Major Pass Coverage Blues
November 20th, 2019
The tribesman over at Pro Football Focus focused their microscopes this week on Devin White and were left in disbelief.
The high-profile stats nerds determined that pass catchers White was assigned to cover Sunday were targeted 11 times.
And guess what happened? Per the PFF Tribe, the Saints and Drew Brees completed all 11 passes.
In an analysis of the top draft picks of 2019 (White was selected No. 5 overall), the Tribe also noted White was covering Saints stud receiver Michael Thomas four times and those four completions netted 67 yards and two first downs.
Yes, White was painted by Bucs management in the spring and summer to be a savior linebacker — on the field and off. He might get there, but he still has a long way to go — along with a Bucs defense that allows 30-plus points per game. Call that the Todd Bowles way.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:07 am
“50 is the new 30
Vengeance is mine”
Klueless Koetter
November 20th, 2019 at 11:14 am
Waste of time.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:14 am
White should never be covering Thomas. That’s not Whites fault. That a personal issue.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:15 am
White is going to be a very good player, imo. Mental part catching up.
Boy, this defense leaves guys on islands.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:17 am
Josh Allen with 8 sacks this year in 10 games. Not like he fell right into our freaking lap or anything.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:21 am
Here’s a nugget, try using your 2nd round draft pick who in one game had more defended passes than your whole team Jameel Dean. I am calling him the best of all of the draft picks and yet he stays on the bench are you kidding me???? Thank you Bruce for saying you want him on the field. Bowles has some kind of infatuation with Mike Edwards but wasnt he drafted as a safety????? How he gets in nickel coverage instead of moving SMB in there is beyond me.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:22 am
I mean best of all the ill fated drafted corners that is sorry.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:25 am
Off the ball linebacker that can’t cover in a passing league drafted 5th overall. And we wonder why the Bucs suck every year.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:30 am
The only reason why Devin White was taken ahead over Devin Bush (Who was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers) was because of one reason,and one reason only, White’s supposed ability to cover RB’s out of the backfield and TE’s ! White has proven to be worst than former Buccaneers LB K’Won Alexander, now with the San Francisco 49ers. Another failed 1st Round Stiff Draft Pick by Failed Yucks GM Jason Light Bulb 🤡❗️
November 20th, 2019 at 11:39 am
LordCornelius Says:
November 20th, 2019 at 11:17 am
Josh Allen with 8 sacks this year in 10 games. Not like he fell right into our freaking lap or anything.
^^^Why why bring this up LordCornhole?! 🙁
November 20th, 2019 at 11:40 am
Little Bo Peep 🤡❗️ Says:
November 20th, 2019 at 11:30 am
The only reason why Devin White was taken ahead over Devin Bush (Who was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers) was because of one reason,and one reason only, White’s supposed ability to cover RB’s out of the backfield and TE’s ! White has proven to be worst than former Buccaneers LB K’Won Alexander, now with the San Francisco 49ers. Another failed 1st Round Stiff Draft Pick by Failed Yucks GM Jason Light Bulb 🤡❗️
^^^Takes time man and you’re retarded if you think Kwon couldn’t cover, that was his best trait man. Fill a run lane, that’s another story.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:41 am
not surprised….i saw he lacked coverage skills in college….kamara ate him alive coming out the back field too….
well the good news is KWON made the PB his second year…..maybe DW will make that jump too…..
after all, DW is “so much” better than KWON right….lol..
GO BUCS!!!!
November 20th, 2019 at 11:45 am
I wanted Josh Allen over this kid (I’d take a potentially good pass rusher over a potentially good middle linebacker 100 out of 100 times) but since he is coming around, I am gonna leave em be and hope for the best. In all fairness to White, even Derrick Brooks in his prime would struggle covering Thomas one on one.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:56 am
Joe was this during zone or man coverage or both? I know BA stated they ran a lot of zone coverage.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:59 am
Look, under no circumstances should White be lined up, in coverage, on ANY slot WR, let alone Thomas. I saw another play where the DB handed off coverage of his WR to White when the guy was already streaking across the middle. Lastly, how many LBs could cover Kamara out of the backfield realistically? Let alone a Rook who hasn’t even played half a season? Football 101, MLBs do NOT cover WRs!! Would love to see the criteria PFF used to say he had the responsible coverage 11 times in the game and they completed all of them. Nobody, including the players, can seem to determine who they should be covering, how can PFF say they know?
November 20th, 2019 at 12:15 pm
LordCornelius Says:
November 20th, 2019 at 11:17 am
Josh Allen with 8 sacks this year in 10 games. Not like he fell right into our freaking lap or anything.
_______________________________________________________
100000%
“But hey we got a linebacker who couldn’t play pass defense in college, so why shouldn’t he suddenly be good at it in the NFL?” – Jason Licht
November 20th, 2019 at 12:22 pm
diggler
LC brought it up because outside of shaq we have no pressure on the QB and pass rush and secondary go hand in hand….
