Jordan Whitehead Thinks He’s A More Versatile Safety
May 23rd, 2024
Better safety.
Shortly after it was official that the Bucs brought back safety Jordan Whitehead, Bucs safeties coach Nick Rapone met with the local pen and mic club.
Rapone was asked how or if Whitehead had changed as a safety after doing two years in the hole with the Jets. Rapone said it appeared Whitehead was playing deeper than where the Bucs asked him to roam.
Whitehead confirmed that this week when he spoke with the local Fourth Estate. He sort of was asked how he has changed. Whitehead said he’s a more versatile player than when he left the Bucs and took the cash with the Jets.
“I was in the box here,” Whitehead said. “That was my game. So now, I will just implement what I learned over there [with the Jets].
“I know how to play Cover-3 and Cover-1. When I’m in the middle of the field I’m better at reading the quarterback. That’s become my favorite part of the game, playing in the middle.”
Fellow safety and All-Pro Antoine Winfield is versatile, and now that Whitehead is too, this gives Todd Bowles, a former safety himself, all kinds of ways to be all kinds of creative with Whitehead and Winfield.
Throw a hard-hitting nickel corner/safety into the mix like Tykee Smith and the Bucs should be damn tough to throw against down the middle.
May 23rd, 2024 at 12:11 am
Yes, well said Joe. He wanted to come back and our defense will be better for it. I actually really like our combination of secondary players. All our veterans know Bowles system well (dean,McCollum, Winfield, whitehead and maybe izien). Combine that with a rookie from UGA and cheap 1 year players (with starter potential) and we have a chance to be good. That’s how it has to be done when you have the highest paid DB in football.
May 23rd, 2024 at 12:37 am
thats why I wanted nickel corner/safety….Smith was the right pick, completely off my radar but i knew Bullard would be gone after we got Brasswell.
Great job on Smith, scouts and Mr. Licht.
May 23rd, 2024 at 1:54 am
Joe says:
Throw a hard-hitting nickel corner/safety into the mix like Tykee Smith, well, the Bucs are going to be damn tough to throw against down the middle.
_________________________________________________
I hope so. We’ve been getting destroyed in the middle
May 23rd, 2024 at 3:01 am
Excited about our 2 safeties this year, and what they can bring to the table. Winfield has 15 sacks & 18 TFLs in 4 years, so he’s averaging about 4 sacks & 4 TFLs per year. A pretty fair return for a player who only blitzed about 28 times a year on average.
Whitehead only had 2 sacks in his 4 years here in Tampa (and only 0.5 sacks in his 2 years with the Jets), but has a nice 22 TFLs in his 4 years here. And yes, he blitzed quite a bit (about 40 times a season while playing in Todd Bowles’ defense).
Between the 2 of them, I’d bet that they’ll probably end up blitzing at least 5-6 times a game on average now that Devin White’s not here, and end up with at least 6-8 sacks and 10-12 TFLs this year. Bowles is gonna have a ball messing with OCs’ heads using those 2 guys.
May 23rd, 2024 at 4:07 am
Whitehead was also a receiver.
He has great hands.
Davis and Dean have been solid. But they have dropped at least 15 interceptions the last few years.
Whitehead has good hands. Hopefully we can get more interceptions this year.
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:00 am
Whitehead – One of the best decisions to bring back to the Bucs. He is happy and we are happy. Agree with what he said, he will also bring more of what he learned with the Jets onto the field too. A win-win for us.
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:06 am
@heyjude – he is happy, we are happy.
Says it all. So disappointed when we lost him. Tone setter on D. Great to have him back.
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:18 am
Right with you FrontFour, really disappointed when we lost him.
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:23 am
So glad hes back in the fold.
We have great starting safeties
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:39 am
Licht please sign a Veteran corner or beat Baltimore to the Punch and bring Adams in to play LB . The D needs Depth !! Winfield and Smith are not situational corners ask C Kupp……….. More F Agency work to be done because there are affordable pieces that make this D better . Some Great Vet Rec also …….. McKay didnt say Keenan and Keyshawn are enough , he said Looky there we can get deeper and better at a bargain price …………. Big Jason this team can be much deeper and better with about 7-11 mil for up to three key talent / depth and experience upgrades .
May 23rd, 2024 at 6:57 am
We sure do Capt. Tim. Our Bucs are looking good!
