“Premier Hunter”
May 24th, 2020
Where does he rank?
Disruption. Defensive coaches love it. Fans hate it.
Former Bucs stud Gerald McCoy was known league-wide as a disruptor. Fans couldn’t wait to run him off because he didn’t get sacks. Fans don’t want to hear about disruption. They want a quarterback on his arse.
Oddly enough, the year the Bucs cut McCoy they stumbled upon the league’s best sackmeister, Shaq Barrett.
Is he a disruptor? Well, one NFL writer things he’s pretty good at that.
Nick Shook of NFL.com ranked the best disruptors in the game and Barrett, coming off a franchise-record, 19.5-sack season, made Shook’s top-ten list but not as high as some may think. Shook has him at No. 7.
Disruption rate: 15.4%. Sack rate: 3.8%. Total disruptions: 78. Sacks: 19.5.
Ah, yes, allow us to roll out the red (and pewter) carpet for the NFL’s 2019 sack king. Barrett’s ascension from afterthought in Denver to premier hunter of quarterbacks was astonishing — I mean, he had 5.5 more sacks in 16 games last year than he did in 61 games with the Broncos. His 78 total disruptions paint a picture of a defender who was constantly causing problems for opposing offenses, and he capitalized on such opportunities more often than anyone else on this list, as evidenced by his sack total and sack rate. No wonder Bruce Arians basically guaranteed the Buccaneers would find a way to keep him.
Like Donald, Barrett also played a ton of snaps (836, including 508 pass rushes), bringing his overall disruption rate down a tad. That’s a number you can look at in two different ways, though — a larger sample size is nearly always going to bring a player’s success rate down, but conversely, more pass rushes means more opportunities. Just a little food for thought before you get to typing.
Joe doesn’t expect Barrett to match what he did last year. Getting just a hair under 20 sacks is extraordinary. There is a reason it is a franchise record even with the Bucs having two of the all-time great defensive linemen in the game play for them, Lee Roy Selmon and Warren Sapp.
If the Bucs can get, say, 12 or 13 sacks from Barrett this year, that would be nice. Remember, the Bucs will have JPP for the full season (provided he stays healthy).
May 24th, 2020 at 10:26 am
This team has the opportunity to do great things this year.
Provided the intensity of a few players is picked up and matched by the rest of the team.
Hopefully, it becomes the mindset of the locker room for many years to come!
May 24th, 2020 at 10:28 am
Is the DE they got from all the UDFAs anything to write home about? Would be cool if he learned from Shaq and JPP this year and then started balling out.
May 24th, 2020 at 10:37 am
Blog – I think you mean the player aptly named Player -from the E. Tennesee State Buccaneers. He has all the physical tools – tall, strong and fast. We can hope he stands out once the rookies are here.
May 24th, 2020 at 10:50 am
“Sack” Barrett is awesome…hopefully a long tier Buccaneer
May 24th, 2020 at 11:20 am
Joe forgot to mention Simeon Rice. To say he was not a leading disruptor would be an omission. Selmon, Sapp, and Rice. Not HOF right now but maybe should be.
May 24th, 2020 at 11:44 am
Now that there is tape on the defense, and mostly the same coming back, with a lesser talent in rotation, it will struggle, unless they can play all those back-up QB’s they played last year!!!!!!!!!! One injury to the D-line will really be bad for shaq!!!!!!!! If there is any focus on him, he will get shut down faster than Big Hog Bar-B-Que party by the cops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If toilet bowls has to adjust, he will be exposed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the “no excuse” season of all “no excuse” seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 24th, 2020 at 11:48 am
Another positive post from Elsuckopessimisto………
A sheep-humper with low self-esteem and Mommy problems coupled with a disdain for anyone with a positive thought or word.
May 24th, 2020 at 11:53 am
And, for those of you who think engaging Elsuckopessimisto simply emboldens him…..think again….he’s been here for years……like a permanent case of shingles.
At least I have become the obsession for him (because he fears my message) and it is letting most of the rest of you off the hook.
