gettlemanjack

ESPN's Pat Yasinskas on the Bucs underwhelming LB core (other than David) back in March: "Linebackers: Lavonte David is a certainty on the weak side. Beyond that, there are question marks. Mason Foster has been the starter in the middle the past couple years, but the Bucs signed [another scrub in] free agent Dane Fletcher to provide some competition. Jonathan Casillas is the best bet on the strong side, but the Bucs might not be done with that position just yet" [turned out they weren't able to get anybody better than Casillas]

Vikings blog released their NFL rankings two days ago. Have Bucs #30 30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Where to begin? The Tampa Bay offense is in desperate need of an overhaul, ranked 30 overall. They've begun the overhaul this season, but are relying on journeyman Josh McCown at quarterback as a temporary placeholder, an average level player. They have nothing more than an average offensive line supporting Doug Martin at running back, who underwhelmed last season before getting injured. Other than Vincent Jackson, who's become nothing more than a league average receiver at age 31, there are three other rookie options in the receiving game that have yet to prove themselves. This is a young, mediocre offense that could face a lot of growing pains. Their defense is a little better than the offense ranked 22 overall, but we'll see what kind of results Leslie Frazier and his worn out Tampa 2 defense can do. This defense does have a few above average pieces they acquired in free agency like Michael Johnson and Alteraun Verner to add to Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy . But there are still major question marks in the secondary with Mark Barron, Jonathan Banks and Dashon Goldson ... The Bucs special teams is below average with a 24 ranking due to an unproven rookie kicker, and a huge 5-year deal for an underwhelming 31-year old punter. Their returner Eric Page is also an unproven rookie.

a look at the Bucs secondary, which has the potential to again be one of the worst in the NFL (they were the 11th worst pass efficiency D in NFL last season): CB Alterraun Verner (+4.9 coverage grade by PFF last yr) - replaces Revis (+10.8 coverage grade by PFF last yr). Pro Bowler for Titans last year after a breakout season, finishing 5th in the NFL (and 3rd of all CBs) with 5 interceptions. Also had 23 PD, an INT return for a TD and a fumble return for a TD. 4th R pick out of UCLA. Missed a lot of practice with the Bucs (July 28 to Aug 18) with a hamstring injury age 29 CB Mike Jenkins - PFF rates a "below average" starter and gave him a beyond-bad negative-7.5 coverage grade last yr. Was starting CB for Raiders last season (on a one- year $1.5 million deal) and Raider's defense was the worst pass D in the NFL last season by pass efficiency D. Bucs also signed him for one-year, $1.5 million. Missed nearly a month with an injured hamstring before returning to practice this week. Listed as probable. CB Leonard Johnson (undrafted) - rated "poor" as a starter by PFF who gave him a horrific negative-11.7 coverage grade last yr. Rotoworld: "He's a smallish, slowish, short-armed cover corner." He is in his last year of a 3-year, $1.4 million contract (makes $570,000 this yr). This is what PFF wrote about him after the Bucs ended their season in Week 17 vs the Saints: "All six passes thrown into the coverage of Leonard Johnson were completed, with the Saints gaining 104 yards, a TD, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3 on those plays. He was beaten in coverage by four different receivers, the worst coming on a 44-yard touchdown on which he was torched by Lance Moore (10:23, Q1). Equally incompetent after allowing the catch and at times in run support, Johnson also missed three tackles. With this performance in the books, he ends the season as our third-lowest graded corner, having allowed 1.44 yards per snap in coverage in the slot." CB Johnthan Banks - PFF rates "below average" as a starter and gave him a horrific negative-15.2 coverage grade last yr. He is in 2nd year of a 4-year, $4.7 million contract (makes $619,833 this yr). In Week 8 of last season, PFF wrote: "While Revis has excelled, the man who has spent the majority of time opposite him has not...allowing 69.4% of throws into his coverage to be complete, his -8.8 coverage is fourth-worst of all cornerbacks." SS Mark Barron - rated "average" by PFF, who ranked him 59th out of 86 safeties last yr. Rotoworld writes: "Barron was a liability in coverage last year." However he is excellent against the run, for ex in Week 10 of last season, PFF wrote: "Bucs SS Mark Barron leads in run stop percentage when playing in the box...Made a stop on 13% of run plays." Over the offseason, he had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair knee cartilage. He is making $1.7 million this season FS Dashon Goldson - rated "below average" by PFF. QBs had a 121.4 rating when throwing at him last season. He had the tenth-most missed tackles among 85 qualifying safeties last season. He hired a private tackling coach over the offseason. He is in his 2nd yr with the Bucs and was apparently made to look at lot better than he was by the 49ers' front 7 (the 49ers replaced him with rookie Eric Reid who went to the Pro Bowl last yr). NFL.com: "Goldson has been a mild disappointment in his first season with the Buccaneers." Rotoworld: "Goldson disappointed badly in his first year with the Bucs." As of Week 11 last season, he was rated the No. 76 safety in Pro Football Focus' ratings. He underwent foot surgery over the offseason.

