Ryan Neal: Sneaky Good

June 30th, 2023

Bucs S Ryan Neal.

It didn’t take long for Joe to warm to new safety Ryan Neal.

Dude has a big personality. Smart guy, cool insight. An open book.

Yeah, Joe gets it. No one outside of media types give a sh!t about that. Don’t worry, Joe has a strong feeling Neal with give fans more than a personality to embrace.

Neal played really well in Seattle last year as the Seahawks had a resurgence and made the playoffs. Even Neal got the attention of NFL.com’ analyst/humorist Adam Rank.

New face to know: Ryan Neal, safety. The Bucs might have a steal here after signing Neal to a one-year deal in free agency. Neal was able to step in for the injured Jamal Adams in Seattle last season and he played pretty well in 10 starts. This was one of those low-key signings that doesn’t make the all the headlines but was still pretty good. He can thrive under head coach Todd Bowles this season, and a defense that was already pretty good should benefit. Especially Antoine Winfield Jr., who will be playing alongside him at safety.

And yes, this is why Joe thinks Neal will be a strong player. The Bucs have a better secondary than the Seahawks. That’s right, Joe typed that.

Neal is a good player. Surround him with the defensive backs the Bucs have, and he should be just fine for the Bucs.

14 Responses to “Ryan Neal: Sneaky Good”

  1. DR. POPS Says:

    I love positive sheet !

  2. Larry Says:

    Not sure why everyone is writing the Bucs off. they will get better as the season goes on. I believe they can and will win 9 games and with some luck 10 games. Only make playoffs though if they win their division.

  3. Tony Says:

    @Larry

    They’re writing them off because Brady is retiring & not knowing what to expect from Baker & Trask. The Tampa teams have usually always been written off most of the time because the area has never really has much success with winning overall in the history of all the franchises & that’s why winning goes a long way.

  4. garro Says:

    I know this sounds picky but 1 INT. Lots of passes defensed though.
    Get him on the Juggs Todd.
    Lets get some game breakers from Neal and Winfield!

    Go Bucs!

  5. Dreambig Says:

    @Larry
    I hope you’re right and we have a fun season. Here’s the thing though, and there really is no getting around this. Todd Bowles has coached 85 games as a head coach and has lost 51 of those games. We have an unproven OC and unproven QBs and we have to fix our running game. That is why everyone is down on us. But at this time of year, no one has any idea what will happen so here’s to hoping all those things resolve and we have a great year.

  6. Hunter's Crack Pipe Says:

    Cindy Brady

  7. Fred McNeil Says:

    Larry and dreambig, I’m figuring at least 9 wins and the NFCS title too. Bowles may not be head coach material, but all he has to do is let Canales run that offense and not muck it up. If either of the Traskfields respond to Dave’s coaching and energy the way Geno did in Seattle we got this. 10 wins becomes doable.

  8. Fred McNeil Says:

    And Neal is going to impress too. I just feel it in my bones.

  9. Alexandre Nascimento Says:

    I bet “the other Joe” would finalize this article with “Of course, considering the Bucs will have a decent pass rush from its edges”, or something like that.

    Thanks, guys!
    You rock!

    Go Bucs!

  10. stpetebucfan Says:

    “No one outside of media types give a sh!t about that.”

    I used to be in the media and I get this sentiment. I would say there are plenty who would rather cheer for winners off the field as well as on. Many will tolerate total douchebags if they produce…can you say Warren Sapp?

    But who was more fun to cheer on…Sapp or Brooks? Sapp or Lynch…Sapp or Ronde…I could go on but you get my drift.

    The current Bucs team as well as the SB team have some “good guys” on and off the field. I haven’t seen two WR’s who got along so well and were totally devoid of ego problems since Swann and Stallworth. They are FUN to cheer on.

  11. TampabayDJ Says:

    @Larry – Thank you for being someone that has a brain. Our Bucs are still the best team in the NFC SOUTH ! We lost Brady , but we also lost the guy who was giving our Bucs (lost) games in Leftwich. We got younger and better on both lines , and we still have our dynamic duo in Evans and Godwin , as well as other play makers in Cade Otton , who I believe is going to be a stud at TE , and Chad White at RB1 who I believe is going to put up some numbers. Everyone talks about our Bucs QB problem , but look at Green Bay ! Do they not have the same mystery at QB with Jordan Love ? The 49ers and Trey Lance ? It all boils down to what team is healthy. Our Bucs were decimated by injuries last year. Hopefully we can stay healthier and I think our Bucs will win the division and have a winning record. Go Bucs and thank you Joe

  12. 1#bucsfan Says:

    Let’s goo. Like Adam said our defense is good and Neal coming in only makes us better with kancey and hopefully a Shaq fully recovered things are looking up. Retooled oline and a new OC. I don’t care what anyone says I’m super excited about this season

  13. Rod Munch Says:

    Legit question… if Neal is a good player, why was he so cheap, and why the Seahawks dump him and pull back his RFA offer?

    I really do hope he’s good, and maybe he is good, but I don’t know why the Seahawks would get rid of a good young safety for no reason.

  14. Joe Says:

    I really do hope he’s good, and maybe he is good, but I don’t know why the Seahawks would get rid of a good young safety for no reason.

    Here’s a reason. Actually, 70 million reasons:

    Ryan Neal was behind Jamal Adams. Neal played 10 games because Adams got hurt. Adams last year was in the second year of a $70 million contract. Long story short, Seattle has a sh!t ton of cash invested in Adams to pay Neal decent coin to play with himself on the bench.