Most Important Non-QB
June 18th, 2024
Not him for this discussion.
This is a pretty cool question. And Joe doesn’t believe this columnist’s stab is wrong.
Yes, Joe is fully aware some who lurk on this site will argue all night that a quarterback is not the most important player on a football team. For the rest of us who live in reality, let’s set aside Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield here.
So who is the most important Bucs player not named “Mayfield?”
This comes up because sort-of-humorist Adam Rank of NFL.com has a 2024 State of the Bucs. In his column, he lists the most important player on the roster other than the quarterback.
Rank thinks that player is Bucs All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield.
… … CB Carlton Davis, S Ryan Neal and LB Devin White are no longer with the team, which could be a concern for a defense that allowed the fourth-most passing yards per game last season. Tampa Bay was pretty good against the run, but why would teams run against this defense? The Bucs have had a bottom-12 pass defense in four of the five seasons under Todd Bowles as defensive coordinator or head coach (DC from 2019-2021, HC since 2022).
Put in perspective like that, Rank may just be correct. Look, Joe is a huge Winfield fan. Who isn’t? But Joe thinks the Bucs may be able to keep their heads above water if Winfield missed a few games with an injury.
The Bucs, remember, brought back hard-hitting Jordan Whitehead. And while it is still way early, rookie Tykee Smith might just be a gem.
Now if Lavonte David went down, the Bucs are screwed. Who do the Bucs have to backup K.J. Britt or David? Yes, Joe knows the Bucs have warm bodies to step in, but the resumes are thinner than Kleenex.
Joe figures one could argue that if Tristan Wirfs goes down, that’s a significant hit to the offensive line. How could it not be?
But yeah, Rank may be correct. Losing Winfield and his ability to change games would be an ugly setback.
June 18th, 2024 at 9:14 am
Without a doubt. Winfield’s play last year for the Bucs save jobs and prolonged careers. If he’s not out there Bucs go 7-10 maybe 6-11 last year and the offseason looks very different.
June 18th, 2024 at 9:24 am
Either tackle or ME would hurt a ton. Missing CK will prove to be a problem too IMO.
It’s not hard to pick the highest paid DB in the league though.
June 18th, 2024 at 9:39 am
And look what happened when we lost Jensen. Our most important QB couldn’t play his game. Go BUCS
June 18th, 2024 at 9:49 am
I think Chase McLaughlin is a very very important player on this team. I’m still not sure how in the world the Bucs win last season’s week 18 game in Carolina without what he brings to the Bucs!! 🤔🫣🚩☠️💯
June 18th, 2024 at 9:52 am
There aren’t very many game changer (saver) DB’s like him. He’s in very rare company of being in a class with Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. Gamewrecker.
June 18th, 2024 at 9:55 am
If Adam Rank believes it is a concern that Ryan Neal is no longer on the team he must be smoking some extra potent weed.
June 18th, 2024 at 10:04 am
“The Bucs have had a bottom-12 pass defense in four of the five seasons under Todd Bowles (2019-2022)”
Can you say this AND say the Bucs “lost” players that we had during that entire period?
They forget to mention the Bucs made the playoffs every year and won the Super Bowl against the best QB in the league.
June 18th, 2024 at 10:17 am
Rank reinforces my point about Bowels and his defense. In a passing league, his defense gives up the yards like a 3am hookup gives up the booty. Under Arians and the 30ppg offense it was less of an issue.
It’s why Todd will turn Coen loose to score more points. Keep giving up yards like that and the points will be given up in correlation.
11 or 12 wins. Todd evolves.
June 18th, 2024 at 10:28 am
QB, OLT, Edge. People that spout off differently run from them. They are crazy
June 18th, 2024 at 10:36 am
“Tampa Bay was pretty good against the run, but why would teams run against this defense? The Bucs have had a bottom-12 pass defense in four of the five seasons under Todd Bowles as defensive coordinator or head coach (DC from 2019-2021, HC since 2022).”
3 of 5 of those same years we were also a top 10 scoring defense. Also, rendering offenses 1-dimesional from the coin toss isn’t as bad as this quote makes it sounds. We actually improved on our mark from 2022 of 21.6(15th) ppg allowed to 19.2(5th) so maybe if the offense can actually put some points up with regularity from the start of ball games, they can bump the win pct up as a team.
June 18th, 2024 at 10:39 am
Dave Pear Says:
Keep giving up yards like that and the points will be given up in correlation.
