Since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Lovie Smith as head coach this spring, I've been banging the drum saying that they would be a playoff team this season. That wasn't just the homer in me spilling over into my commentary. I'd seen the kind of talent that the Buccaneers had on their roster last season, talent that was oftentimes miscast under former head coach Greg Schiano. I was confident that having a head coach like Smith would put those guys in position to succeed and get this team turned around quicker than most believe possible.
Then, Smith and new GM Jason Licht transformed the roster in a way that I hadn't foreseen.
The position that saw the most dramatic retooling was the offensive line. Three of the regular starters on the offensive line from last season were jettisoned. Longtime left tackle Donald Penn and longtime right guard Davin Joseph were both released; the former's play had started to fall off because of weight issues, the latter because of injuries. On-again, off-again starting center/guard Jeremy Zuttah was traded to the Ravens for a fifth-round pick. It's not like any of those guys were world-beaters last year, but that's a lot of upheaval at one position in one offseason. That became especially true when a fourth player who was expected to start last year, left guard Carl Nicks, would eventually retire later during the offseason.
Those guys were replaced in free agency with left tackle Anthony Collins from the Bengals, center Evan Dietrich-Smith from the Packers and guard Oniel Cousins of the Browns. One thing you might notice right off the bat: four openings, three free agent signings (really more like 2½ with as average as Cousins has been throughout his career). Leadership decided to fill the other open spot with somebody already on the team.
It did not go well.
I have to admit that while I had concerns about the offensive line and specifically the guard position before training camp started, I had no idea just how weak it was until preseason games started. After seeing how the Jaguars and Dolphins were able to generate immediate pressure up the middle, I was seriously considering backing off my big talk of the Bucs making or even pushing for the playoffs. No matter how good I thought they were at other positions, nothing was going to matter if their new starting quarterback, Josh McCown, was trying to throw from his back all game.
Not back foot, back.
That's pretty much why I shied away from writing about the Bucs last week as my surprise team of the season. I just couldn't in good conscience make a case for them when I had already watched three weeks of their guards getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter. It had gotten so bad that the Bucs -- the same team that shipped promising Mike Williams out of town for character issues earlier this offseason -- were bringing in Richie Incognito (!) and his laundry list of baggage for a face-to-face meeting (seriously folks, this guy has done a helluva lot worse than bullying whether you believe the bullying allegations or not. Google is your friend).
And then, almost out of the blue, Christmas came early for all Buccaneers fans.
Somehow, some way the Buccaneers were able to trade for the Patriots' six-time Pro Bowl, five-time All-Pro guard Logan Mankins in exchange for tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round draft pick. The price might seem a bit steep at first glance, until you consider how much of an upgrade Mankins will be. Plus, with rookie second-round pick Austin Seferian-Jenkins, free agent addition Brandon Myers and holdover Luke Stocker, the Bucs have a ton of tight end talent even with Wright gone. It was more than worth it.
The Bucs are going to have a beast of a defense this year, barring injury. Write it down, take a picture, I don't give a f###. I've preached to people for the last four years that no matter how good Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has looked so far, once he actually gets to play in a defense that showcases his skill set, like Lovie Smith's, he'll look even more dominant. That should be a scary thought for any offensive line on the schedule, but it's the God's honest truth.
So far he has done nothing but make me look like a damn genius this preseason, looking damn near unblockable in the first three preseason games. Last season he managed to notch 10 sacks (he deserved a full sack in the last game against the Saints, so for me he had 10) in a scheme geared to prevent him from making big plays, I bullshit you not. Just imagine the kind of crazy numbers he is about to put on the board this season in Smith's defense that is going to allow him to hunt quarterbacks for all four quarters of every single game. Some folks around Tampa were trying to call that guy a bust just two years ago. Now, he is primed to be the unquestioned best three-technique defensive tackle in the game, maybe one of the best ever. And the better he plays, the more dominant that defense will be overall.
Then consider young Lavonte David, who has already shown that he has the skills to be one of the top outside linebackers in the game. He'll be playing the exact same position as recently inducted Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, also a Lovie Smith pupil, in this defense. Imagine the possibilities.
I played with Brooks and know exactly what kind of beast he was. I'm not ready to say David is on his level and put him on that kind of pedestal yet. What I will tell you is that between David and McCoy, a lot of longtime offensive coordinators will have flashbacks of the old Sapp-Brooks tandem. Trust me, those won't be pleasant memories for them either.
