“I Don’t Give A Sh*t If They’re Rookies”
June 6th, 2019
Head coach Bucco Bruce Arians loves his secondary.
Heck, he explained last week that it is “totally fixed” on the heels of a terrible 2018 season. On Wednesday, Arians dove into why he’s so pleased.
“The number of balls they touch and the communication,” Arians said. “I’m hearing a lot of communication. And like I said, we’ve got five corners, three or four safeties … that’s a really unique situation. I don’t give a sh*t if they’re rookies. These guys can play. They’re getting their hands on a lot of balls doing things that veterans do because they listen and they’re smart. And the veterans are helping them out and they’ve got very good coaching.”
Yes, Arians loves how rookie cornerbacks Jamel Dean (third round) and Sean Murphy-Bunting (second round) have raised the level of speed and overall play through spring practices. Throw in safety Mike Edwards (third round), and the “fix” is in.
Arians has been around long enough to know rookies contribute in a big way every year across the NFL. And of course, he knows what it should look like on defense.
But it’s still just June. The major concern Joe has is that it appears the Bucs will be banking on four rookies on the defense to come up big, as well other very inexperienced players.
That’s a big gamble for a team almost desperate to start the season strong to make its way to a 3-3 record at the bye week against a tough schedule.
June 6th, 2019 at 12:11 am
IF….IF……..I..F……. What BA is saying is actually true it means almost nothing without a Pass Rush.
Chicken or the Egg?
June 6th, 2019 at 1:06 am
Difference will be once teams are game planning against their weaknesses on a week to week basis. I expect them to look good in training camp and preseason but once the season starts they will be targeted. That’s just to many young guys back there but long term these guys seem set for success so far
June 6th, 2019 at 1:21 am
Corners:
1. Carlton Davis
2. Sean Murphy-Bunting
3. Vernon Hargraves
4. Jamel Dean
5. Ryan Smith
—–
6. Devante Harris
Safeties:
SS- Jordan Whitehead
FS- Mike Edwards
SS2- Kentrail Brice
FS2- MJ Stewart
—–
*Add in Justin Evans when he returns
Nickel:
VH3
MJ Stewart
Deonne Bucannon
Money Backer:
Deonne Bucannon
As a former DB I haven’t felt this good about our secondary in a LONG time. Here are a few reasons (not just drinking Koolaid)
1. We finally have LEGIT depth where our 5 and 6 guys will have started games for us in past and the big stage won’t be to big for them should we need them. This will also allow us to bring along our rookies at a decent pace and not have to FORCE them in there if they’re not ready. No more signing street free agents.
2. Injuries are PART of the game. Groin pulls, bumps and bruises etc. are inevitable (see J. Evans) for once we won’t be behind the 8 ball like we were week one when VH3 was out for season. Cupboard is stocked
3. Legit NFL COACHING!! Todd Bowles is the truth. Just sit back and watch ladies and gents. Btw for all those screaming “look at his NY Def Stats” if was WELL KNOWN league wide he was not given tools to succeed on Def and had power struggle with GM/Ownership. Hence them looking for a coach BEFORE he was gone etc. they were not spending money and it showed. Kinda like we did with Raheem Morris. He only had Adams in secondary and hard to make chicken salad out of chicken spit.
4. Better overall Scheme with our DB’s playing AGGRESSIVE and with proper technique that will help our pass rush as they will be DRAPED all over WR’s. That extra second or 2 of holding it coupled with they myriad of Blitzes Bowles is going to unleash will finally make our Defense respectable again.
I have more reasons but that will suffice for now…. just sit back and enjoy the ride to 11-5!!
Go Bucs!!
June 6th, 2019 at 1:51 am
Bucallnight
That safety depth chart seems pretty underwhelming to me. The corners are all unknowns but I feel much better about that position than at safety.
June 6th, 2019 at 2:52 am
There’s no possible way the defense could ever be worse than it was for the last two years. Nowhere to go but up.
