Larry Foote Said Christian Izien Succeeding Sunday Was The Work Of Todd Bowles
September 13th, 2024
Hero of Week 1.
Joe doesn’t care how you spin it, the fact backup safety Christian Izien came into the Commandos game last week and played solid ball at corner was extraordinary.
Bucs cornerbacks were going down like Ira Kaufman plowing through a plate of wings at Hooters. Izien hadn’t played outside corner since he was in high school. But he manned up, didn’t embarrass himself and didn’t allow Washington to mount a crazy comeback.
After the smoke cleared, Izien even had a pass defended and a forced fumble.
This blew Joe’s mind. How could a guy who never played corner since high school hold his own in the NFL at the same position?
To hear inside linebackers coach Larry Foote, that was the work of Bowles. Foote said yesterday that Bowles made sure to call defensive plays that would not put Izien in a vulnerable position.
In other words, Bowles had Izien’s back.
Call it Bowles’ Bill Belicheat moment. Anyone remember about 10 years ago the Belicheats, like the Bucs on Sunday, saw cornerbacks dropping like flies and had to turn to wide receiver Troy Brown to play corner?
That’s what Izien playing corner reminded Joe of.
“He’s a good athlete,” Foote said praising Izien. “He’s quick, he’s fast, he likes to play the game, he’s a competitor and you know, on Sundays, you [don’t] have any time. You have to just coach the guys up.
“[Todd] Bowles did a good job putting him in defenses that he can excel at and not get exposed too much.”
Foote seemed to suggest it was Izien’s heart as much as his intelligence and physical ability that led to his success. “When we were looking at him at Rutgers, we knew he had the right DNA that we would want.”
September 13th, 2024 at 2:58 am
If nobody is paying attention to Christian then it is good for us.
September 13th, 2024 at 2:59 am
Izien gets a game ball. Bowles gets a nod for playing to his guys strengths.
Hard to believe that a few days ago we wre critical of Bowles keepig so many DBs on the roster and now we need to find more. Wow!
Go Bucs!
September 13th, 2024 at 3:47 am
Kid might be the Baller everyone wants to hit as a UDFA
Kinda already is.
September 13th, 2024 at 4:15 am
All in on Izien! Thinking back to the training camp notes that he was doing well too. Christian may be the next big surprise. Go Bucs!
September 13th, 2024 at 4:45 am
One day, someone should dig into where the Bucs work in udfa rates against the rest of the league. I expect top ten at a minimum. It would be ridiculous work, but very interesting to me, to know if my impression (which I understand is shared by many here) is correct. The best, maybe?
September 13th, 2024 at 6:54 am
Bad news Joe, that was 20 years ago.
September 13th, 2024 at 7:38 am
Izien was a nickle corner all year. He played bump and run a lot. He’s played a lot of snaps against wide receivers in the NFL. He was ready.
Izien and Merriweather blew my mind last pre-season.
They were both jacked up and NFL tough. Licht did a phenomenal job finding TWO great defensive backs as undrafted free agents!
Izien and Merriweather are legit NFL players. Keepers.
Izien reminds of Winfield. Just 1 inch shorter.
Izien is a badass. And a nasty tackler.
I’m not even sure if Tykes Smith is better than Izien. Time will tell.
But as fate played out, Izien was sad that they drafted Tykes Smith to replace him. But look how life works? Izien saved our team in Week 1 at CB.
And Week 2, he gets the start at safety for Winfield.
Izien is a Schiano man. And a Badass Buccaneer.
He is my new “William Gholston”
I hope Izien plays his entire career for the Bucs.
He reminds me of a faster version of Leonard Johnson. Our King from Clearwater.
Go Bucs!
September 13th, 2024 at 8:25 am
Izien has guys like Jordan Whitehead to watch now, too. He’s going to be really good IF he can avoid Buc Luck.
September 13th, 2024 at 9:42 am
This is so cool from not just a coaching standpoint, but also an undrafted signing standpoint too.
Larry Foote saying “When we were looking at him at Rutgers, we knew he had the right DNA that we would want.” could be a an article all by itself.
I think they said the “I am that man” philosophy for finding players started in either 2022 or 2023, and this lines up with that.
September 13th, 2024 at 12:11 pm
I think having Tykee Smith as competition for a starting position really made Izien take notice and focus. He was not happy during camp when fans were demoting him for Tykee. That and Bowles finally learning not to leave your players on an island. We have had backup CBs in before but the results were ugly a lot of times. But, Izien also looks to be head and shoulders above guys like Desir, Delaney, Cockrell, etc.
September 13th, 2024 at 3:35 pm
I couldn’t be happier for the guy.
September 13th, 2024 at 4:37 pm
Huge kudos for Izien.