Learning To Play With A Cushion
May 13th, 2018
Adjusting.
Another example showing the snuggle soft cornerback coverage won’t disappear from Mike Smith’s toolbox any time soon.
As Joe pointed out yesterday, despite the Bucs drafting corners last month capable of jamming guys at the line, it appears those same corners are learning the ways of the Bucs and Smith, the team’s defensive coordinator. That is giving opposing receivers more cushion than can be found in a furniture showroom.
When asked about how he is adjusting to life on an NFL practice field yesterday, rookie corner Carlton Davis talked about how he has to re-learn playing off coverage on receivers, or playing with a cushion.
“Well, the way I learned DB in college initially was I played on and off, so I played press and off and then my last two years, I played a lot of press-man,” Davis said. “So, just coming here, it takes time to just getting back to playing off and get comfortable with it. So, it wasn’t a huge step for me, but I guess I am back acclimated with it and I am comfortable now.”
While the night Davis was drafted, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter seemed giddy at how his new corners could jam receivers at the line, at least in the (very) early going of 2018, the Bucs and defensive coordinator Mike Smith don’t seem quite ready to scrap the off-coverage defense that has worked so astonishing well for young Bucs corners.
May 13th, 2018 at 8:09 am
Take what theyre good at and do the opposite Smitty. Brilliant. This is making me sick. The signs of a coaching staff being too stubborn to adjust this early is not good. So far doesnt seem they learned anything from last year. More time tho thank goodness
May 13th, 2018 at 8:09 am
Smith don’t seem quite ready to scrap the off-coverage defense that has worked so astonishing well for young Bucs corners.
Sarcasm, I’m quite sure. And so is this: I wonder how punters are playing with a cushion?
May 13th, 2018 at 8:24 am
Apparently, this coaching staff learned nothing from last year. No team in the NFL allowed a higher completion percentage on short passes than the Bucs.
May 13th, 2018 at 8:32 am
SMDH!
May 13th, 2018 at 8:32 am
Bummer.
I want a hybrid new age defense!!
David and Alexander at OLB. No one will get outside them and thry can match up with any RB or TE in the league!
Pur big Beckwith at MLB.
Let Davis play press man. And Grimes can wyb he wants bc he is spiderman.
We need more creativity!!
We need an attacking defense!
@joe
You were so right about Schwartz. I love his defense.
May 13th, 2018 at 8:37 am
This is depressing.
May 13th, 2018 at 8:41 am
This is one of the reasons the Bucs will be picking in the top 10 of next years draft.
May 13th, 2018 at 8:41 am
😠😠😠😠
May 13th, 2018 at 9:01 am
I’m telling you right now if Smith doesn’t get this right after three games and we are losing because of his Smitty defense then he will be fired by the bye week.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:01 am
I hope he can cover. Not sure how many INT’s his guy will have in his career. His ball skills as far as catching the ball are poor at best. His hands are like rocks!
May 13th, 2018 at 9:04 am
wtf! We draft two corners capable of playing press coverage to knock them off or at least challenge their routes and he’s teaching the failed VH 10yds. of cushion coverage? Gonna be slants and big YACs all year long. Sorry Smitty if this failed defense is what you’re planning again this year you gotta go my man.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:20 am
just because he’s practicing it doesn’t mean he’ll be in off coverage all the time … i gaurentee you if davis starts opposite of grimes he will be playing press man majority of the time
May 13th, 2018 at 9:21 am
This is just another reason the selection of Stewart made little sense. Looks like a poor man’s VHIII. More aggressive but all the metrics slay toward Hargreaves. How to kill a pass rush??? Allow three step drops and the quick slant. Hopefully Kwon is working on his drops.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:24 am
I get it.
There’s college way, and then there’s the pro way of doing things.
And you got to get these kid’s caught up – on a myriad of different terminologies & techniques.
But the only way Mike Smith can alleviate some of the weaknesses in our defensive backfield. Is to allow his defensive backs to be more physical & disruptive at the line of scrimmage.
Or once again, we’ll be more susceptible to quick gain routes (Slants & Hitches).
