What Happened With Keith Tandy?
March 1st, 2018
Injuries stunted 2017 play. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
Last year it appeared safety may have been a strength.
The Bucs signed former Pro Bowler T.J. Ward and kept fan favorite Chris Conte. Justin Evans was a high draft pick.
Then there was Keith Tandy. The former Schiano Man had as strong of a finish to the 2016 season as just about any safety in the NFL. But that did not translate to 2017, as Tandy was almost a forgotten player, a shadow of his 2016 self.
Yesterday, speaking with Bucs beat reporters from the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said injuries were a big reason why Tandy didn’t replicate his 2016.
“Keith had some injury issues and missed some time and even when he came back, Keith was playing not at 100 percent,” Koetter said. “Still did a nice job on special teams. Never really got quite healthy where he could do everything he could like at the end of 2016.
“Sometimes, that roation thing doesn’t work out for any of them.”
As Koetter noted, if there is a rotation at a specific position, it means no one has grabbed the proverbial bull by the balls and taken control. In other words, if there is a rotation, it’s fair to call that position a weakness.
Koetter isn’t ready to give up on Tandy yet. But Joe is of the mind it’s fair to expect the Bucs to pick up a safety or two this offseason. Tandy is a free agent.
Remember, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht drafted a safety on the second day of the draft who now looks like he is the best safety on the team. Licht also signed Ward in early September and then traded J.J. Wilcox to Pittsburgh.
If Licht wasn’t satisfied with the safeties in September, then he surely cannot be satisfied with them now.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:08 pm
LaMarcus Joyner first and foremost, if not tagged. Then Kenny Vaccaro maybe from NO is worth a look. Sounds like Tyrann Mathieu might be cut loose in ARZ.
None of OURS. Rebuild.
Go Bucs!
March 1st, 2018 at 1:31 pm
If you rotate too much, then nobody can grab the bull by the balls. I think that is a Mike Smith D philosophy problem.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:39 pm
more excuses!!!!!!!……now dirk wants to blame “rotation” on players regression……ok….got it!!!!
Hard Knocks
Irma
No Bye Week
SOS
Injuries
Lack of talent
Dirks 2nd year
Lack of Pass Rush
Lack of Run Game
Winston is still young
Lovie
Dom
Lack of execution
Owners-added today by @realist
Rotation-added today by dirk
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 1:41 pm
Tandy played well in a 5 or 6 game stretch last year and was anointed the next big thing. He regressed to his mean.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:48 pm
He’s never been more than specials teams and serviceable depth easily upgraded.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:51 pm
2016 they could rush the passer, 2017 they couldn’t. Every secondary will look awful if the boys upfront aren’t getting the job done.
March 1st, 2018 at 1:55 pm
The Bucs had the WORST secondary in the NFL in 2017. And all I see on these boards are the RB,DL,OL talk. This is the current Bucs secondary.
Cornerbacks
Vernon Hargreaves
Josh Robinson
Ryan Smith
Safeties
Justin Evans
Chris Conte
March 1st, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Wow, did not know that Mr. Tandy was banged up as well!!!!! That is a long list of injured for 2017, no wonder all but one of the coaches are back!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 2:14 pm
@Lakeland
CB, imo, is the 2nd biggest need on this team only behind DE. If they dont sign 2 CBs in FA we could be in a lot of trouble this coming season.
Safety is the real weakness that nobody has talked about. Maybe they keep Tandy as a back up and draft a SS in the middle rounds to compete with Conte?
The entire secondary is a mess.
March 1st, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Joeypoppems
The Bucs need quality CBs, you won’t win in the NFL with mediocre CBs.
March 1st, 2018 at 2:20 pm
And they need Safeties
March 1st, 2018 at 2:46 pm
every team has injuries!!!!!!!…..dirk is just making excuses!!!!!…..so I guess no one will get hurt in 2018!!!!!!!…..ok…right…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 2:49 pm
I wonder if dirk and smitty were injured all season as well because they performed the worst!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 3:25 pm
“Fan favorite Chris Conte”
Gets me everytime.
Seriously, we need s’more Tandyland next year.
March 1st, 2018 at 3:40 pm
Tandy was solid in 2016. I’m not sure how much the injury factored in, or was it that he was outplayed? We could use him for depth.
March 1st, 2018 at 3:50 pm
Not going to get on here and rant on why Keith should be playing. Dirk is just covering his ass saying Keith was hurt last year as to the reason he didn’t play. Tandy was hurt for a few games but the bottom line is Licht or Smith wanted to look good by playing an All Pro in Ward that they paid way to much money for and he was a failure. That is the real deal. If Licht knew what he was doing as well as Smith and Dirk they would put Tandy in the lineup and play him and let him do his job which he did in a most proficient way and spend their money in places of real need. And we all know what those needs are. I am hopeful that is what happens next year but to be honest I have lost all faith in the leadership of Dirk, Smith and Licht. Tmax take your jabs and call Tandy a scrub, a second hand player or whatever you want but I know how effective he was and what kind of player he is. Hell you don’t have a clue like the Coaches that went 5 & 11. I may be wrong but I may not!!! Fire away all you Tandy Haters!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 4:07 pm
@Lakeland … “The Bucs had the WORST secondary in the NFL in 2017. And all I see on these boards are the RB,DL,OL talk.”
