Bouncing Gerald McCoy all around the defensive line like the Bucs have been doing may not be doing the rookie any favors.

That’s one point former Bucs defensive end Steve White makes, among many others in his popular Bull Rush column, which now lives over on White’s personal blog.

White breaks down the play off all Bucs D-linemen each week. Here’s his take on McCoy’s Sunday performance:

Gerald McCoy: I had McCoy down for a pressure, that’s all, and I was probably being generous. He didn’t necessarily have a bad game because aside from one play when he got caught with an influence trap he was in his gap most of the day. He also had a pretty good rush with an arm over on that first touchdown pass Charlie Batch threw. He beat the guy off the line of scrimmage but he wasn’t precise with his move and he didn’t dip low enough to be able to turn a tight enough corner with the guard still riding his back to be able to get a hit on Batch. Instead he just made him move a little bit to his left and then he set up again and chunked it down right over Grimm’s head.

McCoy’s pass rush on the whole regressed though in my opinion. He is now getting stuck right down the middle of guards instead of getting on an edge and rushing the guy. It goes back to why I am not a fan of moving him around to end. Hell let the kid learn how to be a dominant undertackle first. Let him learn to set up moves and counter moves from a 3 technique with game reps. Every rep he takes at end is potentially a rep he is losing at undertackle. A rep that could make him better. A rep that could teach him something. In the end we may see another one of those jack of all trades, but master of none if they don’t let him develop at the position they drafted him to play in the first place.

Just my opinion.

As much as Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik raved about McCoy being the prototype “3-technique” since the NFL Draft, Joe is surprised the Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach is throwing so much variety at the young man.

McCoy, as White noted, has routinely played all positions along the D-line.

That doesn’t mean McCoy can’t handle it; he had success in multiple spots through the first two games. But there’s a lot to be said for keeping things simple for rookies.