Formula 1 On The Bucs’ Mind
April 7th, 2026
Old memories.
So when manbeast future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh left the Bucs after the 2021 season, who replaced him?
Devoted Bucs fans will remember that was Akiem Hicks.
The former Bears Pro Bowler was a 6-4, 335-pound monster who was past his prime at 32 years old but known for rushing the passer and not being pushed around in the run game.
Hicks, who came to the Bucs with an injury history, battled injuries through 11 starts in Tampa and then was out of football. However, the desire to land a Hicks-like presence didn’t fully leave the Bucs. They went smaller on the defensive front the past three seasons and now they’re trying to get bigger.
The 2026 offseason move from Logan Hall (now with the Texans) to signing A’Shawn Robinson was about getting bigger and nastier. Robinson has at least 30 pounds on Hall and a history of not being blocked by tight ends, among others.
While patrolling the NFL annual meeting in Phoenix, Joe heard plenty of chatter about the Bucs looking to restore their once-proud run defense.
Head coach/defensive playcaller Todd Bowles hit on that last week along with retired Lavonte David. Asked what his primary tweak will be on defense, Bowles looked in the trenches.
“We gotta get back to controlling the line of scrimmage up front,” Todd Bowles told The Exhibit. “You know, our interior guys have to dominate the line of scrimmage. And if we can do that, everything flows off of that. But it starts with the defensive line.”
David told The Arena Gridiron he thinks the Bucs are returning to what kicked off the Bruce Arians/Todd Bowles era.
“I feel like Coach Bowles is getting back to his formula defensively,” David said. “Because, you know, we kind of like changed our regular schemes from the first first couple of years when we won the Super Bowl, our scheme was really to stop the run. It got to a point people didn’t want to run the ball on us.”
David said he likes the additions of Robinson and inside linebacker Alex Anzalone because that brings the Bucs closer to what worked so well, as they are players that can play the run and the pass. He suggested adding another interior defensive lineman, but those comments came before the Friday signing of DT Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, a rotational piece for the Bucs (2018-2022) during the last Super Bowl run.
April 7th, 2026 at 10:22 am
moving CK94 to the edge will do wonders
i know its not in JLs “formula” to trade away picks but Dexter Lawerence is a player to seriously consider….
DL & VV would be almost identical to SUH & VV
Kancey, Dexter, Vita, Yaya as our front four!!!!…one can dream lol
GO BUCS!!!!!
April 7th, 2026 at 10:23 am
I forgot about this guy lol
April 7th, 2026 at 10:26 am
Unless there is big improvements in the Pass Defense, teams will gladly throw on the Bucs 50 times a game.
April 7th, 2026 at 10:40 am
It would be cool if Suh were to go into the HOF as a Buc.
April 7th, 2026 at 10:50 am
Akiem Hicks was supposed to be our Tommy Kelly.
Suh was more like our Calais Campbell/Darnell Dockett/Muhammed Wilkerson.
Our front is indeed designed to anchor the defense in run defense, but when you have 2-DTs that can 2 gap, it’s when you get the 1on1’s Shaq took full advantage of 2019-21ish rushing the passer.
What I’m looking for is at the very least a 4-5 man rotation on our interior on odd & even fronts.
April 7th, 2026 at 10:53 am
I would like to bring Christian Wilkins in.
April 7th, 2026 at 10:54 am
Yo Joe
Are you monitoring the Dexter Lawrence situation in New York?
This has been a rough offseason. No big name players signed.
Lost two franchise legends.
Maybe we can sure up the inside of the dline with this move
For the love of god. Jason licht do Something!!!!
Last time I checked our starting cornerbacks are average at BEST
April 7th, 2026 at 11:04 am
“I would like to bring Christian Wilkins in.”
Wouldn’t be against this either, just tell him keep the funny stuff outside of the locker room.
April 7th, 2026 at 11:32 am
Hicks could never replace Suh in his wildest dreams
The Rams will never replace Aaron Donald
You should try to find a guy similar to them, not replace them
When those big dominant guys come along, you pounce on them
We need to draft a DT similar to Suh, l don’t see one in this draft
But when one does come along, we should pounce on him
April 7th, 2026 at 11:38 am
Agree on the Wilkins idea. Need a more penetrating DT similar to Kancy to guard against another injury.
April 7th, 2026 at 11:59 am
Edge. Edge. Edge.
April 7th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Another 4th round rade with the Giants for a D-Line starter? Nobody should think that’s not a good deal. Work your magic JL.
April 7th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
It is true that at some point teams did not wanted to run the ball against the Bucs. Although the reason was not only because it was difficult. It was also because they realized nobody is in tight coverage and they were huge holes in the soft zones.
April 7th, 2026 at 12:09 pm
To be honest, I barely remember Hicks.
April 7th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
“You know, our interior guys have to dominate the line of scrimmage. And if we can do that, everything flows off of that. But it starts with the defensive line.”
————
Smartest thing Bowles has ever said.
April 7th, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Hicks was a dominant player in Chicago, after he left New Orleans
He was probably a Top 5 DT during his first 3 seasons in Chicago
Then his play started to slack off, and the Bears let him go
So he came to the Bucs for his final payday
April 7th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
Kayden McDonald after a trade back into the 20s would appear to be their ideal plan…
April 7th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Right there with ya Ryan….
Best Front Four wins…..
April 7th, 2026 at 12:56 pm
Can’t get to the qb when our secondary is giving 15 yards of cushion off the line of scrimmage. This should be common sense
April 7th, 2026 at 12:58 pm
Teams do not run the ball against because it is so EASY to pass!
April 7th, 2026 at 1:09 pm
Todd Bowles … “You know, our interior guys have to dominate the line of scrimmage. And if we can do that, everything flows off of that. But IT STARTS WITH THE DEFENSIVE LINE.”
Despite all the Bowles’ haters on JBF, HE GETS IT. Problem was, the Bucs DIDN’T HAVE IT. We got way too small after 2021 & couldn’t really control the LOS. And as a consequence, our pass rush sucked which caused our Pass Defense to suck. And so did our Run Defense in case no one noticed.
It always starts in the trenches. When we lost Suh, our defensive trench got SOFT. Very very SOFT. Vea stayed relatoively healthy in the 2022-2025 years, and gave us an average of 650 def snaps per year (between 60-65% availability). That was exceptional for him, and much better than the tad over 500 def snaps he averaged from 2018-2021. BUT … Bucs didn’t have any beasts like Suh to support him & dominate when rotating in with him.
IF Kayden McDonald is there when we pick at #15, I really hope that Todd Bowles means what he says & has convinced Jason Licht that we need to beef up the interior of our DLine if our defense is to return to its former glory.
April 7th, 2026 at 1:14 pm
Trenches!