doesn’t get shredded in the playoffs the way they were against the Rams. That’s all you need to know.
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:12 pm
Yah. I dont get that at all
Saints lost a few but got a few back. Their secondary is filthy
Rams too should be ahead.
Jaire is one of best in nfl
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:18 pm
Good enough
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:23 pm
PFF grades are a somewhat decent indicator of player abilities, though there are way too many exceptions to that rule. Where PFF lapses into stupidity is when the try ascertaining team playing units during the off-season, or worse, when they try scouting draft prospects.
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:32 pm
Not with offensive linemen! Not with quarterbacks! Not with corners (those clowns really believed E.J. Biggers was a Pro Bowl-level CB based on their dumbarse grades).
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:45 pm
PFF definitely has an observer bias, Joe. That’s why I hedged with saying that there are too many exceptions. Most of the bias might come from their observations being built around what they think the play, blocking assignments, coverage assignments, etc. The problem is that PFF is a black box, no one knows how they diagnose and how they weigh each criterion when assigning a final grade.
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:47 pm
Coming out party this year boys
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:50 pm
Bout to blow the lid off this thing, coming of age party
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:52 pm
Potentially top 5 if healthy and optimally functioning….you guys under-rate JD just because of some dissociative moments….PRESSURE! !…..will determine statistical performance of this unit…
July 3rd, 2022 at 3:02 pm
Gutless NFL Network
July 3rd, 2022 at 3:10 pm
your last paragraph says it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 3rd, 2022 at 3:28 pm
Guess they must have been talking about them getting burnt and giving up 3rd and long for easy 1st downs. Or having balls hit them in the hands or gut and dropping them. What exactly were they the best at?
July 3rd, 2022 at 3:42 pm
Poor tackling & dropping interceptions……clean that up and we could be the best…….they are targeted more…..I think our additions coupled with another year’s experience for SMB, Dean, Davis, Winfield & Edwards will help eminently
July 3rd, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Bucs have the athletes. Let’s hope the COACHING IS BETTER!!!!
July 3rd, 2022 at 4:10 pm
Part of the problem last season was that the DBs had to keep one eye back at the line.
Too many runners and screens got loose. I could name the white that caused a lot of them, but…
If the front half can tackle this season, the Bucs D-backfield will be one of the better ones. The new veterans could make them one of the Best the Bucs have had.
July 3rd, 2022 at 4:16 pm
Forgot to add……secondary is worse with Gronk gone……
Why, you ask?……well, everything is worse without Gronk.
July 3rd, 2022 at 4:20 pm
Our Secondary will only be as good as our pass rush allows it to be. And I’m still willing to bet that either Keanu Neal or Logan Ryan will start more games at Safety than Mike Edwards will.
July 3rd, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Wow, a switch for me today. I am mostly on the side of the comments saying that the secondary is better than most of the fans on this site act.
But putting it in a top 5 is ridiculous.
July 3rd, 2022 at 5:10 pm
The proof is in the pudding and this is yet more proof that pff grades are utter nonsense. Our safeties and 55 billion nickel corners are good with the exception of SMB when he plays there. Carlton is a good, but overpaid and overrated player. Dean can be good, but he’s either injured or not playing due to a coaching decision far too often to be counted on. We should be desperate for outside corner help after last years playoff embarrassment against the rams and the elite quarterbacks that we will face this year. Sitting on our butts and “hoping” that our secondary plays like it did during the 2020 playoffs is foolish AF. Please make it happen Licht and get us another good outside corner.
July 3rd, 2022 at 5:55 pm
We face three of those secondaries this year. Don’t sleep on the Packers’ defense. They will be very good this year. Their secondary is the truth. Our defense better be good this year because with the loss of Marpet and Godwin we will struggle to put up points against good defenses.
July 3rd, 2022 at 6:07 pm
And to think it was just a few years ago the Bucs secondary was seen as a liability
July 3rd, 2022 at 6:33 pm
The secondary and the front 7 are symbiotic, amazing that many don’t get that fact. A great pass rush can help a poor secondary and a great secondary can give the front 7 extra time to get to the passer.
The 2020 strength was the front 7 who made the secondary look good. We need the rush to be that good again in 2022, because I have no faith in our coverage.
July 3rd, 2022 at 6:48 pm
If the Bucs have the best secondary in the league, Brady better be throwing for over 500 yards a week! Sorry, no way I can believe that the Bucs are number 1 in the NFC. I get they had a lot of injuries last year, but they got abused every week if the D line didn’t get home. Only way they’re number 1 this year is if the D line has a great year getting home to the QB.