Shameful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Crf8EP-gM
May 13th, 2018 at 9:28 am
A lot of u sound crazy all teams play off
U can’t press all game the Bucs were just
Not good enough last year on d
May 13th, 2018 at 9:32 am
Webster Says:
May 12th, 2018 at 8:33 pm
Complain complain complain. Jesus, its called giving an offense multiple looks. You cant play man to man every play, you cant play zone every play and youd@mn sure cant play press coverage every play. You have to be able to do it all. Any fan or journalist that thought the bucs would never play off coverage again are idiots. You cant be predictable and one dimentional in this league. Its really a non issue/story. I get it though, you got to give chum to the trolls.
******************
I made the above post yesterday on the other article that is clearly geared to rile up the clueless. Look at the superbowl teams. There were a lot of off coverage played. Again your players have to do more than one thing. I know the joes do not believe in running backs having to block, but it is a very important to the offense. It is important for your defense to give multiple looks. Why is that so hard to understand? I cant believe our fans are so clueless
May 13th, 2018 at 9:46 am
kid can play, just watch an auburn game.
still dont understand the MJ Stewart selection on a lot of levels.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:47 am
If you putting pressure on the quarterback, playing of zone works.
But if your not, playing zone on the majority (66%) of your passing downs won’t cut it.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:48 am
If your putting pressure on the quarterback; playing zone works.
But if your not, playing zone on the majority (66%) of your passing downs won’t cut it.
May 13th, 2018 at 9:54 am
so we are not going to have 2 corners, just 4 safeties
May 13th, 2018 at 10:09 am
Woohoo another top ten pick! At least we’ll have a shot at a very good Pass rusher.
May 13th, 2018 at 10:09 am
Smith is going to cost Koetter his job. And it is a shame because I believe that Koetter is the only one worth keeping out of the big 3 “Licht Koetter and Smith”. Licht has had a few good picks in the draft but in 5 years he has not been able to put together a good enough team. And now this crap from Smith. Shameful.
May 13th, 2018 at 10:22 am
Lol then he doubles down on yesterday’s post…. News flash for the guys supposed to be providing the news, Brent Grimes is not a press corner, at his age he’s suddenly gonna start doing that?
David said he played on and off coverage meaning he didn’t play exclusively in press coverage even in college. If you no nothing about coverages and corners why do you write about it? Even fans of your site are pointing out how Mike Smith said the corners aren’t told how far off to play but you ignore that because you don’t want to be objective in reporting you just want to be right.
Davis is more talented than Ryan Smith day one of rookie camp and more suited for outside than vh3 which blows your theory out of the water that you don’t have to be talented to get coached up. Let it go and move on, the people like Carlton Davis and your starting drama for what reason.
If Davis is the day one starter I’m not saying the coaches get credit if be saying what I’ve always said the moment you came up with that stupid theory. You need skill that can be coached up. Unfortunately Ryan Smith has special teams talent nothing more, we have no idea if he can even play press. Can’t wait to see Davis play our starting receivers
May 13th, 2018 at 10:28 am
Joe justa stirrin dat pot
man – zone – press – off
matters not if you can’t generate a pass rush
Watch how “improved” all of our young CBs including Hargreaves and Ryan Smith look this year…
May 13th, 2018 at 10:31 am
Read an article by Scott Smith from Buccaneer.com saying that there is no press coverage in rookie mini camp because of NFL rules. Lets wait and see before we start coming to One Buc Place with pitch forks. Not defending Smith but the CBA has made training camps and practices a joke.
May 13th, 2018 at 10:44 am
Ladies and gentlemen, get to know your new D Line coach Brentson Buckner. Quite possibly your new D Coordinator in the near future.
May 13th, 2018 at 11:07 am
VH3 was an Excellent Press man corner in College and Smitty, at least temporarily, ruined him. Not again man Please!
May 13th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Am I the only one that thinks this is the worse Bucs blog ever? How is this even close to the voice for Bucs fans. His writing style is horrible and contradicts himself all the time.
May 13th, 2018 at 11:33 am
@SB
That’s an excellent point but before the question why he was drafted knowing that was his skillset if they were going to play off ball
May 13th, 2018 at 11:38 am
cmurda … BIG jump from DLine coach to DC in terms of strategy, game-planning, etc. IMO, IF Smitty does get shown the door part-way through the season, his most likely replacement on the Bucs would be Mark Duffner. He’s at least been a DC before.