GO BUCS!!!!
November 20th, 2019 at 12:26 pm
couldn’t agree more, lord. we passed on a pass rushing d end for a lb. this is why this franchise goes 5-11 constantly. but hey, at least he can hit hard, right?
November 20th, 2019 at 12:33 pm
This team has been a lost case for many years.
You really cares about another failed Jason Licht draft pick?
If you have any questions, please checkout the current status of Noah Spence, Caleb Bennonoch and Roberto Aguayo.
JayMiss and OJ Howard are next.
Peace, out
November 20th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
I see us either giving another 1 year deal to Winston/Arians/Licht or just blowing the entire thing up.
Biggest problem with this team that pretty much everyone can agree with is the Owners/Management and general team building of the last 10+ years. We can all agree on that without talking sh1t to eachother or being a4sholes.
Dominik was worse than Licht but not by much at this point.
Both of them basically have tried to band-aid or buy an O-line and ignored building block O-line pieces in the draft outside of 2 2nd round picks in 10+ years. It’s not like good value wasn’t there either. Bucs fans wanted OG’s that became probowlers during the Charles Sims pick. Bucs fans would have been happy with a Cody Ford / Dalton Risner (the Broncos best O-lineman who can play any spot) in R2 over some guy none of us had ever heard of. Bucs fans slammed the table for Tunsil when he fell over hargreaves.
Both of them tried to build a defense from the back end instead of building an elite front 7 first. Both drafted slow corners (Banks / VHIII / Stewart) when Bucs fans wanted faster or more established corners (i.e. Donte Jackson / Greedy Williams) or other positions.
Both of them barely used premium draft capital or FA $$ on pass rushers, despite there being opportunities to do much better. I.e. retaining Bennet and moving on from Bowers. i.e. taking Josh Allen over Devin White when he’s the better prospect and at a position that makes way more due to its importance. I.e. any pass rusher over a kicker. etc etc
Licht has basically done good at building a team that generates fantasy points but loses consistently.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:38 pm
If only Josh Allen was available when we drafted… but were good on pass rush… at least till next year when Shaq and JPP are gone
November 20th, 2019 at 1:00 pm
DW45 is not a problem. Good player.
problems are:
CB1
[DE/OLBx2 2020]
CB2
O. Coordinator
S
RT
RB
November 20th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
He is a ROOKIE.
Remember that time y’all hated Vita as well? Get out of here with these garbage assessments.
November 20th, 2019 at 1:11 pm
Lord Cornelius.
I hear ya. I really wanted Allen. Guy is playing really well. Lets hope White improves in coverage…shoot and the run game. Its still a bucs fans life
November 20th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
I never hated Vea as a rookie. DL take time. I’ll rarely hate on ANY trench player or edge rusher drafted in R1.
ILB is not a position that is supposed to take time to acclimate – similar to RB.
If you draft an ILB top 5 he better be an instant probowler challenging for all pro’s.
If he isn’t an all pro in year 2 it’s a bust as far as I’m concerned. I don’t even care if he’s a top 5-10 ILB and makes probowls. He should be a HOFer if you take an ILB that high. Probowl off the ball LBs are found all day in rounds 2-4.
November 20th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
sorry.. more revealing would be the Avg air yards per pass and yds gained for those 11 attempts. No MLB is going to stop a pass that travels 2 yds to the sideline. Brees had the lowest Air yards per pass of 4.6 yds. All Stats are deceiving.. I thought the Joe’s listened to all things Bucs?
November 20th, 2019 at 1:42 pm
This could be a Vea rookie regular season repeat. If he shows this continuous good play (one man can only try his hardest in one of the worst defenses in the league) through the end of this season, I think we could possibly see a big leap in his play going into next year if healthy.
November 20th, 2019 at 1:45 pm
“Not only was Allen the right pick but financially Jacs is stealing money
It costs over 20 mill for elite edge rusher Mack, Dlaw
For 5 years Jac has Allen under rookie contract.”
Kobe Faker
November 20th, 2019 at 2:01 pm
People that keep saying OJ Howard is going to be gone next year put the bottle down. Still in his rookie contract with a HC and OC that run a lesser TE scheme and won’t be here within the next three years (Arians will retire and Byron should be washing jock straps instead of calling most of the plays). If anything, it’s Brate’s big contract. OJ is injury prone, but if Brate isn’t being used we need to stack major cash with Godwin going into his final year in 2020.
November 20th, 2019 at 2:22 pm
@Kobe
I felt sick in my stomach on draft night probably more so than any 1st round pick under Licht.
Huge need at edge rusher.
Moving to a 3-4.
Josh Allen = consensus best edge rusher besides Bosa and some had him as the #1 player in the draft. Perfect fit for a 3-4.