Safeties Mark Barron and Dashon Goldson are also better fits for this defense. They're going to create that "No Fly Zone" element Schiano tried to instill last season without a clue of actually knowing how to do it. Other holdovers like linebackers Mason Foster and Jonathan Casillas should also thrive with better coaching. There just aren't any weak links on the first team.
Then there are the new faces.
Nose tackle Clinton McDonald may end up having the most impact of all the free agent signings this offseason because he will keep opposing offensive lines honest. The former Seahawk had 5.5 sacks last year for the reigning Super Bowl champions while rushing in a nickel package. When other teams decide they will send the center to help whichever guard McCoy is murdering that particular week, McDonald is going to take advantage of the guard they leave to block him one-on-one. The more big hits he puts on quarterbacks, the more opposing offenses will have to feel damned if you do and damned if you don't when it comes to leaving a guard to block McCoy.
The Bucs also signed former Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson. He and Adrian Clayborn are going to make sure that when opposing quarterbacks try to step away from McCoy's rush, they go from the frying pan into the fire. This defense will be predicated on getting a big pass rush with just the front four, and the Bucs are well positioned to do so with the talent they have on the defensive line.
Ok, so the defense will be badass -- that's probably not news to anybody who has ever seen a Lovie Smith-coached team. It's also not enough on its own for a team to make a playoff push. Trust me, I know that as well as anybody after playing down here in the mid-to-late 1990s. What gives me confidence about the Bucs getting to the playoffs this year is the weapons they have amassed on offense and the belief that with Mankins in the fold, McCown will now have the time to get the ball to them.
Opposing defenses already had a hell of a time trying to cover wide receiver Vincent Jackson when he didn't have much help. Now, he'll have create-a-player rookie first-round pick Mike Evans lining up on the opposite side; defensive coordinators are going to have a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out how to deal with the both of them. Even when they solve the problem of how to stay over the top of those two grown-ass men down the field, they will still have to come up with a way to defend those aforementioned tight ends underneath. And don't forget about Doug Martin, Bobby Rainey and Mike James running the ball, because having to keep your safeties back to look for the pass is also going to open up lanes up front.
This is where the acquisition of Mankins comes in. I do not believe last season in Chicago was an aberration for Josh McCown. It took him longer than most quarterbacks to really fully understand the game and how to play the quarterback position, but everything about the way he carries himself on the field these days tells me he "gets it" now. He has shown this preseason that when he gets time to throw the ball, he can make plays down the field. Hell, for that matter he has shown that even when he is rushed, he has the ability to avoid it at times and make something happen with his legs. But if teams could tee off on both guards, McCown would never be able to feel comfortable in the pocket. Then, it wouldn't much matter who we had playing the skill positions -- their talent would be wasted while everybody crossed all their fingers and toes after every play hoping that McCown would be able to get up from yet another pounding.
Mankins helps in two ways. First and foremost, he is going to kick people's ass at left guard. What was a position of weakness became a position of strength with the stroke of a pen. Secondly, with Mankins holding it down at left guard, the team can send help to whoever ends up manning the right guard position. I personally was even less thrilled with Patrick Omameh than Cousins after he took over the right guard position in the second preseason game, but they can at least get by with either one of those slappys now because the center can slide to them and or have the backs chip for them while the other four offensive linemen block their guys solo. It's not the perfect situation, of course. It's also true that if the Bucs don't find a better right guard that there will be plays that they have to leave on the field. However, it is much easier to cover for one turrible offensive lineman than it is to cover for two. For me, taking everything else into consideration, that's enough to believe that the Bucs are going to be sitting pretty by the end of the season.
It has been a long time since the rest of the league had to truly worry about traveling to Tampa Bay. Sad but true. The Bucs haven't made it to the playoffs since 2007 and haven't won a single playoff game since the Super Bowl in 2002. Let me tell you a secret that if the other 31 teams don't know yet, it's one that they'll understand in just a few weeks: shit is about to get real when it comes to lining up against the Buccaneers. Lovie Smith's Bucs are made for two things, kicking ass and chewing bubble gum and I heard there's a shortage on Hubba Bubba in the Bay area. You had better jump on that bandwagon now before everyone else starts to take notice as well.