Starting in 2014 (when Licht came) Bucs have drafted on defense … 1 DE (Spence Rnd 2) … 1 DT (Stevie T Rnd 7) … 3 LBs (Kwon Rnd 4), (Beckwith Rnd 3), (Bond Rnd 6) … 1 Safety (Evans Rnd 2) … 2 CBs (VHIII Rnd 1), R Smith Rnd 4). Out of 26 draft picks in those 4 years, Licht dedicated 8 (30%) to building our defense. And most of those 8 were lower round picks (1 Rnd 1, 2 Rnd 2, 1 Rnd 3, 2 Rnd 4, 1 Rnd 6, 1 Rnd 7).
Have to agree with ya Lakeland. Instead of building a BALANCED T-E-A-M, most seem to want more offense, more offense, with maybe an occasional “Oooo, we’d better throw a bone to the DLine this year.” New Orleans tried that HEAVY OFFENSE strategy & it failed miserably. So did Atlanta. Now that they’ve both created a more balanced team, their Win-Loss records have improved. Whodathunkit?
March 1st, 2018 at 4:17 pm
T.J. Ward was a cast off, cut by his former team, injured, and Licht still signed him! I’d hardly put him in the good player category.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:22 pm
Tandy would open the final five games for Tampa Bay during an impressive playoff stretch drive that fell just a bit short. In that span, he would rack up 45 tackles, four interceptions and seven passes defensed. All three of those totals tied for first in the NFL in that span among safeties, and the interception mark was tied for first among all players, regardless of position. This came from the Official Site of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…… Just Sayin TMax
March 1st, 2018 at 4:22 pm
All secondary players will struggle with no pass rush. The whole rotation thing makes me sick. Cant believe a coaching staff in the nfl works a rotation at guard and safety. I cant believe Tandy regressed. Man this staff was in way over their heads last year. So many examples. I doubt they can pull themselves out of it but I hope I’m wrong.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:25 pm
Yuck……Tandy was so much fun to watch in those few games in 2016. I passively hoped he had turned a corner and would flash last year. He just didn’t bring it man and was barely noticeable on the field.
So what? Am I supposted to hope for a second year because he was injured? I’ll just put it in the I’ll believe it when I see it territory.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:58 pm
@DARIN
I AGREE!!!!!
you rotate a RB…..not a guard….lol….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Tandyman Bucs fan……….For what it’s worth, when Ward was taken out of games for sucking and missing assignments Tandy was not even next in line. They looked at Conte before they looked at Tandy.
Just saying the reason Tandy didn’t get many snaps was not just about T.J.Ward.
March 1st, 2018 at 5:18 pm
813…..That’s funny when you think about because Dirk is partial to using a feature back and that’s one position he doesn’t really rotate much.
That’s a problem for me with us needing a RB this offseason because I believe Dirk should adjust to what’s available and go with a committee system. Personally, I think that would be the best approach. If you draft a guy and he blows up then fine, otherwise I’d go with a committee.
Of course I have no hope that Dirk will adjust.
March 1st, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Our D except LB is bare bones bad – we need 4-5 starters right now – how in the world are they gonna fix this in one off season? They probably aren’t
So sad as always with this team
March 1st, 2018 at 6:01 pm
As I have said Tandy played CB at WVa. If we lose Grimes move Tandy to his favorite position. You know he is very fast and is a good tackler and tough because he is and has been a Special Team Ace, and you know he studies film more than anybody and is a good playmaker. He is discriminated against because of his height, which is stupid—look at Grimes height. Every time in past years when some other Safety got hurt Tandy Man was impressive in relief. Give him a shot at CB which is a big need on this team and put out the big bucks for a top CB in Free agency to pair with him.
March 1st, 2018 at 6:02 pm
If Elway is done with ya ( Ward…and now Talib )…you might want to steer clear. Elway may not be on Licht’s Out level of football acumen…but still.
March 1st, 2018 at 6:08 pm
Ward was a good safety in Denver, they come here and die.
C’MON THIS AINT FRIEKING ROCKET SCIENCE ITS NOT OUR DAMN PLAYERS HOLY CRAP!!!!!
Every single team in this league has room for improvement on their rosters, all of them.
Only the ones with bad coaching have the 32nd ranked ANYTHING!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 10:10 pm
I think tandy is a guy who plays in games better than he practices, because of his astute film study….I believe he can dissect what the qb is thinking based on film study and jump the route on gameday, whereas he doesn’t study jameis so isn’t as sharp in practice and doesn’t stand out therefore is outperformed by his other safety counterparts due to their overall athleticism.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Tampa Browns???
March 4th, 2018 at 12:09 am
It seems drafting Derwin James maybe picking up steam. The fanbase and front office is already seeing it at the combine that’s why the coach went a lil in depth with this one pretainig to Tandy. I’m expecting our pen and mic club to start asking what they do at safety instead of on the trenches. Like I said before Spence should be moved to middle linebacker and Kwon Alexander moved to the outside with David. We got Justin Evans and I think he’s coming along nicely but he seems more suited for Free Safety than Strong safety so Derwin James would instantly make that level of the defense elite which is needed in today’s NFL. I’m also all for signing Lamarcus Joyner too and have Evans play special teams along with Tandy if he returns which I expect him to.