May 13th, 2018 at 12:02 pm
‘Member when Smitty was hired and he said he was going to have a flexible, hybrid defense that played to the strengths of his players? Instead of forcing a scheme that didn’t work for them? Member????
I ‘memeber…
May 13th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Fire Smitty before he sabotages this season and your first head coaching gig Koetter.
May 13th, 2018 at 2:40 pm
I’ve been saying it for two years. Now it’s seems.everyine else is saying it so I’m just gonna sit back and wait for Smith to be fired. The idiot obviously hasn’t figured out why the defense was dead last.
All the MORONS justifying the soft coverage by saying “you can’t just play press all the time” must not realise that soft coverage is All the bucs play. Show.me one snap that they actually hit the wr at the line .
Your right you can’t just play man press, the problem is the only play soft zone. Realize what we want is balance. There has not been balance for over a decade.
May 13th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
@ bucem
No one said the bucs did not play soft coverage all the time “LAST YEAR”. Jumping to conclusion about whats going to happen “THIS YEAR”. And again as my post stated, you have to have multiple looks so telling davis to play some off coverage in order to see how he handles it is no reasons for idiot fans to jump off a bridge. Again, any fan that thinks there wont be any off coverage are idiot fans. All 32 teams play off coverage. Get a freaking clue.
May 13th, 2018 at 3:33 pm
Its good to see that the sheep and so called-fans, will give the coaching staff a chance this year!!!! LOL!!!!! The defense was not good enough last year!! We all agree on that!!!! But what we saw on the field, was a measured plan to ” limit the damage”!!!!! If you look for the last 10 years of Bucs defense, only 2008 and 2010 had a less, points allowed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that was facing the highest average ranked offenses of the decade in 2017!!!!!
But the sheep and so-called fans have really bought into the propaganda!!!!! While those in the know still wonder how joe wanted to bltiz and double team-wr?????? can’t have 13 men on the field!!!!!!!!
Here is the good news for the sheep and so-called fans, We know the Bucs did not like the defense either!!!! That is why there is a new D-line coach, a new D-line, CB’s, Safety and drafted Mount VEA in the 1st round like a told you months before!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t believe,,,,, Then its time for the “Realist Repost”!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Buc Realist Says:
April 19th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
@lord Cornelius
That is why we need to draft Mount Vea!!!!! helps the D-line pass rush, and we can use him at times as a goal line running back!!!!!!! He was a RB in High school and had some wiggle as a big one!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!
May 13th, 2018 at 5:19 pm
We gonna see in preseason this mofo could smarten up or he will fail again and go coach at some stupid college like Lovie
May 14th, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Joe just looking like another CB whose potential will be ruined by coaching mistakes and holding onto ideas that take away from a players strength.
At the end of the day no matter if Grimes has that flexibility to do so or not. The rest of the young guys need to play up and be aggressive. By being back we are already too soft at the POA. SOFT is the word thats been here last couple years and its the word that followed Mike Smith and Koetter from their days in Atlanta.
SOFT
May 14th, 2018 at 9:54 pm
LMAO,BUC REALIST says we can use vita vea as a goal line runningback.thats hilarious!!I can assure you that vita vea will never be used as a runningback!yea,let’s put vita at running back so he can blow his knee out like jaq Smith did on special teams.this ignorant idea comes from the self proclaimed draft master bucrealist!hell why don’t we just put Ali marpet at fullback and let him blow his knee out to.most players in the NFL played a different position in high school such as Ray Lewis the great linebacker played runningback,Sapp played tight end. You don’t spend a 1st round pick on vita vea to put him at runningback.he already will have to get acclimated to the heat!
May 14th, 2018 at 10:04 pm
Buc REALIST, you get my vote for the ignorant comment of the offseason!way to go Hero!!!I think you would make a great pingpong analyst!just remember pingpong and tennis are two different sports!and also,running backs ooops I mean defensive tackles don’t play pingpong. Your my hero realist!even though you were stuck in the outfield and never crossed home plate,your my hero!!you deserve that rainbow flag you always wanted!!