Shaq Barrett Predicts Better Defensive Front Without Jason Pierre-Paul And Ndamukong Suh
August 5th, 2022
Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett
One might expect a player to say he hopes others step up to fill the shoes of iconic departed defensive lineman like Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul.
Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett had a different mindset while talking to Prickly Pete Prisco for CBS Sports HQ about the Tampa Bay defensive front.
Shaq talked about missing the “energy” and “personalities” of Suh and JPP but he didn’t reference their play. A very confident Shaq likes the playmaking ability of the current defensive front and predicts no dropoff for 2022.
“Just everything, honest, I think we should be a little bit better this year,” Shaq said.
Of course, Bucs management feels the same way after getting bigger and more explosive than Suh with Akiem Hicks. And JPP struggled last season and his departure clears the way for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (four sacks) and Anthony Nelson (five sacks) to play more. Then there’s versatile Logan Hall, the first pick of Round 2 in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Bucs fans may not be sold the team is better up front, but everyone at One Buc Palace seems to feel that way.
August 5th, 2022 at 9:04 am
Depth. Suh. And Flowers.
Where is the signing Ira mentioned last week?
August 5th, 2022 at 9:11 am
8, though your obsession with Suh borderlines on a mania that may require medical attention, I do agree that we need quality depth. Unfortunately Suh likely has priced himself out of a depth position. As much as DR rails against the perception of him asking for too much money, the reality of him being unsigned after at least an average year speaks to that likely reality.
August 5th, 2022 at 9:19 am
I certainly require medical attention–my wife concurs haha.
My worry is if they wait until (Hosana forbid) an injury, knowing Suh he’ll require more or not be in playing shape, etc. Someone who knows the team/plays is ideal right?
If the Bucs spring for a couple depth pieces on D, it’d make me happy.
Though I am not a GM, suck at fantasy, and never choose correctly whilst picking games.
So perhaps I am Costanza.
Maybe my Suh obsession is actually keeping the existing D injury free, to assure we don’t need Suh?
In any case. Suh.
August 5th, 2022 at 9:20 am
Bowles said we had plenty of power, but we needed more quickness. It’s usually a little bit of a trade-off.
August 5th, 2022 at 9:23 am
I initially figured Suh could take Steve McClendon’s slot, but apparently he wasn’t down for that
August 5th, 2022 at 9:53 am
Hicks is a beast, if healthy… he is a faster, better pass rush version of Suh. But don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for Suh.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:23 am
I agree totally! IF he can stay healthy, Hicks is an upgrade from Suh, especially in the pass rushing department.
Hicks will provide more push up the middle then Suh ever did.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:31 am
Would sign for the Vet minimum?
He’s made well over 100 million dollars in his career.
I have been a teacher for 15 years.
One year on a Vet minimum contract is still more than I have made in my entire career.
Suh should sign a Vet minimum if he really wants to help his teammates win another Super Bowl.
But he only cares about himself and his money.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:37 am
Steve McClendon seems more likely to be a mid-season signing to me than Suh at this point. In actuality his 255 snaps last year were pretty solid from a run defense standpoint. Not sure that his run snaps were any worse than Suh’s during the regular season.
I just continually believe that Suh’s greatest contributions come during the playoffs where he picks up his game in a way that McClendon cannot.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:50 am
8, I’ll take keeping the defense injury free every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Fingers crossed. But I’m going to Suh you if that doesn’t work 😉
August 5th, 2022 at 11:44 am
Out with the old, in with the new. The NFL has always been thus. Mclendon? That’s not over the hill, that’s more like under it
August 5th, 2022 at 12:05 pm
teacherman777 … ‘Suh should sign a Vet minimum if he really wants to help his teammates win another Super Bowl. But he only cares about himself and his money.’
Interesting proposition. Let’s say that the Hillsborough County School Board came to you and said ‘Teacherman, we’re having difficulty attracting younger teachers so Tallahassee wants us to not give you any raise this year, and instead give it to younger teachers to attract more of them. Matter of fact, since you’re older, they want us to cut your salary by 50% and use that to attract younger teachers also. And of course we expect you to embrace this reduction in pay because you really want to help the school system improve.’
I’ll go out on a limb here Teacherman and predict that you’d tell them to stick their proposal where the sun don’t shine. Am I wrong?
