Bucs Secondary Strong
February 23rd, 2011
The play of E.J. Biggers is one reason the Bucs have a strong secondary.
Joe used to snicker a few weeks ago when some Bucs fans — for reasons Joe cannot comprehend — began banging the drum for Bucs rock star Mark Dominik to sign Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
Setting aside reality for a moment — the stark reality that Mark Dominik will not sign a high-priced free agent — this move in Joe’s eyes would make nearly as much sense as the Bucs signing free agent quarterback Peyton Manning.
Of all the positions the Bucs need help in, secondary, aside from quarterback, was the last area of need for the Bucs. Crunching some numbers, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune agrees with Joe, so Kaufman Twittered on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.
Tampa Bay’s secondary excelled despite a dismal pass rush, limiting opposing QBs to a 77.6 passer rating that ranked third in the NFC.
That’s pretty damned strong. As Kaufman points out, the Bucs had pretty much zero pass pressure last season.
So if Bucs fans can fantasize with a modicum of realty (signing Asomugha is pure surreality), imagine a secondary where E.J. Biggers has more experience, Myron Lewis has more experience, Cody Grimm and Aqib Talib will return from injuries (and no, Tanard Jackson is no more a factor than Rachel Watson playing safety), a revitalized defensive front with two new coaches, a healthy Gerald McCoy and Brian Price and likely an upgraded set of defensive ends, it’s not out of the question the Bucs could have the strongest pass defense in the NFC next season.
And that’s much closer to reality than Asomugha wearing pewter and red.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:00 pm
The reason fans are “banging the Drum” for Nnamadi is quite simple. ” the Oakland Raiders. Back in the Eighties, the Washington Redskins had a trio of Lil Wrs called the smurfs. And they were annoying! They scored like rabbits, because everyone had to commit everybody to stop John Riggins- an absolute monster of a power back. Thus leaving the wretched Smurfs free to frolic, catch passes, and do the gayiest TD dance ever
The Raiders had a top CB in Lester Hayes. He was terriffic! The had another good young Cb. A good tandem. No one could figure put why the payed Michael Haynes- another Excellent shut down CB- a ton of money to play there. Until the Superbowl. Hayes and Haynes, plus that young guy, completely handled the smurfs. Everyone else stopped Riggins. – raiders win Superbowl!
The only thing better than a shut down CB , is two Shutdown Cbs
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Joe says…it’s out of the question the Bucs could have the strongest pass defense in the NFC next season. I think you mean “it’s not out of the question…”.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:13 pm
I agree we don’t need a second shut down corner. But think of this- with a free agent corner this year, as well as a couple of drafted DE’s, plus a finding a head hunting MLB in next years draft, would allow Raheem to take this tampa 2.1 to the next level. I’m thinking bump and run on the outside with safety help over the top, and a true MLB that will take RB’s heads off. We’ve go the cap space, and the notion that we could dictate coverage would only make the team more dangerous.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I wouldn’t mind improving our secondary but agree that those positions are the least of our concern, aside from Mr. Freeman. Thanks Joe for putting the numbers out there. Holding opposing QBs to such low ratings is stellar when considering all the time they had to throw. Now let’s just wait for the haters to list the loser QBs we played against last year.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:20 pm
The reason fans are “banging the Drum” for Nnamadi is quite simple. ” the Oakland Raiders. Back in the Eighties, the Washington Redskins had a trio of Lil Wrs called the smurfs. And they were annoying! They scored like rabbits, because everyone had to commit everybody to stop John Riggins- an absolute monster of a power back. Thus leaving the wretched Smurfs free to frolic, catch passes, and do the gayiest TD dance ever
The Raiders had a top CB in Lester Hayes. He was terriffic! The had another good young Cb. A good tandem. No one could figure put why the payed Michael Haynes- another Excellent shut down CB- a ton of money to play there. Until the Superbowl. Hayes and Haynes, plus that young guy, completely handled the smurfs. Everyone else stopped Riggins. – raiders win Superbowl!