May 24th, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Bucs should have gone for a two years at 15 mill and incentives contract. He won’t get 19.5 sacks this year, but he will break past 10.
That would be fine, because he also stops double teams from elsewhere along the line. The team will have 28-32 sacks total with Shaq.
He is also a better face for the Bucs than Uber boy was.
May 24th, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Joe, there is smthng wrong with you for hating on the GOAT
May 24th, 2020 at 12:11 pm
toby Says:
May 24th, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Joe, there is smthng wrong with you for hating on the GOAT
Maybe he’s simply fearful of being one of Elsuckopessimisto’s sheep.
May 24th, 2020 at 12:13 pm
@Tampabaybucfan
Its true!!!!!!! I was deep in the archives a couple of days ago, and saw some posts of Tampabaybucfan and I going at each other back in 2013 around this time of year!!!!!!!!! Think Tampabaybucfan,,, 7 years of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well here is to 7 more years of fun in the future!!!!!!!! May you have health and wits so we may continue our banter!!!!!!!!!
And know that I take great pride, as one of the few that can rile up mild mannered Tampabaybucfan!!!!!!!!!!
This is the “no excuse” season of all “no excuse” seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 24th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
Elsuckopessimisto
You should recall our agreement on the “Pop Star’s” abject failures….
May 24th, 2020 at 1:23 pm
Don’t set your sights too low Joe. I’m expecting 15+ sacks from Shaq this year. He has elite bend, and a wide variety of pass rushing moves (I love watching his spins!). Players like that don’t fall off a cliff and remain consistent, given a similar number of snaps.
May 24th, 2020 at 1:25 pm
@Tampabaybucfan
You mean like this time!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.joebucsfan.com/2013/07/the-bucs-call-out-a-cheap-shot/
May 24th, 2020 at 1:28 pm
It’s a lot easier to just scroll past the usual troll comments. They talk their crap and we don’t read it. It’s a win/win for all.
May 24th, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Wow, all is lost because Carl Nassib is no longer here! Hahahahahahaha
May 24th, 2020 at 3:36 pm
Shaq and JPP are a given. LVD and D White could finally blow up blitzing…and all this disruption from outside is going to force the QB back to Vita and Suh.
This team could actually become a really stout pass rushing team.
May 24th, 2020 at 4:21 pm
Shaq had great numbers minus 10 games with JPP and with a group of DBs (with Hargreaves as a starter) that sucked the first half of the season.
He should have another a great year.
May 24th, 2020 at 6:02 pm
L.T. 2.0
You heard it hear first!!!
May 24th, 2020 at 6:05 pm
Gonna call them “The Crunch Bunch”
May 24th, 2020 at 8:41 pm
Just curious, but does anybody know where JPP is spending the holiday weekend? Can we get him a chaperone? Just don’t want anything bad to happen… Again… Just sayin.
May 25th, 2020 at 4:13 am
How long did we hear about not getting 10-sacks, and now we’re saying if a guy gets 13 he’s a failure? Chill out people.
Shaq isn’t getting anywhere close to 20-sacks again, ever — but if he does, I’ll gladly take a verbal beating for doubting him. However I think he can get 10-12 sacks, and if that happens, people should be excited the Bucs found a guy in free agency — when that guy is normally a top 5 pick.
We will see what happens, if he was Wayne Haddix or not. But then again, Wayne Haddix is the greatest player in Tecmo Bowl history, so we’ll see if Madden does Shaq that honor.
May 25th, 2020 at 7:06 am
I like the attitude Shaqs taking about being tagged. Most players are pissed with the tag, look at Dak. Some won’t sign it till they have to missing OTA’s and such, but not Shaq. He’s chomping at the bid to get out there with most of the D back in year two. Ya got to love a player with his attitude.
May 25th, 2020 at 9:45 am
The first few games of the season he was a game wrecker. Then he cooled off when other teams caught onto him, but came back strong when JPP came back. I think Barrett needs a solid guy on the otherside of him but when he has that he is dominant. I just hope JPP picks up where he let off last season and doesn’t try to kill himseld this off season…