“Naked” Shaq Barrett
September 16th, 2019
League-leader.
If getting three sacks in a quarter is enough to determine the Bucs made a nice signing in free agency of acquiring Shaq Barrett, the following tribute is sure to seal the deal.
Linebacker Shaq Barrett this morning was knighted by hot dog eating contest-protesting, mock draft-scowling, L.L. Bean-wearing, Second Amendment abolitionist, Mike Florio-arguing, parrot-insensitive, chewing-with-his-mouth-open, soup-gulping, California train-romancing, anti-football proliferation, outhouse-admiring, airline-napping, steerage-flying, Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal picture-taking, video game-playing, Taylor Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, craft beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training social activist Peter King of NBC Sports as one of his two defensive players of the week.
Think about for a moment how far the Bucs defense has traveled in a year. Not quite a year ago 11 lawn chairs could have defended Matty Ice and Julio Jones better in Atlanta than the Bucs did in a close loss to the Dixie Chicks. Now? The Bucs have a defensive player being honored by one of the top NFL writers in the nation for his tremendous play.
And while King admits 26-year-old Barrett took advantage of horrible blocking by the Stinking Panthers, blocking so bad it left Barrett “naked,” King confessed Barrett did his job better than just about anyone this past weekend.
Three sacks and a crucial pressure in the 20-14 Tampa Bay victory at Carolina. Give credit where it’s due, even though Carolina left tackle Daryl Williams was awful in the second half of the game that dropped the Panthers to 0-2. In the third quarter, Barrett wrecked two Carolina drives into Tampa territory with three sacks, every one of them speed rushes against Williams. Then, in the fourth quarter, with Carolina Riverboat-Ronning on a fourth-and-one with 11:45 left in Tampa territory again, Barrett, unblocked, wrecked the play and forced Cam Newton to throw incomplete to the left. For some reason, Williams blocked to the interior of the line and left Barrett naked. I debated whether to give an award to Barrett for being terrific or to put the goat horns on Williams, which he deserves. But three sacks and a crucial pressure—that’s Barrett’s job, and he did it well Thursday night.
Joe harped all offseason (frankly, for years now) about the Bucs getting a pass rusher. Perhaps Barrett is that guy? And in an evil genius sort of way, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht signed Barrett to a one-year deal that had a hidden motivation.
In other words, Barrett is in a contract year. If he balls out, he’s going to be a richer man next season. Problem is, that may not be with the Bucs.
What a shock it would be for folks around here (including Joe) if the Bucs had a linebacker flirt with getting double-digit sacks.
Oh yeah, Barrett leads the NFL in sacks. What a bizarro world we live in and how low standards have gotten around Bucsland. A Bucs defender leading the NFL in sacks used to be a real goal each year! Now, it sounds like football fantasy.
September 16th, 2019 at 11:03 am
Hopefully we can get JPP back this year, to put on the other side of him.
September 16th, 2019 at 11:06 am
Brees is out for up to six-eight weeks! New Orleans in three weeks! Sack city, I hope!
September 16th, 2019 at 11:08 am
Give him some of JPP’s money if JPP doesn’t measure up when he returns….if he returns….
September 16th, 2019 at 11:08 am
and folks said licht did nothing to help the pass rush…lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 16th, 2019 at 11:09 am
Low standards? Um, no to that. Be happy Joe. Posters been telling you that we’d get pressure from the LBers all along. To stop whining about DEs. Wins are all that matter…
Go BUCS
September 16th, 2019 at 11:25 am
Carolina’s Daryl Williams did play poorly in those series… but isn’t that a direct result of how we play our 3-4 alignment? From what I understand, the goal of 3-4 is to confuse o-lineman with pressure from the linebackers.
September 16th, 2019 at 11:31 am
“11 lawn chairs could have defended Matty Ice and Julio Jones better in Atlanta than the Bucs did”. Great line Joe’s!!