The only thing better than a shut down CB , is two Shutdown Cbs in today’s pass happy NFL
Plus a lot of us aren’t as comfortable with Talib as we’d like
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:25 pm
We need Nnamdi. 20 times out of 10, Biggers will get beaten by guys like Calvin Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:38 pm
You do remember who drafted Talib, dont you? He’s almost certainly doomed. Plus our base defense was 3 CBs last year. As great as he is, Rhonde shouldn’t be forced to be our shut down guy. If Talib gets hurt, or has” issues”, who’s the guys – Biggers and Lewis
Still feeling good?
By the way, who’s the other safety. Grimm looks good, but did Jones blow anyone away? Still need that other safety, although Larry Asante may be that guy. I am still feeling that our secondary jus might be a Lil shaky still.
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Sorry guys, don’t know how that first one posted twice.
February 23rd, 2011 at 6:05 pm
for being in his 1st year, biggers played great. if some of you haven’t noticed, this regime is going to let young players grow, not stiffle them by bringing in fa’s every year.
February 23rd, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Right Tim. That’s all of us are thinking when we want a free agent. Mike Wallace would be a good pick up because we’re all enamored with Lynn Swan winning a Superbowl six decades ago. Got it.
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Because of his contract details, Nmamdi is unable to sign with any team until a new CBA. While he is one of the top CBs in the league, he will not be signed by the Bucs. Biggers played very well all season long and especially stepped up when Talib went down. Not to mention we just re-signed Ronde. That pretty much rules out any FA CB. The secondary is the strongest aspect of the defense guys. If we’re gonna bring in a high priced FA, let’s grab Ray Edwards or Charles Johnson.
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Theodore- yeah , yer right. Our secondary doesn’t need to improve- its great. As a matter of fact , the whole team is so perfect, we don’t need any upgrades Anywhere.
Sounds like Gruden and Allen
What’s wrong with you? Anytime you can acquire one ofvthe most talented guys in thee league at his posistion- you at least think about it! He was cut strictly due to money issues. We are gonna have to go on a spending spree to reach the MINIMUM salary floor required.
Talib is talented, but unstable. I hope he’s grown up, but he doesn’t seem the type. If he’s had his last issue, I’ll apologize. I hope so. But I don’t think so!! Rhonde is an all time great Buc, but could be losing step any day. It’s inevitable. We all get old. He shouldn’t have to be the man at the end of his career.
Biggers played very well for a 7th round pick. Haven’t seen him playing top WR weekend, week out. Can he do it? If recluse Talib, you better hope so!
Lewis showed real promise. Is he ready to face top WR starting week one? I dunno
I’m not saying Nnamadi is our biggest need. I’m saying he Is one of the top CBs in the league. Meybe the best. He is considered one of the highest character guys in the league. And all he cost us is money. No draft picks, no trade- just money- which we need to spend!
We have a HOF who is 36, an emotional unstable but very talented young corner, a 2nd year over achiever, and a really tall, talented 1st year player who got very limited playing time.
We play 3 CBs as often as not. You remove any one guy, looks shaky. Take Aquib out – and it looks real shaky!
CB is not our biggest need- but we could certainly improve.
The goal is to ALWAYS improve
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:57 pm
i have to agree with capt troll capper 2 shutdown cb’s would be nice. and once ronde retires im not so sure i want to count on talib. he’s damn good when he wants to be, dont get me wrong. but it would be nice to have an insurance policy.
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:58 pm
and is it just me or does brian price get a little too much love for a guy who never played a real nfl snap?
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Grasshop,
I feel the same way about Price. After his hamstring injury early in the offseason last year, he came into training camp turning heads with his dominant play. I don’t know if he got hurt in TC, but he never seemed to get it going in the pre-season and only recorded a few tackles in the regular season. He has great potential though, and I’m pulling for him. We just really don’t know what we have with Price, yet.
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:14 pm
So you don’t think opposing teams running the ball right down our face had anything to do with team’s not passing all the often?
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:17 pm
tim, they resigned ronde, talib is a top 10 corner, unstable or not, biggers wont be benched after the season he had, and lewis was just drafted. forget about nnamdi asomugha, its not happening.
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 pm
@gotbbucs thank your for spelling ronde correctly i dont know why people continue to say rhonde and claybourne instead of clayborn even though joe has it posted above haha
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Our 3 CB set- minus Talib( injury, incident, whatever) is an Aging Barber, Biggers , And Lewis. Feeling good about that? One aging 2 unproven.
