Gerald McCoy No. 3
May 14th, 2013
Yes, when Bucs great Ronde Barber retired last week, he suggested Gerald McCoy would pick up the mantle as the leader of the Bucs defense.
It seems like Barber’s view of his former teammate is shared by others.
On CBSSports.com, former Bucs scout, NFL coach and front office man Pat Kirwan typed a piece where he ranked all defensive linemen in the NFL. In this article, Kirwan claims GMC is the No. 3 defensive tackle in a 43 front.
3. Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay (29): There were times last season McCoy was the best in the league. He is tall for the position but has demonstrated the ability to get under the pads of the offensive linemen. He was a Pro Bowl player last year but there are players closing in on him this year and he needs to keep improving.
Through no fault of his own, GMC will be linked forever to Ndamukong Suh, the Lions’ defensive tackle, and Kirwan ranks Suh higher than GMC, but not as the best 43 defensive tackle. Kirwan believes Geno Atkins of Cincinnati is the best DT as a 3-technique.
Sure, GMC got off to a slow star because of injuries but he showed last year what he can be. If that means in some people’s eyes GMC is the third best defensive tackle in a 43 defense, Joe will take that.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:24 am
McCoy is better than Suh, and not just because of the extracurricular stuff.
Another interesting nugget from that article:
May 14th, 2013 at 8:24 am
Huge fan hear. He was good last year but I rank DTs by sacks, so I don’t know if he was THAT good. Hoping for a great year this year..though I’m not convinced Millers replacement is worth spit.
Notice when people talk about out great dline they mention GMC, Clayborn and Bowers? That’s because the other guy is not worth mentioning. I wanna be wrong though.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:32 am
Sacks were hard to come by for the Bucs last year. Much silly stunting and a horrid secondary.
Not much help the UT or DE for GMC either.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:38 am
@BuccaneerBonzai
You can’t just rank them by sacks. It’s better to go off game performance. When your secondary lets WR open within the first 3 seconds of the play they will not be many sacks. When teams have to gameplan against you then that must mean you’re really good.
They do not mention the other guy because they do not know how they will perform. Gibson played ok, but I’m looking forward to Akeem. I see him getting beat in the beginning because of technique, but improving as the season rolls on.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:39 am
He reminds me of Dwight Howard. Goofy as all hell, injury riddled, but both have the ability to be dominant.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:42 am
McCoy>Suh without a doubt when healthy.
May 14th, 2013 at 8:43 am
Had had a dream last night that McCoy picked off a pitch and took it to the house
May 14th, 2013 at 9:12 am
I had a dream that GMC asked me how I was able to land Rachel Watson
May 14th, 2013 at 9:22 am
He’s the Josh Freeman of the defense.
…in EVERY way.
May 14th, 2013 at 10:17 am
That picture does Geraldine no favors.
May 14th, 2013 at 10:33 am
I had a dream that he unseated freaman and won the Superbowl.
May 14th, 2013 at 11:32 am
I hate that picture so much lol
May 14th, 2013 at 11:32 am
Remember when our resident analyst Steve White was saying Geno Atkins could be something special? Dude slid to the 6th round and we picked Price in the 2nd. If we picked someone else instead of Price in the 2nd, may be somewhere down the road Geno could have been our 2nd DT from that draft.
May 14th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Jonny…If your aunt had balls she would be your uncle…hind sight is 20/20, there are more sayings but you get the idea. ou can go back in any draft and say what if, but it does not matter. I have a Falcon’s fan that aways talks about how they could have drafted Sapp, well they did not do it so it does not matter.
May 14th, 2013 at 2:26 pm
To me, he’s the clear cut 2nd best DT in the league. Geno is even more clearly the #1.