Michael Bennett Believes He Is Better, Smarter
August 15th, 2012
Two years ago it seemed the Bucs found a major hidden gem in Michael Bennett. Now in his fourth NFL season, Bennett is the Bucs starting left defensive lineman.
While Bennett may not have topped his 2010 play last season — who on the defense did? — Bucs fans may be pleased with what they see from the Texas A&M product this campaign.
“I feel I understand the game better,” Bennett said after the final training camp practice of 2012 this morning. “I’m in my fourth year now so I recognize plays quicker and digest them faster. So it feels way better this [camp] than last year.”
Bennett should get ample time to match his play with his intelligence. With Da’Quan Bowers likely out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury, Bennett will have the lion’s share of snaps at left defensive end.
August 15th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
We hear this stuff every year outta Bennett so I’m not listening to this till he does it on the Feild. At least McCoy has shown he can be very good same with Clayborn. Bennett shows good run defense and a bull rush that’s it
August 15th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Bennett is a high effort guy and he’s a pretty stout run defender. Like all DE’s, the guy needs some help up the middle collapsing the pocket.
I actually think that him and Gilberry can do an adequate job if the whole line is pulling their share.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:09 am
@Andrew “At least McCoy has shown he can be very good”
When has he shown this??
I watched Friday’s game where he had no excuses. He played 15 plays, made one tackle for no gain and whiffed on 14 plays. He disrupted nothing or nobody except for once. He lined up offsides once for a loss of 5 yards. If he was a baseball player, he would be batting .075 with an error.
August 16th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Over the winter/spring, the folks at FootballFocus (who watch every play by every player for every game (or so they claim)) ranked Bennett near the top as a run-defending DE:” Among 4-3 defensive ends over the course of the season, only Jason Pierre-Paul and Terrell Suggs had better run defense ratings than Bennett.” They also noted that he pressured QBs a lot more than might be thought, with four sacks, six hits, and 24 hurries. And that was despite missing two games and sharing time/starts with Bowers in the other 14.
This is a contract year for Michael; I expect even better play from him.