Rachaad White Turns Into Bucs Recruiter
March 15th, 2024
Bucs old/new safety Jordan Whitehead.
New Bucs safety Jordan Whitehead, the 2020 Super Bowl safety, had one theme running through the press conference yesterday announcing his return to the team that drafted him:
Whitehead missed playing for the Bucs, loved Tampa, lives in Tampa, hung with Bucs players and wanted to come back.
After playing for that trainwreck Gang Green in New Jersey, who could blame Whitehead?
So selling Whitehead on returning to the Bucs wasn’t exactly a hard sell, sort of like selling parched Joe a cold pint of Bromosa on a July afternoon. But that doesn’t mean Bucs running back Rachaad White wasn’t trying.
White took to Twitter to do his part to bring Whitehead back even though the two had never been teammates. White once retweeted a highlight of Whitehead with the Bucs to try to lure him back. Then, White took the direct response on Twitter, basically begging Whitehead to come back home.
Again, the two have no football connection. Still, Whitehead said, those tweets of White stuck out.
“Me and Rachaad, we met a couple times and we hung out a couple times,” Whitehead said of how the two know each other. “We clicked instantly. When I saw him tweet that, it was comforting knowing that guys on the other side of the ball want me in, too.”
So, was White the chief recruiter to bring Whitehead back home?
“You could say he was,” Whitehead said. “I had seen his tweet. I had seen the tweet [laughs].”
Maybe this could be the understatement of the month, but Joe has a hunch the Bucs upgraded at safety. Pair the hard-hitting and now versatile Whitehead with All-Pro Antoine Winfield all over the field, folks will think twice about throwing over the middle on the Bucs.
March 15th, 2024 at 5:59 am
Winfield, Whitehead and McCollum….our version of Legion of Boom. Just need a nickname.
No Fly Zone?
Crunch Bunch?
We need something as this will be fun to watch!
March 15th, 2024 at 6:06 am
If helps, but need a lot more to improve the 29th ranked pass defense
March 15th, 2024 at 6:06 am
This is going to be exciting to watch. Can’t wait! Agree with darengibo, we need a nickname that everyone can chant.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:07 am
Lose 1 grave digger, gain another!
March 15th, 2024 at 6:37 am
Yes, Bucs pass defense can be better but really, looking only at total pass yardage as a statistic is really less than 10 percent of the picture.
Other passing stats:
25th in passing yards per attempt.
17th in passing TDs allowed.
17th in Interceptions,
3rd best in 1st downs allowed by penalty.
But most importantly overall:
7th overall in points allowed.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:41 am
I never liked Grave Diggers. Sounds like a high schooler came up with it.
They should start performing before we whip out a nickname.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:47 am
Hold up with the nick names, let the play speak first.
Because the only grave digging that has happened is D Whites Career looks like he fell into one of those graves and C Davis is gone.
Yeah grave diggers alright, they dug their own.
Meanwhile good news Jordan is back.
His bigtime hits in the NFC Title game in Green Bay directly affected the scoreboard, game changing plays
Jordan and Winfield give the Bucs a solid combo at safety.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:52 am
Agree Billy.
Joe may have already inadvertently given them a name. He called Whitehead “bone crushing” in an article yesterday. I thought it sounded pretty good.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:54 am
BillyBucco Says:
March 15th, 2024 at 6:41 am
I never liked Grave Diggers. Sounds like a high schooler came up with it.
^^^
My thoughts on “Legion of Boom” … a pop warner team name.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:59 am
Home is a powerful draw.
March 15th, 2024 at 7:09 am
Need pass rush. So far, nothing done about it.
March 15th, 2024 at 7:14 am
Whitehead is clearly an upgrade over Ryan Neal. Good to have him back.
March 15th, 2024 at 7:19 am
Lol at the notion that this secondary deserves a nickname…
We were 29th in pass defense and we got rid of our #1 CB. I’m not saying we won’t be better this year without Carlton, but make no mistake, he was usually our best CB on the field.
Go Bucs! Glad Jordan Whitehead resigned. Thought it was foolish to let both he and Mike Edwards walk.
March 15th, 2024 at 7:44 am
How about “the friendly skies” or “frequent flyers” until we see them play better. 29th ranked secondary last year
March 15th, 2024 at 7:45 am
Can Rachaad White recruit a pass rusher?
March 15th, 2024 at 7:57 am
@Big Red…truth. For most games he was solid in coverage and imo he’s the best tackling corner we have. I can’t count the number of times he’d sniff out those lateral swing passes and cut through his blocker for a tackle with no gain.