Nice recipe for failure.
And we don’t want to consider signing the best CB in the league,who is a great leader and person because of money? Money we are gonna have to spend. We are 60 million below the minimum. That’s enough to sign A great DE, LB, Safety, and Nnamadi.
I dunno, seems smart to me . . .
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Spending cash in an area of strength when there are more serious holes elsewhere doesn’t seem smart to Joe.
By your logic Tim (you are already predicting Talib will be gone for some reason), might as well back up the Brinks truck for Peyton Manning. Surely something will happen to Josh Freeman.
Besides, Dominik isn’t going to sign this cat anyway, so what’s the point of pining for him?
Silly no matter what way you look at it.
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:27 pm
I wouldn’t be so sure about Jackson, Joe…
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Matt:
Tanard? Not banking on him at all and the Bucs would be foolish to do so. That’s why Joe wrote the Bucs would be better off depending on Rachel Watson at safety. 🙂
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:03 pm
yeah Joe, comparing adding to Nnamdi to our CBs is really the same as adding Manning to Freeman, cuz last time i checked you can have 2 QBs on the field throwing the ball right?..lmao u guys crack me up
sure CB isnt our biggest need, but Ronde, let’s face it, is real slow…Biggers/Lewis are highly unproven…why not at least GO after Nnamdi? it’s not like we are wasting all of our LOWEST PAYROLL in the league by signing him…we’d still be way under the CAP…getting Charles Johnson/Ray Edwards, Nnamdi/Atogwe would make this defense scary!
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Sorry everybody, but they’re not going to stunt the growth of the good young players on this team that they worked their asses off to aquire. Nnamdi is a great player, but you don’t go out and pay out the largest CB contract in history because you’re worried about somebody getting hurt or suspended. If they’re worried about injuries or league suspensions then they’ll either draft another CB or they’ll grab another young FA corner to develop.
I love fantasy football as much as the next guy, but luckily for all of us, Dominik doesn’t love it nearly as much as Dan Snyder.
February 24th, 2011 at 3:42 am
Yeah, your right Joe. We’re so strong in the secondary, we shouldn’t get better
If course, the world champion Green Bay packers, who have 3 pro bowlers in their seconday, have been discussing trying to sign him this week Former pro bowler Charles Woodson said he would move to safety to sign him. That was in an article in SI two days ago. They also have Probowlers Nick Collins and Tramon Williams. Those silly packers, trying to get stronger in a strong area!! What, are they trying to be champs or something?? The dummies!!
Thankfully, the Might Buc defense is such a friggin Juggernault in the secondary, with all of our All pro killers, that we don’t even CONSIDER adding the best Corner in the league- even though we aren’t spending dick on our secondary. Haven’t seen A) a big contract for a DB B) an all pro . But we laugh at the idea of signing this guy
I’m not saying we NEED to sign this guy. I like Both Biggers and Lewis potential. But right now, neither us a proven comodity. And even if both pan out, or either gonna be as good as Nnamadii?? Money dN sure cant be the issue- we are close to 100 million from cap problems. So, we just don’t think we need this guy because we are so great?
Those silly Packers, they obviously don’t get it!
February 24th, 2011 at 3:42 am
I don’t get the joke. I’m not personally pining after Nnamdi and drooling at night just thinking about the Bucs giving him a huge pay day (although when his FA was announced I did dream about it), but whats the matter with the Bucs giving him an offer? I’m sorry Joe, but we’re not perfect at CB. Isn’t that what you strive for? Perfection? And if your lucky you just might reach greatness am I right? Talib’s injury is the reason we lost to the Lions. E.J. Biggers, Myron Lewis, Elbert Mack… none of them could cover Megatron. Ronde is too short to cover a WR like that either. The comparison of Peyton Manning to Nnamdi is comical too. It’s more like when the Patriots had acquired Wes Welker and Donte Stalworth, what if they had said “psh, who needs Randy Moss?” We had a poor pass rush yes, but we were also abysmal against the run. I personally would like us to acquire (after a pass rushing DE and perhaps an OLB) a safety, but I would not be opposed to a CB. You asked before who sits Joe, I’ll tell you who sits. Ronde sits. He’s better in the nickel back position anyway.