———————————————————————————
The Bucs defense was Top Ten during 2023 for the most important stat, scoring defense. The #1 job of the defense is to stop the opponent from scoring points.
And the Bucs defense is better than 25 other NFL teams.
While I agree 100% the Bucs pass defense needs to be improved, the sentence of yours I quoted is not accurate. There’s not always a correlation between yards given up and points given up.
That said, giving up so many yards is living dangerously, and Bowles needs to fix that. I love the additions of Whitehead and Tykee Smith this offseason and the removal of Ryan Neal. But their job is still going to be challenging until the Bucs can get more pressure on the QB. Diaby & Kancey should take a step forward, and hopefully Watts develops because he flashed last season in limited snaps. If the Bucs pass rush gets good NO team is going to want to play them.
June 18th, 2024 at 10:47 am
Thanks for agreeing with me, 1996. The “living dangerously “ point is the thing. No they don’t “always” correlate, but they usually correlate.
When Arians was HC, the offense scored points. Todd surely realizes that now and will have Coen unleash the hounds on offense.
On the subject – if they’re picking most important non-quarterback player, it’s surprising they didn’t pick Kyle’s Trashk. The clipboard holder is a critical role on any team.
June 18th, 2024 at 11:02 am
@Dave Pear,
I believe that Bowles has had a realization that his team needs to score points. 😉 And I bet he picked his new OC with that in mind.
Coen WILL be an upgrade and unleash the hounds, but it could take most of the season for them to learn the new offense so Coen probably won’t fully open up the entire playbook on Day 1.
June 18th, 2024 at 11:04 am
^^^^^^^Added to what I wrote,
We’ve got to have some patience with the new offense, especially given the changes on the o-line. I’m praying that the defense can carry the load for the first half of the season.
June 18th, 2024 at 11:12 am
Dave Pear Says:
On the subject – if they’re picking most important non-quarterback player, it’s surprising they didn’t pick Kyle’s Trashk. The clipboard holder is a critical role on any team.
———————————————————————————–
There is actually some truth to that. It’s only true though when the starting QB goes down with an injury.
Is Trask being handed the backup QB job this season? Or is there a competition between he and Wolford?
June 18th, 2024 at 11:28 am
The reason those players are gone is because they were part of the problem with our pass defense. Davis, over rated always injured. White, and Neal were always out of position to make plays. We should be better without them.
June 18th, 2024 at 11:58 am
That’s a helluva point. When is the last time we’ve seen a safety make game-changing plays so often since Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu played?
June 18th, 2024 at 12:13 pm
MOST IMPORTANT NON-QB (in order) …
1. VEA. When he dominates the Bucs win.
2. AWJ. He single-handedly closed (won) three games last season.
3. EVANS. He can make HUGE game-changing plays.
4. LVD. The Captain’s Captain. Everyone follows LVD.
5. WIRFS. QB can’t do a thing if he’s worried about a blindside rush.
June 18th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
The Bucs went 1-1 in the two games Lavonte missed.
Against Carolina the Bucs were missing Devin White as well.
Against Indy, the Bucs lost but only allowed 20 pts.
June 18th, 2024 at 1:47 pm
There are a bunch of damn good players on this team. LFG.
June 18th, 2024 at 3:59 pm
Carlton Davis was a lock down corner if you compare him to Hargraves III
LOL its a bucs Life
super bowl or bust
June 18th, 2024 at 6:55 pm
I can’t think of any on that level, Joe… Definitely not recent. Reed & Polamalu (now JUNIOR). I sure do hope he can keep it up. If he does then he is VERY special. It was soooo exciting watching them play. Nothing more so really, on the defensive side of the ball. They just had such a knack for always, being in the right place at the right time… Seemingly, every time! It was amazing. You could just always count on them during the most crucial moments of the game. They were going to do SOMETHING, that made a huge difference. You could book-it. Just BIG PLAY after big play. Game changing (&/or) game saving plays. It was every time. If he can put together a few more seasons like last, then he’ll be well on his way to being an All-Time Great. It’s gonna be FUN!!!!
June 18th, 2024 at 7:51 pm
I agree Winfield but our whole defense has got to show up and be in the top five and passing and rushing and then a mediocre quarterback can win a Super Bowl
June 18th, 2024 at 11:20 pm
I hope it is Kancey this year.
June 19th, 2024 at 1:02 am
And a never been QB can hold the clipboard for a far superior QB and his backup to play in football games and stuff.