“And That’s A Lot Because I’m A Defensive Guy”
May 1st, 2025
It seems Todd Bowles stunned the world a month ago.
That’s when Bowles sat a breakfast table with Joe and Ira Kaufman and declared, “Being a defensive coach, I learned that you win by scoring points.” Joe wasn’t the only guy moved when Bowles, a renowned defense-first coach, dropped that line.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht publicly praised Bowles last week for being a unique kind of defensive cat, one that treasures offense and was unafraid to bless and cheerlead the Bucs drafting receiver Emeka Egbuka at No. 19 overall on Thursday.
Today, the Bucs released a behind-the-scenes video of Egbuka’s first day at One Buc Palace.
When Bowles met him in his offense, Licht noted to the Ohio State product that it was special how unified he and Bowles were with the selection. But Bowles felt compelled to tell Egbuka that he’s not cut like other defense-first head coaches, as captured on Buccaneers.com video.
“That’s a lot because I’m a defensive guy,” Bowles told Egbuka regarding eagerly wanting to draft him. “The best defense is to score points on offense. That’s it. We know that.”
While Licht calls the draft shots, every good GM wants to serve his head coach. Joe has no doubt that if Bowles put up a stink and demanded a defensive player in Round 1, he would have gotten one.
May 1st, 2025 at 4:40 pm
no way bowles gets his way. jl had a stiffy for egbuka. donovan EZ should’ve been #1. or trade down with giants like texans did. that would’ve been one hell of a draft. EZ , amos, parrish or williams, felton, walker, and so on.
May 1st, 2025 at 4:44 pm
Becoming a class act organization.
Refreshing after a decade of bad moves.
May 1st, 2025 at 4:54 pm
“Joe has no doubt that if Bowles put up a stink and demanded a defensive player in Round 1, he would have gotten one.”
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Absolutely a sign of a good manager. He (JL) hired the man (CTB) to do the job now don’t interfere or get in his way. Let him succeed or fail by his doing. Otherwise JL ends up contradicting his own decision making. Looking like a damn fool by working against his own hire. Have seen this happen more than a few times.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
May 1st, 2025 at 5:03 pm
These 2 work in tandem. Bowles said he saw something in the D by watching all the tape from last year, that had to weigh into the decisions made as the draft approached. He’s right, it’s simply the offense job to put points on the board, he knows to create mismatches and problems for opposing defenses. Also lets Godwin heal naturally with no rushing him. They’re not done adding players yet either is my guess.
May 1st, 2025 at 5:11 pm
ILBs should be cheaper to add outside the draft. Over the past three offseasons, Patrick Queen, Kenneth Murray, Isaiah Simmons, Jordyn Brooks and Jamin Davis had seen their options declined. The Jaguars passed on Devin Lloyd‘s on Wednesday. While some of these players did not justify a notable Year 5 guarantee, teams are passing on these payments in large part because the option formula groups all linebackers together. Thus, the ILB numbers are being boosted by the edge rusher market.
No team has picked up an off-ball LB’s fifth-year option since the Buccaneers exercised Devin White‘s in 2022. That decision did not end up paying off, and teams have strictly capped first-round ILB contracts at four years since.
May 1st, 2025 at 5:19 pm
Outscoring opponents will always win a game
May 1st, 2025 at 5:27 pm
Interesting point about LBs.
Another reason to use a 1st round pick on another more valuable position.
May 1st, 2025 at 5:34 pm
That 5th year option on Emeka Egbuka could very well be a savings of 20 million plus with WR contracts increasing.
May 1st, 2025 at 6:56 pm
Ballwasher
Stevie Wonder can see there’s problems with the D. Can’t give Bowles a whole lot of Kudos for that epiphany.
May 1st, 2025 at 7:48 pm
@NLK
“no way bowles gets his way.”
NO WAY? Are you that connected to the Bucs. Or is that just the Chowderhead exaggeration in you?
May 1st, 2025 at 9:13 pm
Bowles is right. Nowadays, playing with a lead results in pass rush and sacks. Any other way results in a tired defense.
May 1st, 2025 at 9:20 pm
All this Bowles slobbering over offense is funny to me. He was a bit more aggressive last season… hopefully his money is where his mouth is and he’s even more aggressive on offense this season.
Trust the O Todd! The D will always be there to pick up the slack if the O stutters.
May 1st, 2025 at 9:39 pm
Bowles has had to deal with, count ‘em, 4 OCs in the last 4 years. That’s nuts! He just admitted his strength is Defense. I hope this young OC works out, and I’m betting he will. He’s got plenty of talent in that Offense to work with. I sure hope he will get creative and open it up once he feels confident.
May 1st, 2025 at 10:30 pm
I love Godwin, my favorite Buc on this team, but if EE gets really involved, like a 1st round pick is expected to, Godwin n Evans are gonna take a production hit, and paying 2 wrs $20+ isnt going to feel that great, guess thats a problem for another day
May 1st, 2025 at 11:21 pm
No, Bowles, the best defense is not to score points on offense. The best defenses stop the other teams from scoring. Or at least from walking up and down the field at will. If you have given up on the idea that your defense has a realistic shot at doing so (because there is no statistical reason to believe so) then yes, your best bet is to score a lot of points on offense- but one still does not refer to that as “the best possible defensive strategy”. One should rather incorporate the phrase “our only chance is..” in there somewhere.
May 2nd, 2025 at 5:01 am
I am driving myself nuts already wishing I knew how we end up using (nickname?) this year. Hurry up training camp!
Go Bucs!