May 23rd, 2024 at 7:32 am
With our new safety tandem, I don’t think we’ll be seeing the corners doing that 10 yard cushion crap anymore on 3rd and 5
May 23rd, 2024 at 8:12 am
It begs the question, why didn’t Bowles treat Whitehead like the versatile defender he is? Why was he almost exclusive at SS in his first stint with Tampa?
May 23rd, 2024 at 8:53 am
“It begs the question, why didn’t Bowles treat Whitehead like the versatile defender he is? Why was he almost exclusive at SS in his first stint with Tampa?”
Players grow over time and Whitehead spent 2 seasons in Bowles’ system and we drafted Edwards in ’19 & Winfield in ’20. That gave us a surplus of talent so the need to play 2019-2020 Whitehead outside of his strengths i.e. not putting him in the best position to succeed wasn’t important for what the team needed. We did however, need the enforcer that Jordan was in the middle of the field folding recievers up like lawn chairs.
Haven’t checked, but winning an SB with a player, letting him test the market just to play elsewhere while refining his game just to bring him back is a “W” especially considering how homesick Whitehead sounded in his re-intro presser.
May 23rd, 2024 at 9:30 am
We don’t win our Super Bowl without Whitehead. We could have won last season again if we had him
May 23rd, 2024 at 9:51 am
@Dude, I totally agree. I’m a huge Whitehead fan and am excited to have him back. He’s a fantastic signing even without consideration for who he’s replacing (and Neal was as bad as it gets).
And, I agree about him being a better enforcer. I suspect Bowles will play him in the box more often than not. He’s well suited to it, and it’s better than putting Winfield in the box where he’s at risk for more concussions.
I just hope for Whitehead’s sake he gets opportunities to showcase his versatility. Maybe he and Tykee can rotate between SS and NCB. That might be interesting.
May 23rd, 2024 at 9:52 am
Winfield & Whitehead plus Tykee Smith who is a starter type player at multiple spots & the BICS Defense is solid.
May 23rd, 2024 at 9:53 am
Winfield & Whitehead plus Tykee Smith who is a starter type player at multiple spots & the BUCS Defense is solid.
May 23rd, 2024 at 9:54 am
Well solid with a little stronger pass rush
May 23rd, 2024 at 10:04 am
“I just hope for Whitehead’s sake he gets opportunities to showcase his versatility. Maybe he and Tykee can rotate between SS and NCB. That might be interesting.”
@realistic-optimistic
I could be wrong, it’s still super early but I think the plan may be to re-work the $LB(money backer) role Bowles pretty much innovated in Arizona w/Deon Bucannon. That’s what I think the plan for Tykee Smith could end up being if the kid can show he’s ready to handle a double serving of roles in this defense.
Benefits would be being able to have an added blitzer(w/speed), we wouldn’t be trading tackling ability out for speed, but I’d trust Smith on a TE/Slot WR wheter we’re in base or nickel over leaving it up to Britt. Which would also be 1 less thing for David to do while he can just direct traffic and make plays inside the box, while the youngster is tasked to run with the twitchy slot WRs or hulking TEs.
It’d also take us a really long way doing what Bowles does best which is scrambling coverage concepts and setting traps to bait QBs. We’ll se but I think of all the draftees Smith is going to have the most immediate impact, unless Bucky goes all camp w/o being tackled once 😂
May 23rd, 2024 at 11:25 am
Really like Whitehead but he may need to contact Leftwich to get some much needed hat selection advice.
Probably BL’s biggest strengff.
May 23rd, 2024 at 3:27 pm
they’ll get a lot of tackles and contribute to a lot of turnovers imo, but i think the middle will still be open underneath, too often. they’ll help but our LB scheme seems to be the primary factor. every team does the same thing, dink and dunk the whole field, and it has rarely been any better in fourth quarters. we’re easy to come back on, imo, because we’re not tricky. we never outsmart anyone. predictable. and blitzing won’t help in this situation, so it neutralizes bowles. now maybe if we had an array of quality edge rushers it would be different. we only have, it appears, 2
May 23rd, 2024 at 7:40 pm
Bin saying for the past couple years but get this D a legit pass rusher and it will take our defense from good to elite. With the addition of whitehead to pair with Winfield for a great safety duo and competition at nickel our defense should get much better. Just really need that pass rush. Maybe that comes from yaya and kancey this year.
May 24th, 2024 at 4:04 pm
IMO TyKee Smith is not beating Izien out for NC in camp. He will be a good depth player and ace special teamer.