this is your classic Tampa 2. If it's a run, the defenders stick to their gap assignments and rely on getting to the ball carrier fast and sure tackling. If it's a pass, the D relies only on a 4 man rush with no blitzing, and all three LBs drop into zone coverage, with the middle linebacker back-pedaling back as a 3rd safety Lovie Smith helped run the Tampa 2 as linebackers coach in Tampa from 1996-2000 under DC Monte Kiffin. Lovie then continued running the Tampa 2 at Chicago, where he had 7x Pro Bowl Lance Briggs at WLB and 8x Pro Bowl Brian Urlacher at MLB The Tampa 2 is a "bend but don't break" scheme particularly effective at limiting big plays. It forces offenses to be patient and to settle for short gains and time consuming drives Kiffin: "You're not going to shock people when you throw out the Tampa 2: 'Oh, my gosh. How do we attack this?' Because that's all they've been doing for quite a few years now," said Dallas assistant coach Monte Kiffin" Note there is no guarantee Lovie Smith sticks with his Tampa 2, as this MMQB article from Week 4 of last season points out that even coaches that traditionally run the Cover 2 are starting to run it less and less in today's NFL http://mmqb.si.com/2013/09/25/bears-lions-preview-cover-2-endangered-species/ "More and more, Marinelli and (Lovie) Smith drifted away from Cover 2 over the past two season seasons, and (new Bears DC Mel) Tucker, a longtime Cover 2 acolyte, has only continued that trend. The Lions, another classic Cover 2 team, are also trending away from the scheme...so far this season, the godfather of the Tampa 2 himself, Monte Kiffin, has played Cover 2 on just 24.2% of his opponents’ pass attempts." Note however, that a lot of those Cover 2 guys had crappy defenses once they got away from the Cover 2 (Bears last year, Cowboys last year, etc. Same could happen in Tampa this year)

at LB, the Bucs only keep 5 on their roster: SLB Casillas - PFF rates "average." Split time at SLB with Dakota Watson last yr (Watson signed with Jags for 3-year, $6.25 million). Before that, Casillas was backup for Saints. Currently on a 1-year, $1.4 million contract with Bucs MLB Foster - returning starter, PFF rates "poor" as a starter. In 2011, signed a four-year, $2.8 million contact with Bucs (makes $754,686 this season then his contact is up). Rotoworld: "In the Bucs' new Tampa-2 defense, the middle linebacker has to excel in coverage. Foster has struggled with that ever since being the 84th pick in the 2011 draft. He graded out in the bottom half of Pro Football Focus' inside linebacker rankings this past season." (note: with the Bears, Lovie Smith had Brian Urlacher, who was a safety in college) WLB David - beast backup MLB Fletcher - Bucs signed to 1 yr, $2 million. Rotoworld: "will likely focus on special teams in Tampa Bay." backup OLB Lansanah - spent three seasons in the now-defunct United Football League while his day job was counseling problem children at Alternative Rehabilitation Communities, a Harrisburg facility for children with criminal backgrounds. Bucs are paying him $570,000 this season then his contact is up

for the Bucs, DE Gholston and DE Bowers are both out and they were supposed to help out as depth at DT as "the Bucs have only three defensive tackles on roster." So the Bucs only have seven DL available for the game: DE Clayborn (PFF rates him "poor" as a starter. ESPN: "last year he was unspectacular with 5.5 sacks.") DE Johnson - (3.5 sacks in 15 starts last season. CBS: "Johnson is a gamble for the Bucs...In order for the defense to be successful, Johnson definitely has to double his sack total from last season. Anything short of seven sacks would be seen as a disappointing season") DE Solomon - 0 sacks, 1 tackle for his whole NFL career DE Means - entering 2nd season, zero sacks, zero tackles in the NFL DT McCoy - beast, will get double and triple teamed DT McDonald - PFF rates "good" as a starter - 5.5 sacks for the Seahawks last year as the 2nd-deep DT in the rotation DT Spence - PFF rates "poor" as a starter. 1 sack in 14 starts last year

Forbes: Buccaneers Least Expensive NFC South Tickets "The current average price for New Orleans Saints tickets is $245.42 ... Carolina Panthers tickets have an average price of $189.06 for home games at Bank of America Stadium this season. Half of Carolina’s home games this year have an average price above $200 ... the average price for Atlanta Falcons tickets is just $150.81 ... The average price for Buccaneers tickets is $143.57" http://www.forbes.com/sites/jesselawrence/2014/08/22/saints-most-expensive-buccaneers-least-expensive-nfc-south-tickets/

The Bucs ranked 29th in the NFL in attendance last season, up from 31st in the league in 2012.

NBC Sports: "The Bucs are literally giving away tickets to long-suffering fans... The Bucs have committed to buying up any tickets to reach the 85 percent threshold (at 34 cents on the dollar), to stay on local TV, while they try to rebuild a fan base grown complacent. But the fact they’re offering freebies so close to the start of a season — a season which includes the hope of a solid rebound — shows how far they have to go to become relevant in their own market again." http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/05/bucs-offering-free-tickets-to-loyal-season-ticket-owners/