February 24th, 2011 at 3:46 am
Capt. Tim you are exactly right
February 24th, 2011 at 3:58 am
And if anyone thinks that Tanard Jackson should be part of a championship defensive secondary, them I know I’m wasting my time talking about a great core secondary. If anyone believes settling for Tandard is the answer, then The idea of a superior talent in the secondary is beyond your imagination. Better just except what we have, than try to have the best players at every posistion. Obviously we can’t even believe it’s possible.
Have expectations for all pro Players who dropped SO LOW, that we can’t even imagine having all pro’s play here. Our standards are so low, that even thinking about a great pro coming here is a laughable idea
Hard to believe we used to EXPECT excellence. Now we can’t even imagine it
February 24th, 2011 at 4:16 am
MichiganBucsFan- thanks buddy. I was starting to think I must be losing my mind. Our Secondary isn’t a strenght. We ran a 3-3-5 a ton last year. Teams passed less, because they were averaging 6 yards a carry running the ball! Our Secondary is Cody Grimm and Sean Jones at Safety, Talib and Ronde Barber at CB. Our nickleback is EJ Biggers, dimeback is Myron Lewis.
And this is the group that can’t be improved on?? Wow-.I mean- it’s laughable to even consider it, because this group is soooo strong???? You guys have lost your minds, and as our run defense stiffens, will find out that team’s will throw on us alot more!! I seem to recall Calvin Johnson just strolling thru that feared secondary( minus a couple guys) like a man among boys.
In a post here, Ronde seemed ok with possibly a reduced work load. He’s also talked about playing Free safety. Slide Grimm to His more natural SS, let Ronde extend his career and Ball hawk at FS, which to me gets him 6-8 interceptions this year. In a nickel, he’s back as a slot CB. Now that’s taking a Lil pressure off our beloved Mr. Barber, and still making the most of his still impressive ball skills!
February 24th, 2011 at 5:26 am
Talib is a pro bowler caliber player who is a shut down corner in this league just ask Roddy White. He would have easily finished with the most picks in the league this year had he not been hurt, don’t kid yourselves by taking anything away from what he has to offer.
February 24th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Yeah Rican- sweet. Problem may be that we ussually have 3 CBs on the field most of the time. . .
February 24th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Biggers played great for his first year starting.
Lewis has all the tools and is looking pretty good as far as development.
With Maturity and a pass rush, this secondary could end up creating pro-bowlers.
I would not mind a safety taken late (round5) because of value, but if they don’t, no big deal because secondary is the strength of the defense right now.
February 24th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
The Nnamdi discussion makes great post chatter. But a 30 year-old, 12 mil a year CB ain’t gonna happen. A more reasonable discussion might be 27 year-old, Jonathon Joseph – the shut-down corner from the Bengals and even that is a long shot!
February 24th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Rican is right and he did not get into trouble either.
February 24th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Of course, we could sign 5 -yup- 5- 12 million dollar free agents to reach the Current NFL salary cap FLOOR. Floor, as in bare minimum we can spend. That Is still a long way from Cap max
Don’t you remember signing Ken Dilger, Simeon Rice, MIchael Pittman, Cato June, Roman Oben, Phillip Buchanon, Brad Johnson,etc, Etc. We did that that put us over the edge, and win the Superbowl. Thats how you do it. We have built the great Core. This time we have The key piece, a franchise QB. Now we make the push for the Playoffs, then Superbowl
We have a ton of money to spend- more than anyone else. If you can get the best guy at his spot in the league, and it cost you nothing but money- THAT YOU HAVE! – it’s madness not to think about it.
We aren’t building for tomorrow. The future is NOW. We are in a great place, but need to get playoff experience
If you were an NFL QB, and you look at your three Wrs being covered by Nnamadi,Aqib,and Ronde- life is sucking pretty bad for you.
And that sure frees up some guys to help shut down the run
Joe- I know the secondary is in better shape than most of the Defense. But even a strenght can get better. As every Lil hater reminds us- we aren’t even close to spending the money we need to.
Why not sign some great, high character guys. It worked the last time!