It couldn’t have been a more perfect pairing, and we take a position that is paid about 1/2 as much on average, and a guy who is doing worse in his rookie season.
Brett Kollman had a breakdown of Devin White that scared the sh1t out of me. Basically said he could be an all pro or a bust because of how he would mis-read plays / over-pursue / etc.
The ONLY way that pick works for the Bucs is Devin White being an instant top 3 ILB in the league. And sorry he’s not anywhere close right now.
November 20th, 2019 at 2:36 pm
White is brutal in coverage but at least he seems to be making some plays in the run game now.
November 20th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
The thing with Vea is that he showed he could be dominant towards the end of the season, White has only shown that he can tackle players 7 yards after the LOS.
November 20th, 2019 at 4:23 pm
Maybe BA should ride that stupid golf cart up and down the sidelines on Sunday see if that helps. He says everyone looks good in practice.
November 20th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
I wish fans (and media) would stop with these generalizations. Statements like ‘White is brutal in coverage’ aren’t true … he got roasted by Drew Brees, but almost always on quick hits that are near impossible to defend against when you have receivers like Thomas, Kamara & Cook (the 3 of them were 20-for-23 on Sunday). Other than that, he’s done reasonably well for a rookie. Drew Brees is Drew Brees … he completed 80% of his passes against us on Sunday, and has completed over 75% on the year against all the Saints opponents. Newsflash: he’s good; very very good.
And all this talk about ‘Oh poor us, we should’ve taken Allen’ is all Monday Morning quarterbacking. Should’ve taken Cam Jordan in 2011 instead of Adrian Clayborn, or Luke Keuchley in 2012 instead of Mark Barron. Or maybe Sheldon Rankins or Laremy Tunsil in 2016 instead of VHIII, or perhaps Ryan Ramczyk in 2017 instead of OJ Howard. Could play that game FOREVER (and that was JUST our 1st Round picks). Sad fact is that the Bucs have made some VERY POOR DECISIONS over the years in terms of TEAM-BUILDING (or lack thereof). Newsflash: THAT’S why we own the NFC South cellar.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:30 pm
ALLEN WAS THE MONEY PICK THAT MOST OF US WANTED—-BUT LICHT DANCES TO A POOR ,SAD, DRUMMER BOYS ERIE TUNE!!!!!!!!!
November 20th, 2019 at 7:44 pm
This thread is just freaking insane!!!
SERIOUSLY!
Are you guys really going to judge a player based on 10 games?
Really? Can we all say Vita Vea who got the same treatment from these same fans last year. He was a bust…and we should have taken yadda yadda.
Now White is a bust after an injured start and five or six healthy games. Josh Allen has 8 sacks…3.5 fewer than Shaq.
And so after 10 games…4-6 injured or playing hurt…we are going to whine?
November 20th, 2019 at 7:48 pm
Winston, White, Dean who ever, the problem that must be addressed is GM. All of our problems are the poor decisions of 1 man. Lets start by fixing that position then start working our way down.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Fake news.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:39 pm
“This 2019 Bucs team is worse than last year
Whose fault is that?
If we lose more games than last year, does that confirm we are worse?
We will be 4-12, Will BA be held accountable?
Kobe believes this franchise has not hit rock bottom
Kobe went looking for a paper shopping bag to put over his head. Wtf bucfans have the worst luck, No store carries these damn paper shopping bags
Kobe gave up looking and instead went to Walmart and put a few plastic bags in his pocket and walked out
Kobe went home and put the Walmart plastic bag and somehow almost strangled himself
Does Obamacare cover Bucsfan Derangement Syndrome”
Kobe Faker
November 21st, 2019 at 9:46 am
Ok, first off, MLBs are not plug and play year 1. They are the QB of the D and have to make the play calls. White has played like a total of 6 NFL games? Get real folks. DEs are plug and play for the most part. Who’s to say Josh Allen would have been that successful here? JAX actually has DBs that can cover a receiver causing that extra second of delay it takes to get to the QB. If you haven’t noticed, we don’t have that. WR are immediately open so throws are made quicker. If we draft Allen, do we sign Barrett? Allen is not the only threat to rush the QB in JAX. We did need a MLB and the talent after the firt round was not that hot. White was the #1, non pass rushing, LB on almost every board I sa, and no one had him out of the top 10. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda, is the easiest argument to make. Why not wish Superman was real and played for the Bucs?
November 21st, 2019 at 9:49 am
DW is going to be fine. YAC were nil. Thomas May have caught the ball underneath but was tackled immediately. White also defended the run well. I think most LB’s in the league would struggle defending Thomas in coverage, especially short passes. I like what I’m seeing from White. He’s getting better and he’s a thumper. I believe he’s got a bright future.!
November 21st, 2019 at 9:51 am
Kobe, now that was funny! 🤣