There's been a lot made of the Tampay Bay’s offseason free
agency activity, especially hiring of Coach Lovie Smith. The media had fawned over these additions,
some already deeming the Buc’s the new division leader. It has been busy offseason for Tampa with 17
total new faces on the roster. While there have been heaps of praise, I don’t
think there has been enough coverage free agent departures and problems with
important components of the team’s roster. Here's a couple of issues I see
pre-draft for the Buc’s.
Defense:
Secondary: Tampa is playing 3 strong safeties without a true
free safety. Dshon Goldson, Major Wright, and Mark Barron all have issues in
coverage and are best playing in the box. I’m interested to see how they fit in
a Tampa 2 base defense. The newly added Alterraun Verner is a good solid corner
who fits the Tampa 2 defense, but he's not an upgrade over Revis.
Big questions also loom with Mike Jenkins, Jonthan Banks,
and Michael Johnson.
Linebackers: Tampa has an excellent outside linebacker in
Lavonte David, but then what? Mason Foster is horrible in coverage. This
position has to be addressed in the draft.
I’m guessing this will be a position Tampa Bay will look to upgrade in
the draft given Lovie’s history with beast linebackers in the middle, such as
Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.
Defensive line: Consisting of Gerald McCoy, Clinton
McDonald, Michael Johnson, Da’Quan Bowers, and Adrian Clayborn, this line is a
mixed bag of goods. McCoy is an outstanding player, but what about the
rest? Big name free agent, Michael
Johnson, was brought to shore of last year’s lack of defensive push. Johnson
showed promise in 2012 compiling 11.5 sacks with the Cincinnati Bengals, but
that figure dropped to a mere 3.5 sacks in 2013. The Bengals do one of the
league’s premier pass rushers in Geno Atkins, so it's not like Johnson didn't
have help. It unclear why his production dropped so dramatically. Some think Johnson should flourish in Lovie’sdefense, but we haven’t seen much consistency yet from the league’s, now, 4th highest paid defensive player. McDonald, a backup defensive tackle for Seattle,
had 5.5 sacks last season. He could be valuable in passing situations. Bowers
has yet to live up to his acclaimed draft status, and Clayborn’s future with
the Bucs is a question.