July 3rd, 2022 at 6:51 pm
If Shaq has 20 sacks we will be. All starts with pressure!
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:06 pm
from worst to first…
#NoLongerLiverwurst
but seriously….if we potentially have the best secondary in the nfl, we are gonna have a darn good defense…if the back end is now our top group or on par with the rest, this could get interesting…
also smb is quietly getting squeezed…so watch out – he can be an x-factor this year…or he could check out early and just be on a new team next year
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:06 pm
*best secondary in the nfc*
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:21 pm
We will see!
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:23 pm
And to think it was just a few years ago the Bucs secondary was seen as a liability.
__________
Until they prove otherwise, they still are.
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:39 pm
i agree ^^^ with: Tampabaybucfan
the world is collapsing without gronk… 🙂
#TheWorldAccordingToGronk
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:40 pm
please alert cynthia “by the numbers” freudland that the secondary is now top flight
July 3rd, 2022 at 8:23 pm
Joes – Happy Independence Day Weekend. You guys provide a lot of juice for us morons who think we know stuff. Many thanks, and this quote from your article above is pure genius:
“ Thanksgiving is a very, very close second. You can thank the Cowboys and the Lions for dragging down Thanksgiving to second place. “
Absolutely concur!
Now about the secondary — two words.
Todd.
Bowles.
If he can teach them their assignments to an elite level of performance, then the PFF has it right. The physical talent is there – I think Bowles IQ is up there with the scaries. I don’t think his DBs all share Mensa status. Todd may need to simplify.
July 3rd, 2022 at 8:36 pm
Yeah I can see that this list is mainly about potential because the season hasnt started and they have the talent to be one of the best if not the best in the nfc for sure. geez for buc fans some of y’all bash the team more than rival fans do lol go bucs.
July 3rd, 2022 at 8:57 pm
Suh.
July 3rd, 2022 at 9:18 pm
Not down on Bowles, but he’s had a couple years as DC only. His sole focus was D.
How is teaching them their assignments going to be any easier now that he’s HC?
Did we change DB coaches?
Seems like when he was solely DC would have been the time to make that happen.
🤷♂️
July 3rd, 2022 at 9:32 pm
Doosh – you are helping to make my point. They can’t understand their assignments because there are too many variables. Todd needs to simplify and let his potentially superior athletes stop thinking and just play.
Simplify, then teach the simplified assignments.
July 3rd, 2022 at 10:31 pm
DR the pass rush is the key for the secondary. But the constant 10 yard off coverage by the Cornerbacks hurts the pass rush. I mean opponents need 4 yards for a 1st down, and they are back 10 yards. That kills a pass rush. Also the CB’s need to jam WR’s at the line, or at least disupt timing to give the pass rush a split second more time to get to the QB, and at least have consistent pressure that leads to sacks.
GO BUCS!!!!!
July 4th, 2022 at 10:05 am
PFF Tribe… Bahahha. Yes they analyze using Fantasy Football stats and those stats can be manipulated like any political poll. Potential should never be in the equation and if they are resting their hats on a 8 game stretch 1 1/2 agos…well thats another story. Our secondary is our Achilles heel. We are not even top 10 and that’s undisputable. The good news is we do not need to be the best with our offense. We just need to be disciplined, and avoid the big chunk plays and PI’s that are determining not just our games but the every NFL game these days.
July 4th, 2022 at 10:20 am
NOT VERY !!!
July 4th, 2022 at 11:35 am
They have not had a good season in which they were consistent. However if the starters remain healthy the group has a chance to show everyone that they are an improved secondary. They certainly can become one of the best.
July 4th, 2022 at 12:43 pm
When healthy I would put the Bucs secondary up against any. They have the talent and the experience to resume their role as the gravediggers. Losing Whitehead was tough but then adding Neal was amazing. Seeing him play in person a few years ago for Atlanta was mind blowing. I was literally afraid for the Bucs that he was going to hurt someone. Talk about bringing the wood. I believe we will forget all about Whitehead in short order. Also adding the cagey veteran Ryan was an awesome addition by Licht. He will be a leader of the defense as he is well respected and has won a Super Bowl. Overall I would say that if we can stay healthy and if we can generate a pass rush that this secondary has a chance to be special and possibly go down in history as Champions.
July 4th, 2022 at 1:42 pm
Lol Who Dat Dat you talking bout know it’s not them suckeraners defense 9-0 at home last year with Shady brady come on now
July 4th, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Happy 4th lol