Carlton had a couple of bad games for us, probably more so that defenses schemed against him and/or away from him, so he saw only a handful of looks per game and then all of sudden you have the Texans game… Not sure if Stroud’s reads were out of pure ignorance from being a rookie QB, but it had been a long time since a QB went after Davis like he was an undrafted free agent who just got into the game for an injured starter. I can see getting complacent given Davis’ consistency on the field, and the few looks he gets.
He’ll be a nice upgrade for the Lions. Looks like we’ll have a couple of former players that we’ll see in a couple of pseudo revenge games.
March 15th, 2024 at 8:08 am
I see no instant pass rush upgrades other than Reddick, and that’s too much money. What are the of odds Bucs accomplish that in the draft?
March 15th, 2024 at 8:10 am
ANY time you type the name of the Philadelphia pass rusher the K-Mart mod program stomps you
March 15th, 2024 at 8:25 am
Whitehead is not great in coverage – but he is a solid strong safety – plays with attitude and is a tone setter for the defense.
Definitely an upgrade over Neal or really anyone the Bucs have tried to put back there since Jordan left….
March 15th, 2024 at 8:32 am
I just like Rachaad….
March 15th, 2024 at 9:43 am
why do hats look so big on him?
March 15th, 2024 at 10:00 am
Black & Decker (Toaster)
March 15th, 2024 at 10:36 am
Any nickname would be better than gravediggers.
March 15th, 2024 at 10:59 am
Pickgrin … ‘Whitehead is not great in coverage’.
I always felt the same way when he was here Pickgrin, but his numbers in NY were quite impressive IMO.
o 2022: 2 INT … 42 targets – 23 completed – 54.8% completion rate … 301 Yds Allowed … 8 PDs
o 2023: 4 INT … 38 targets – 21 completed – 55.3% completion rate … 280 Yds Allowed … 9 PDs
That’s pretty consistent. Throw in his 186 combined tackles over those 2 years and I’d say we got a bargain. I’m excited to have him back.
March 15th, 2024 at 11:12 am
He probably left to play with Aaron Rodgers, but that didn’t work out. I, too, am glad to have him back and I hope he does well.
March 15th, 2024 at 11:13 am
The Sage’s lost lawn chair is a better Safety than Neal was, so Whitehead is going to be a great upgrade and hopefully if they both stay healthy enough, Winfield and Whitehead & associates will be an elite secondary. Go BUCS!!!
March 15th, 2024 at 11:15 am
Lol” 🤣 Locked In it’s because it appears that he has a smaller head but in reality he has got like 2% body fat he is so ripped it makes that appearance. He is a gym rat and a bodybuilder
March 15th, 2024 at 11:15 am
BREAKING: Rick Stroud is reporting Bryce Hall has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Buccaneers
^^mtnbucman
Since ’76
March 15th, 2024 at 11:25 am
We definitely improved tons at Safety.
I Think Zyon and Izien are gonna improve our CB play.
And I think Rachaad White is gonna prove to be a GREAT RB. When I watch him in space, he is outstanding.
We just gotta give him some space
March 15th, 2024 at 1:19 pm
How’s bout humper thumpers or crush & run maybe down& out
March 15th, 2024 at 5:51 pm
The no fly zone, nuff said
March 15th, 2024 at 6:29 pm
I for one am estatic Whitehead is back, I believe our secondary is better and capable of being more diverse in schemes with him on the field.
March 15th, 2024 at 6:40 pm
How about “THE PLANK” as their nickname cause no one wants to ealk the plank hahah
March 15th, 2024 at 7:44 pm
I personally would like a nickname 🤔, but we do need to upgrade our pass rush and address our inter Oline. But I think we will be fine. Of course now there saying the Lame birds 🐦 The Falcons will win the division.
March 15th, 2024 at 7:46 pm
The swashbucklers
March 15th, 2024 at 10:28 pm
They’re (betting sites) are doing it again: picking the Falcons to win the division, and it looks like free money again.
The thing is though, the national media commentators aren’t pushing this narrative; they learned their lesson last year and now great respect is given to the Buccaneers, and especially Baker.
It’s difficult to understand this contradiction in picking the division winner when the Buccaneers are almost sure to be an even better team this year.
Maybe it’s their (Atlanta) new quarterback?
Anyone scared of Cousins? Certainaly no more than Derek Carr.