June 6th, 2019 at 4:10 am
BucAllNight … EXCELLENT analysis of our Secondary; you nailed it IMO. It’ll be a very young Secondary and surely it’ll make its’ share of mistakes, but their confidence in themselves & in each other will grow fast once the bullets start flying I’m confident. That group has exceptional versatility IMO, and that gives Todd Bowles all kinds of options in the defensive scheme.
I feel the same way about our LB corps though. We all know what LVD is capable of, and as a Rnd 1 draft pick, I’m expecting big things out of Devin White. It’s easy to overlook Deone Bucannon because he’s not the biggest LB, but he’s another Rnd 1 pick who plays fast also. I expect to see him all over the field this fall, in multiple positions. Tremendous versatility in that group also.
I feel good about our interior DLine now with Suh, Vea & Allen, but admittedly wish that our DEs & OLBs had JPP to count on to start the season. Personally think that Beckner & Nelson were solid draft picks & will stick, and that we’ll end up keeping Nassib, Gholston, Barrett, Spence & probably 1 other in addition to Beckner & Nelson (JPP later in the season … maybe). plus there’s always a couple of surprises on the final roster. This whole defense is shaping up quite nicely at this point I think.
June 6th, 2019 at 4:23 am
Let’s revisit all this talk at mid-season.
June 6th, 2019 at 4:34 am
You heard it here first.
The Bucs will be 7-0 through the first 6 games.
Yeah, the math works. Because they will have also defeated the national media who is totally overlooking the Bucs.
7-0
With a ton of rookies on defense. The “DON’T give a sh!t we’re rookies!” squad.
June 6th, 2019 at 4:38 am
BucAllNight—
Greatly enjoyed your post.
June 6th, 2019 at 6:15 am
BucAllNight- Please kindly take a bow!
One of the vastly overlooked aspects of our secondary was depth. It’s not IF, it’s WHEN a starter goes down, do you have competent depth? When you’re starting guys off of UPS trucks, it does not bode well.
Two rules:
1.You can never have enough o-line depth
2.And, you can never have enough secondary depth
June 6th, 2019 at 6:32 am
Bucsfanman—
Right. Now, about that OL depth. Yikes.
June 6th, 2019 at 6:48 am
Good stuff, All night. Agree with you.
June 6th, 2019 at 7:21 am
Todd- Agreed!
June 6th, 2019 at 7:39 am
Ryan smith has made a few splash plays on ST but as a corner, he sucks. He often seems lost when trying to cover a receiver n his tackling is poor. My belief is Jordan Whitehead is going to ball out this year. His play style kinda reminds me of Tanard Jackson, ballhawk. Unlike last year’s secondary, this young secondary will be aggressive n hungry. Finally, we now have the coaches, scheme, n players to bring back the glory days of the 2002 Bucs secondary with Dexter Jackson, barber n Brian kelly.
June 6th, 2019 at 7:52 am
Bucsfanman … DEPTH (or lack thereof) has been the Bucs key issue for many years now. Our starting lineups when the seasons began were usually fairly decent, but the Bucs have historically been a high-injuries team IMO. Those 2 factors … injuries & lack of depth to compensate … have destroyed many seasons for us.
Personally convinced that the reason behind both lies largely (but not exclusively) in the coaching carousel that’s existed here in Tampa for the past 10 years. During those years when we had a lot of injuries, we didn’t fare well, largely IMO because we had marginal depth. And we had marginal depth because our coaching staffs never really got on-track in terms of player development. It seems like it’s been a vicious circle here in Tampa.
My biggest HOPE right now for the Bucs is that ownership stops the coaching carousel and that BA & his coaching staff gives us the longevity that we desperately need. I remain convinced that BA himself will only coach for 2-3 years, and then will move up to become (what I call) the President of Football Operations. He’s grooming a staff & players who’ll be here long-term IMO, and I love it. More than anything else, that’s what this franchise has desperately needed to get back on a winning track.
June 6th, 2019 at 9:22 am
good coaching can turn things around in a hurry…..
GO BUCS!!!!
June 6th, 2019 at 2:55 pm
It helps when you go against a q.b who only has average at best vision and has consistency issues with his accuracy
June 6th, 2019 at 9:11 pm
Johnny is right, not hard to look good against Winston a
Not accurate QB