Corey Lynch Could Be An Upgrade
December 2nd, 2010
Well, the mystery of who will replace Cody Grimm at safety is still very much a state secret not even Wikileaks has been able to crack.
The Bucs had floated the possibility of Ronde Barber moving to safety but that has since been shot down. That could leave backup Corey Lynch.
A fantastic special teams player who was an absolute ballhawk in college, it could be that Lynch is on the field when the Bucs defense faces the Dixie Chicks Sunday.
And that is all right with Steve White. The former Bucs defensive end who writes the must-read blog “Passing on the Game,” White actually believes Lynch on the field will help the Bucs in pass coverage.
Lynch isn’t the hitter that Grimm was in my opinion but I think he has better ball skills. While the Bucs may give up something on defense when Atlanta is running the ball, I think they might gain something when they try to pass it.
Granted, the NFL is far from college, especially Division-IAA, where Lynch, a Fort Myers native, played at Appalachian State. There Lynch was a freaking force on defense.
While helping Appalachian State to a three-peat (three consecutive NCAA titles), Lynch holds the NCAA FCS record for passes defended at 52 (28 pass deflections, 24 interceptions) and finished his collegiate level play with 358 career tackles.
And we all remember what Lynch did against the Malaise and Blue.
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:58 am
Be a play maker and let the instincts take over..you’ll be fine.
I bet you the whole defense is glad Sabby is gone.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 am
I can agree that Lynch could be an upgrade is coverage, but Rah will have to change things up to fit his strengths. Grimm has been huge for us coming up and stopping the run. He and Barber have been our best tacklers and have made a huge difference in stopping the run. I don’t think Cory Lynch provides that. Might see Barber playijng closer to the line more with Lynch staying back in coverage.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:18 am
The problem is, all the teams already knew we were vulnerable to the run. Just when we were getting better, Grimm get’s injured, and team now know for sure we are vulnerable to the run.
Get ready, boys and girls. Unless Lynch starts hitting like John, we’re about to see some sad defense.
I hope Lynch turns out to be really, really good. Who knows, maybe he’s the kind of player who develops faster ingame. But I’m preparing myself for it not to be so, just in case.
I’m totally satisfied, aside from Tanard and the injuries, with how this year has gone. If we squek (sheesh I’m a writer and can speel that???!) out one more win, I’ll be happy. I would love more…but I guess I’m saying that unless the Bucs start playing some really, really bad football, I’m not going to hate on them over losses.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:19 am
@JDouble
I agree. I wonder if Black can help stopping the run yet.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:20 am
From what I saw in preseason it looked like lynch was a better player then Grimm. I was suprised that Grimm got the call after T-jack was suspended. Grimm played great….lets hope Lynch steps it up also.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 am
Maybe Lynch needed a little more time to develop, like Benn did compared to Williams. I’m willing to dream if you are!
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:45 am
CANADABUC:
I agree. I heard how smart a player Grimm is so my guess is Lynch didn’t pick up the defense as quick. He should be, or could be, an upgrade in coverage.
The LBs need to step it up against the run with Michael Turner coming to town
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:52 am
So our new starting safety is the dude who got tackled by the kicker in that video? Great.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:59 am
Pete, I am not used to you being down, I get it, I am just not used to it. Cheer up my man, who knows who will step up next. What a strange long trip it has been.
December 2nd, 2010 at 12:29 pm
DAVE
If Lynch works out we should be set at that position. Grimm, Tjack, and lynch would be pretty good depth for next year.
December 2nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
aww Joe, you had to bring THAT game up. that is the one game in the world that I’d like to forget more than any
December 2nd, 2010 at 2:23 pm
You all are assuming Lynch gets the nod. They are obviously pretty impressed with this Vince Anderson guy if they were willing to cut Sabby and promote Mr. Anderson to the active roster.
Lynch always looks good in preseason and I think most fans wonder why he never gets a shot, but Raheem is the secondary guru. He obviously sees something in Lynch that has had him choose Grimm, Jones, and even Sabby over him. I wouldn’t be shocked if Anderson ended up getting the nod this Sunday.
December 2nd, 2010 at 2:26 pm
CANADABUC
I don’t know if they have any plans for TJax or not. I hope the kid gets his head straight and stops smoking until his career is over, then he’ll have enough money to smoke all he wants. WAKE UP TJAX!!
Don’t forget Sean Jones. He has played well and I see them resigning him.
I also have long term high hopes for Larry Asante (rookie from Nebraska). he is another big hitter wih issues in coverage though.
Depending on TJax and their expectations with him, I can see them going after a safety in the offseason or draft.
I would LOVE to see Duenta Williams of UNC get drafted but he would be too high a pick. They need DE and LB help first and foremost
December 2nd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
If anyone cares to watch, here is Corey Lynch’s junior season highlights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZqkcubYjQ&feature=related
and his senior season….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMtV5oaKznI&feature=related
He currently holds the NCAA FCS record for passes defended at 52 (28 pass deflections, 24 interceptions) and finished his collegiate level play with 358 career tackles.
Gotta wonder why the guy hasn’t started before. I hope he beats out Anderson and gets a shot. Even if he sucks this week, I hope they give him atleast 3 weeks to see if he gets it going. He sure seems like he could be good.
December 2nd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
The reason we have not seen Corey Lynch yet is that compared to Sabby he is small and slow. That is pretty much it. If you read up on scouting reports on the guy its really the only thing negative there is to say about him. That is why Raheem gave Sabby one last chance. Sabby had extremely high physical measurables for a safety and Raheem wanted to give a 2nd round draft pick one more brief chance before tossing him aside. While Sabby may have had the prototype athleticism for a safety, according to scouting reports, Lynch has everything else you would want- high football IQ, reads and reacts extremely well, takes good angles, determined tackler in run support, good hands to consistently pick balls off. Im thinking Raheem should give Corey the shot despite the speed factor. We had another safety here for years that quite frankly was about as slow as safeties came. His name was John Lynch and he is taking that lack of speed all the way to the hall of fame. Speed may kill but John Lynch has proven a smart enough guy with good enough instincts can also be an effective or even pro-bowl level NFL safety.
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I went to APP and obviously I’m a huge Corey Lynch fan. I do agree with gitarlvr about the speed factor. I would say speed is the biggest thing Corey has to overcome. He also tends to be a dive at the leg tackler and doesn’t always wrap up which can get you in trouble at this level.
One thing that was interesting to see was shis 3-cone and short shuttle times…I didn’t realize the short space quickness he displayed.
That is good enough to beat Jahvid Best in the 3-cone and Dexter Mcluster and Preston Parker in short shuttle….on a side note Cody Grimm had a 3 cone drill out of this world (beating lynch and nearly everyone that went to the combine and performed it)
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Evidently Corey isn’t too awfully slow…he blocks kicks with the best of them. Oh, wait a minute, it takes brains to study the center’s minute inflections to get a jump on the snap. Do ya think he might study a quarterback’s tendencies as well? By the way, Go Apps!