“When You Bring New People In, They Hungry”
August 4th, 2022
Newcomer safety/cornerback Logan Ryan.
Last year, the Bucs brought back every Super Bowl starter, a move that no championship team had made in the modern era of professional football.
It was a smart play and one for which general manager Jason Licht deserved to be lauded. But were the Bucs missing the spark that comes with fresh competition for jobs and the energy of new players?
That was the angle of NBC Sports veteran NFL insider and social activist Peter King when he hit Buccaneers savior linebacker with that line of questioning at One Buc Palace yesterday. King was in town on his training camp tour.
White agreed with the premise. Sort of.
“When you bring new people in, they hungry because they know what we just achieved and they know that we’re not far off from achieving it again.” White said. “So they’re coming in trying to be the missing piece of the puzzle.”
However, White was quick to tell King the Bucs had all the pieces necessary to win a Super Bowl last season. It was injuries that cost the team late in the season, he said, not a lack of hungry players or chemistry.
Joe agrees with White. It was the injuries, but it also was depth. This year the Bucs have more firepower in the secondary with the addition of Logan Ryan, as Joe views Keanu Neal as a swap for safety Jordan Whitehead.
Just imagine if White and Lavonte David didn’t suffer a mess of injuries last season. That alone could have put the Bucs in the Super Bowl, Joe believes, even with Antonio Brown’s meltdown and injuries to defensive backs and Jason Pierre-Paul
August 4th, 2022 at 6:25 am
Tristan Wirfs getting hurt before we faced that relentless rams defensive line killed us. Obviously AB and Godwin hurt us, but our offense only works if Brady has time.
August 4th, 2022 at 6:45 am
Key missing last year were Wirfs and Godwin and a healthy JPP and LVD on D.
August 4th, 2022 at 7:03 am
I remember when we brought in Swaggy…..he was hungry……hungry for cheeseburgers & fries….
He be very hungry.
August 4th, 2022 at 7:07 am
Paula Deen needs to stay in the field if he wants to get picks.
August 4th, 2022 at 7:07 am
On the field
August 4th, 2022 at 7:11 am
Didn’t know you were talking about Devin White until the last paragraph. Rough night, Joe?
August 4th, 2022 at 7:39 am
D Smith was healthy but he got his ass absolutely whipped by V Miller ……… His performance was Horrific !!
August 4th, 2022 at 7:40 am
‘Joe agrees with White. It was the injuries, but it also was depth’.
Ooooo, sounds like you’re coming around to the notion that DEPTH is the critical factor between champions & non-champions Joe. Offense has plenty of depth for the most part. Defensive Secondary should be MUCH better this year with the addition of Ryan & Neal, and the retention of Davis.
Still withholding judgment on ILB depth, but I’m convinced that our DLine depth needs 1-2 more pieces because of their age & injury histories. I’ll feel a lot better though when Suh finally re-signs & we HOPEFULLY sign a quality DE/OLB to flesh out that position group.
August 4th, 2022 at 8:00 am
Depth.
Suh. or Flowers. Or both.
August 4th, 2022 at 8:42 am
I say it every year we gotta stay healthy
August 4th, 2022 at 8:58 am
Health and an awful 2021 draft were the main reasons the Bucs didn’t repeat. I like the offseason additions I just have my fingers crossed that we can stay healthy
August 4th, 2022 at 9:28 am
Tristan wirfs was the single biggest loss. With him playing against the Rams Brady wouldn’t have gotten so beat up in the first half and the offense would have had time to let some plays develop and move the chains. As it was, Brady got sacked all first half and they couldn’t move the ball…
August 4th, 2022 at 9:32 am
Suh is gone. Let it go. Vea, Hicks, Gholston, Hall and Nunez-Roches might be the best set of DTs 1-5 in the NFL. They’re at least near the top.
JTS, Barrett and Nelson will be really good at OLB. Cam Gill will contribute more also.
Our DL/OLB depth is really good. I’m confused by all the non sense crying begging for a guy who was really good at one point, but right now, could tackle a statue.
August 4th, 2022 at 9:33 am
Could NOT tackle a statue I mean.
August 4th, 2022 at 10:53 am
I love Suh. He played a ton of snaps. Mostly to me though, Suh always played best for the Bucs in the biggest games. That could be important for a team with Superbowl aspirations. But for 12-14 regular season games, Suh is just a guy.
So, I feel like all the doomsday folks on Logan Hall and Akiem Hicks are going too far. I bet that Steve McClendon would come back and play a fair amount of snaps mid-season if we needed a DT.
I certainly feel a healthy Hicks is a better player at this point than Suh.
I also think that a mid-season Steve McClendon is not much different than a mid-season Suh.
Hicks, Hall, and Gholston all play more spots on the DL than Suh. All will be more disruptive on plays during the regular season games than Suh would.
No doomsday here. Just need those guys to be disruptive during that playoffs.
August 4th, 2022 at 11:10 am
Devin–
*they’re
August 4th, 2022 at 12:00 pm
For the guys saying suh all the time my response is…. Gronk
August 4th, 2022 at 2:12 pm
If the Bucs had all their guys who returned, playing in that Rams game, they win the game — and the Rams were by far the toughest team they were going to play in the playoffs, so that means they win the SB.
That’s were Brady comes into play, not just his drive, but just his rep, is enough to keep guys from getting comfortable.
August 4th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
Maniac … You’re so right; Suh was dogmeat last year. Heck the best he could muster as a 34-year-old was only 6 sacks (2nd on the TEAM to Shaq), 13 QB Hits (3rd on the TEAM to Shaq & White), and only 7 TFLs (3rd on the TEAM again to Shaq & White). The really depressing part is that it took him a whole 17 games to get those … definitely a sign of old-age.
Geno711 … As far as McLendon coming back if Vea or Hicks goes down, he’s now 36, a year older than Suh. Granted he did contribute a half of a sack last year, but that probably didn’t have QBs shaking in their boots. Of course I’m biased though.
August 4th, 2022 at 7:42 pm
The secondary was never healthy at the same time. Jensen was also hurt by played in the playoffs. JPP and Scotty were injured throughout the season. And there were others but the big three that hurt our chances the most in this order.
1. Tristen
2. CG
3. Lavonte
August 5th, 2022 at 11:47 am
DR
Suh is clearly better than McClendon in my opinion. If you took it any other way, that was not the intent. But we do not need a 750-snap guy for this defensive line based upon what we re-signed and drafted in the last two years.
McClendon can be a 250 or 300 snap guy on early downs that could be successful.
But I think guys like Hall and JTS will be getting 400 and 500 snaps this year.
I was always impressed with JPP and Suh and the share of snaps they took. But not sure why you think that is the only way to set up a defensive line. New England and Green Bay defenses do quite well without interior guys with gaudy defensive stats or high snap counts.
A look at 3 players over the last two years:
Player Total Snaps TFL QB Hits Sacks Tkls
Gholston 1113 15 31 7.5 80
Suh 1503 16 32 12 71
Hicks 1099 12 30 7 74
Logan Hall, William Gholston and Akiem Hicks are more versatile in the positions they can play than Suh. It may not show up in individual stats, but I always think that Bowles loves the versatility.
If Hall gets 400 snaps with 3-5 TFL, 3-5 QB hits, 1-2 sacks, and 15-20 tackles, what have we lost from last year. Just don’t see the worry that you do.