“He Wanted To Find Out How Our Corners Would Hold Up, And Our Safeties Playing Man.”
August 29th, 2016
Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes
Lot of calculating stuff going on at One Buc Palace.
Consider what Dirk Koetter told the Buccaneers Radio Network after the Bucs-Browns game Friday.
“Smitty (aka defensive coordinator Mike Smith) called a lot of pressures [Friday], played a lot of man coverage behind those blitzes,” Koetter said. “He wanted to find out how our corners would hold up, and our safeties playing man. And the best friend for any pass coverage is a pass rush, and we had that [Friday].”
Then consider what Koetter said Saturday afternoon about not wanting to face a 3-4 defense.
“Yeah, well, I can’t lie about this. Truth be told, the reason we went three-wide, no-huddle was to keep them out of their 3-4 so they were playing nickel most of the time,” Koetter said, after being asked how proud he was of his team succeeding against the Browns’ 3-4 defense.
“So they really weren’t in the 3-4 much until the second half, and so the game itself was not where we got work against a 3-4; we did get some work against it in practice and that was important to get a 3-4 team in here. We’re going to see a little 3-4 this week from the Redskins as well, so that’ll be good, but as far as last night, until we got to the second half with our two’s, there really wasn’t a lot of 3-4 out there.”
And these two quotes represent why the preseason is not real, and not a dress rehearsal. It’s awesome to succeed at what your team is performing, but it’s just not a real football game.
As for those Bucs cornerbacks and safeties, Joe wonders whether Mike Smith saw enough to keep six cornerbacks. Or will he recommend the Bucs go with five? That likely would signal the end of the Johnthan Banks or Alterraun Verner era.
August 29th, 2016 at 9:53 am
Did Jonathan Banks play in the first half?
August 29th, 2016 at 9:57 am
I think they’ll stick with 6 CB’s. I’m not sure how he’s performing in practice but Banks looks like a solid backup in the 3 preseason games that I’ve watched.
August 29th, 2016 at 10:03 am
Banks has experience and picked off a game winner to megatron lets not forget his journey…he’s not going anywhere.
August 29th, 2016 at 10:08 am
Banks is no Myron Lewis lol…if Myron stayed long so will banks
August 29th, 2016 at 10:23 am
Agree with Waterboy … Bucs will most likely keep 6 CBs. Wouldn’t be surprised to see 4 CBs (and maybe even 5) on the field against certain formations. Tend to think that Banks is in a similar situation to Glennon … great backup who’s not very expensive this year, but also not very likely to re-sign with the Bucs next year.
August 29th, 2016 at 10:25 am
Better keep six. Johnson pretty much had his way with Grimes. Teams are going to throw those big fast receivers at us and it could get ugly. We need a full stable of DB’s to rotate and cover for injuries.
August 29th, 2016 at 10:39 am
Ideally Verner reworks his deal and provides needed depth and flexibility. I like the idea and option of having Grimes and Hargreaves on the outside in two corner sets. Then Hargreaves sliding into the slot and Verner manning the outside in the nickel. Even if Verner is purely a backup, I trust him to come in and perform better than Banks or J-Rob. Banks is cheaper but he has really struggled at times this offseason.
August 29th, 2016 at 10:46 am
Keep 6 only go with 2 QB’s Jameis and Griffin… Neither griffin or the glennon have played worth a crap against lesser talent. No need to waste 2 rosters spots on 2 bad qb’s. Keep the one with the most upside which is clearly griffin.
August 29th, 2016 at 11:04 am
tmax- You love you some Glennon!
Personally, I don’t know what the answer is. Outside of Grimes, Jude, and Hargreaves has there been any real stand-outs? Verner has been solid and Banks has played against scrubs. If there’s an odd man out between the 2 then it’s pretty obvious that you keep Verner.
August 29th, 2016 at 11:19 am
How has Robinson looked because I haven’t seen him play much compared to Verner. In the preseason games I’ve watched Verner has had a lot of actions with the 1s and done just fine.
My personal preseason evaluation:
VHIII – looks special and capable of playing inside or out
Grimes – making plays but also capable of being beat still
Verner – hasn’t been letting any WR wide open that I can tell and doing decent on outside
Robinson ? – haven’t heard this guys name all year
Banks – had some decent preseason play
Jude – apparently is solid at nickle
Grimes is old so keeping Verner around even if he is just depth seems pretty worth it unless this Robinson guy is just playing really well despite not seeing any article about him all year on any bucs site; or hearing his name in games at all.
August 29th, 2016 at 12:41 pm
It’s good to hear Dirk saying he’s dictating to the defense the coverage they will play.
August 29th, 2016 at 1:19 pm
Exactly Phil. That’s the biggest thing I garnered from his news conference. We’ll be going hurry up a lot this year, and all the 3-4 teams will have to adjust to our offense. Go 3 wide the whole time, give JW time, play action with Dougie, and light it up. Can’t stop well thrown balls, and well timed runs.
August 29th, 2016 at 1:33 pm
Lord – there have been multiple mentions of Robinson this year and they are all mostly good. Robinson is currently 5th on the depth chart behind Grimes, Verner Hargreaves and Hey Jude. Banks is squarely 6th on the depth chart and has not been given opportunities to play in pre-season until the later part of games when mostly 3rd stringers are in. The writing is on the wall. If they keep 5 CBs which is typical – Banks will be cut.
They may decide to keep 6 CBs. Although its a tough choice because that means you have to cut a capable and versatile TE (Myers) or a DE showing promise like Kourtnei Brown or a OL prospect who’s potential you love like Benenoch in order to keep Banks who’s greatest attributes are what you see on tape from 3 and 4 years ago but no longer seem to exist.
August 29th, 2016 at 2:06 pm
IF we play man/blitz vs. Carolina they will carve us up, Joe….
CLE is no where near the offense of Carolina’s.
August 29th, 2016 at 2:07 pm
the best way to beat Carolina….get tremendous pressure with the front four…..contain him in the pocket, force him to throw in the pocket under duress.
spy on Cam with one of our speedy lb’s to keep him honest….
August 29th, 2016 at 3:01 pm
I’m feelin’ ya pewterpower. Strong interior pressure and DE’s clean up the edge. Gotta keep him uncomfortable, and having to go thru his reads. He’ll throw a pick. I think the team has a “we should win” attitude now.
August 29th, 2016 at 6:41 pm
I would think they go
5 CB
4 safety
5 LB
7 DL (4 DE and 4 DT since Ayers and Gholston can both move inside)
8 oline
5 WR
3 TE
3 RB
3 QB
K / P / LS
That’s 46 at game time, although I think most game days the add another OL and dress two QBs.