August 5th, 2022 at 12:15 pm
And BTW, seems like some are missing the very idea behind DEPTH. Professional football is a violent sport. Injuries happen. DEPTH is the insurance policy that allows us to still function at a high enough level to stay competitive. If you fore-go the insurance policy and instead wait until the injuries happen, there’s a good chance you can flush your season down the drain. Has happened over and over again through the years.
Vea AND Hicks MAY stay healthy for all 20-21 games this season, but that’s certainly not assured. And other DLinemen may also go down; we flat don’t know at this point. THUS the need for an insurance policy. OR we could just go with ‘fingers crossed’.
August 5th, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Not sure why all the posts on lack of depth on defensive interior.
Regarding Hicks, he will play less snaps than Suh. I get it. Not sure why we are equating snaps as that valuable.
Do we need a 750-snap guy for this defensive line based upon what we re-signed and drafted in the last two years? I say no way.
Gholston, Hall, Hicks, and Vea, are more than just guys along that defensive interior. Gholston, Hall and Hicks give more versatile looks than Suh ever would. I think that Bowles appreciates that difference. Flowers fits the versatility more than Suh at this point.
Rakeem Nunes-Roches can certainly be a traditional run stopping DT with another 400 or 500 snaps.
I think Hall will be getting between 400 and 500 snaps this year.
I was always impressed with JPP and Suh and the share of snaps they took. But not sure why anyone thinks that is the only way to set up a defensive line. New England and Green Bay defenses do quite well without interior guys with gaudy defensive stats or high snap counts.
A look at 3 players over the last two years:
Player Total Snaps TFL QB Hits Sacks Tkls
Gholston 1113 15 31 7.5 80
Suh 1503 16 32 12 71
Hicks 1099 12 30 7 74
If Hall gets 400 to 500 snaps with 3-6 TFL, 3-6 QB hits, 1-4 sacks, and 15-20 tackles, what have we lost from last year.
More depth is good, I just don’t see the high worry rate with the interior DL guys based upon the guys that we have here.
August 5th, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Will Gholston, Nacho-Roches, Logan Hall……? Vea and Hicks. Why the wringing of hands over interior D-line depth?
August 5th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
I’m sold they’re better, have been all offseason. Nothing against Suh & JPP, but my eyeballs told me so last year. It was brutal watching the D line get pressures all season long, but often unable to finish. Unable to finish on a play, or finish off an opponent. Licht clearly saw the same thing and addressed it. Excited to see our D this year, it will be improved, no doubt about it.
August 6th, 2022 at 2:09 am
As I’ve said before, we will never get anything other than “I love what we’ve got”, “we’re better than ever” from anyone on the team or the organization.
Hicks alone doesn’t replace prime Suh, unless he stays healthy for a full season AND is consistent. They still need additions in addition to Hicks (Suh still hasn’t signed with any team, so his price is still technically negotiable.) They’re gambling on rookie Hall (unknown), year 2 JTS (unknown) and Nelson (average). This would be a good time for ex-Pats Trey Flowers and Jamie Collins.
What prevents any of this from happening is that this team doesn’t appear to be in all-in for TB12 mode at all. They’re being business as usual with youth/rebuilding also in process.
August 6th, 2022 at 6:14 am
Ha,thats pretty funny…first lets remember & be honest JPP was playing injured last year and still had a better season than MR JOE did.I went back and watched the game film..To me it seems like he was stuck between biting on the misdirection. Or playing it too safe…I did see him around the ball,but not near as aggressive as JPP is…plus good luck trying a screen on JPP…he not only puts more pressure on qbs but he also normally sniffs out designed screens..I hope to see more decisive play by shoyinka this year..and what i cant believe is no one is talking about Jordan Whitehead!!! There were some games that he went primal and I dont think we win without him…not to mention the fact he hits the hardest-normally put helmet on the ball during tackle to cause a fumble..ive seen him tackle in the open field better than the others& whenever u blitz him-he normally makes it home on the blitz& if not he’ll at least tip the ball to cause an incompletion!!! Jordan Whitehead wasn’t even offered a deal..I never go against the bucs,but wont be mad to see him go off this year and show the bucs how stupid that was!!!
August 7th, 2022 at 10:36 am
JPP played with a torn rotator cuff last year , it’s been repaired. He is a leader. The Bucs are foolish for not signing him. The Only pro bowl player on the Super bowl team .He is still young with a high football IQ A big mistake by the Bucs.
August 11th, 2022 at 1:21 pm
So much delusion. JPP and Suh were basically the MVPs last season for the team. D won them a lot of games, the rest were bad teams played against.