Can’t Lose Him!
June 29th, 2013
Many Bucs players are invaluable to the team’s success this season. Joe can think of Gerald McCoy, Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson, just off the top of his head.
But Matt Williamson thinks differently. The BSPN football guru believes the most important Bucs player is a guy who has yet to take a snap for the team, and it’s not a lock that he will be able to take a snap when the Bucs play the Jets in Gotham City.
That would be cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The Buccaneers’ pass defense was far too generous in 2012. The pass rush was a problem, and that area still very much concerns me. But the cover men also were huge liabilities. That should not be the case anymore. Not only did Tampa Bay bring in the best cover man of this generation in Revis, but it also signed Dashon Goldson to pair with last year’s first-round pick, Mark Barron, at safety and drafted Johnthan Banks, who should compete for a starting spot opposite Revis. But it is Revis the Bucs need to count on. As he showed so many times with the Jets, Revis is capable of eliminating an opponent’s best receiver by himself, which essentially would allow the Buccaneers to play 10 versus 10 against the opposing offense. The ripple effect would allow Tampa Bay to blitz with more regularity, which clearly helps its suspect pass rush. That is, of course, if Revis is healthy. Hopefully for Tampa Bay’s sake, it doesn’t have to find out how indispensable Revis is before he even gets the chance to contribute.
Williamson makes a good point about Revis, if only because the Bucs are constructing their 2013 defense around Revis. With him healthy, the Bucs can shade their safeties to help out either rookie Johnthan Banks or veteran Eric Wright. Without Revis, Banks/Wright will be left to sink or swim on their own.
If the Bucs lose GMC, the team is in a world of hurt. Same goes for Martin. Losing Revis could be a return to the heinous pass defense of last season.
June 29th, 2013 at 8:58 am
IMO loosing Gerald McCoy would be the worst possible situation. He is really our only chance of getting pass rush and QB pressure, everyone else is just profit ontop of him. If we loose him, revis because null and void really.
Also, we saw how close Gmac came to getting a load of sacks last year, Revis makes the QB take an extra second to make the throw, and that extra second will be a Gerald McCoy sack.
June 29th, 2013 at 9:04 am
news flash: The Bucs pass D is heinous until proven otherwise. I remember when the Eagles added Chromartie and Nnamdi. I do believe they some serious potential. But regardless of additions, They are still the unit that was 30 yards short of infamy.
June 29th, 2013 at 9:11 am
@jvato Revis is not Nnamdi or Cromarti. I’m willing to get my house on that!
June 29th, 2013 at 9:33 am
Losing Revis or McCoy would be terrible….but to me the only true disaster would be to lose Martin. That would have a huge impact on the entire offense.
I think with our other defensive improvements (Goldson/Banks) we could survive….but Martin would be another story altogether.
June 29th, 2013 at 9:48 am
No shiz. And if the Falcons lost Matt Ryan, Dominique Davis would take over and their season would be over. This is so dumb when people say, “it’d be a disaster if ____ got hurt.” Duh.
June 29th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Derrrrrrrrrr…. When a team loses one of its top players, they won’t be as good??? Really? Like if the Falcons lost Matt Ryan and Dominique Davis had to take over at QB? You mean they wouldn’t be the same team? This is such a dumb topic.
June 29th, 2013 at 10:01 am
@Snook….I agree. It’s such a ‘duh’ topic. “If Freeman got hurt the Bucs would be in a world of hurt.” Really??? I’d have never figured that one out on my own. “If Revis gets hurt the Bucs secondary will suffer” NO!! What a revelation. “If McCoy goes down the D-line just won’t be the same” etc. etc. etc.
June 29th, 2013 at 10:19 am
I hear you on the, “Eagles on paper” comparison from last year. If it weren’t for all the after practice news involving Goldson and Revis I’d be worried too. As far as the pass rush, why has everyone forgotten what a lunchpail guy Clayborn was when he was healthy? I believe our left side is stout. Bowers worries me, (Clemson has a poor history here) as does the rookie at nose, but I really think we are crashing the left side of every Oline this year.
June 29th, 2013 at 10:46 am
Loosing Martin behind that offensive line would be the least I would worry about. I mean if we lose any of our offensive lineman and lose Martin also, yes, we are in a world of crap, but if the offensive line stays intact and we lose Martin, of course there will be a drop-off, but I also feel a blind squirrel can run behind that OL.
June 29th, 2013 at 11:04 am
Actually we have depth at every position but offensive guard. There we have only one player other than our starters.
We don’t know what we have in Banks yet…but he may end up being solid. Wright is on a prove it contract and is healed up. It’s possible both could do very well. I agree that neither is close to Revis, but they could still be solid.
Dline is the biggest concern in my book. Especially with a projected backup already in a starting role.
June 29th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Not sure if he is as important as McCoy because they have Goldson and Barron and Banks and Wright.
Still much improved over last year
June 29th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
@Bonzai
Actually, offensive guard is likely the Bucs deepest position on both sides of the ball; possibly every offensive lineman that makes the roster this year will have starting experience at guard besides Penn. In fact, i’d say LT is the weakest depth position for the Bucs besides QB.
Someone answered this awhile back, but does anyone know where you can buy that cap Revis is wearing? I’d appreciate an answer.
June 29th, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Gerald McCoy = Most Valuable Buc
June 29th, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Video of Revis cutting.
http://www.bucsnation.com/2013/6/29/4477262/darrelle-revis-injury-update-cornerback-is-cutting-on-video
June 29th, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Good video. But like the typical morons these days, they hold their phone upright instead of sideways for a video.
June 30th, 2013 at 6:27 am
Every team has a player or two who, if lost, could have a disastrous effect. Like when Manning went down and our own Dan Orlovsky takes the wheel and that great team veers right into the ditch. But then again you have Tom Brady go down and Matt Cassel keeps driving the bus down the highway. Why? The mentality of the rest of the team. Do they take the “next man up” approach and maintain their composure and confidence or do they take the Buc Realist attitude, “we’re doomed, time to give up”? I know this much, if Brees or Ryan go down, those Saints fans will have reason to ask, “Who dat?” and the front running Dirty Bird fans will put the season “on ice”.