September 16th, 2019 at 11:33 am
A lot of Broncos fans were sad to see Shaq sign with us. This is not that surprising and Ira’s 7.5 sack prediction can only be seen as INSULTING
September 16th, 2019 at 11:35 am
I told you they loved this guy in Denver. Just didn’t know it’d be this good through 2 weeks.
Shaq Barret – 4 sacks
Josh ALlen – 0 sacks
Ed Oliver – 0 sacks
Broncos Defense – 0 sacks
Did not think that’d be the case lol. He just needs 1 every 2 games now and he’ll get his double digits
September 16th, 2019 at 11:43 am
Brees is gonna be out for at least 6 weeks after having to get surgery to repair the ligament in his right thumb. That also coincides with the majority of our long road trip. Should we beat the Giants on Sunday (absolutely no reason we shouldn’t) if we could somehow go 2-2 or 3-1 in the stretch from LA to TEN we should set ourselves up nicely to compete for the division title.
September 16th, 2019 at 11:49 am
Horrible blocking by Williams? I’m sure that several DEs & OLBs around the league have said the very same thing about Donovan’s blocking in some games. The defense’s job is to take advantage of mismatches and make plays. Shaq did exactly that … kudos where kudos are due.
And as far as he might not be a Buc next year goes, that’s looking at the wrong half of the glass IMO. IF Barrett performs well this year, it may well be because of how he’s being used in this defense by TB. IF he’s a great fit for this defense, you pay the man. I can think of a few guys on the offensive side of the ball who aren’t exactly EARNING their salary. Chop chop, draft their replacement, but keep those who are showing that they’re worth what they’re making.
September 16th, 2019 at 11:50 am
Cap is going to be an issue next year too… if I recall correctly
September 16th, 2019 at 11:51 am
OBP … “Should we beat the Giants on Sunday (absolutely no reason we shouldn’t).” Not a good idea to count your chickens BEFORE they cross the road. Well, something like that. ONE GAME AT A TIME … and take NOTHING for granted.
September 16th, 2019 at 12:07 pm
Sure Licht signed him, but I think Bowles sold him on the new defense. Guy is a good story too. Nothing has been easy for him.
September 16th, 2019 at 12:13 pm
Barrett…Barrett..he’s our man!
September 16th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
Maybe we found the Von Miller we thought Spence might be.
September 16th, 2019 at 12:29 pm
It’s funny how all off season long the majority was screaming about the defense, the pass rush, the running game, and the o line, but none of those things are an issue. Lol. This offense just need the time to get, so we’ll have to lean on the defense.
September 16th, 2019 at 12:54 pm
“11 lawn chairs could have defended Matty Ice and Julio Jones better in Atlanta than the Bucs did…”
In my best Dr. Evil voice: “Were any of the lawn chairs… Ill tempered?”
September 16th, 2019 at 1:06 pm
Shaq Barrett was a find. It may also be the defense.
September 16th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
I’ll say it for the 100th time he graded on a scale from 1 to 100 over 70 I’m pass rushing and run stopping over the last three seasons. Shaq been an animal.
September 16th, 2019 at 2:22 pm
AlteredEgo Say:
September 16th, 2019 at 11:50 am
Cap is going to be an issue next year too… if I recall correctly
The Bucs have $66,428,251 in cap Space which is the 11th most in the NFL.
The Bucs have the least amount of dead money $130,241 in the NFL for 2020.
https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/
September 16th, 2019 at 2:28 pm
Joe can you confirm, if the Bucs can’t sign Barrett and we lose him to free agency, we can acquire a compensatory pick the following year?
All depends on how many free agents you lose, how and when they re-sign, and how many you sign (if any) to replace them. Very complicated. –Joe
September 16th, 2019 at 3:06 pm
@AlabamaBucsFan
Pretty sure we only get a comp pick if we loss more FAs than we sign by a certain date, and even then the pick we get depends on how much they sign for with their new teams I believe.
September 16th, 2019 at 4:19 pm
He might break his record but I’ll be surprised a with 6 or more sacks. Could get paid after the season if he gets 7-8
September 17th, 2019 at 1:11 pm
Need to sign Barrett to an extension, like yesterday. Do it Licht.