Early Look at the Detroit Lions opponents: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
By Ash Thompson
Edge Defenders
Robert Ayers is a cautionary tale about paying free agents for the production they put up in their best season. Ayers had nine sacks in 12 games during his contract year and the Giants refused to pay him at that level. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him to a three year 19.5 million dollar deal, and Ayers gave them 6.5 sacks for their investment. He stayed the player he had always been.
Noah Spence is a cautionary tale about expecting rookies to produce immediately. Spence had a good season for a rookie, but his 5.5 sacks and 22 tackles are not the kind of dominant performance that strikes fear in the hearts of the opposition. Spence will likely improve in 2017, but the question is how much? Likely not enough to give the Buccaneers a good pass rush.
William Gholston sets the edge for the Bucs on first down and kicks inside for obvious passing downs to make room for Spence. Jaques Smith is a forgotten player by most fans. He had 13.5 sacks in his first two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he tore his ACL in week one of 2016. He should be ready to start the season and give them another situational pass rusher.
Interior Defensive Line
Gerald McCoy is exactly what a team hopes they will get when they select a three technique with the third overall pick in a draft. His seven sacks in 2016 were his lowest total since 2012. He has been a model of consistent dominance on the field, and he is the most dangerous thing the Lions offense needs to deal with on every down.
He is not the lone danger in their interior however. The Bucs added Chris Baker, who had 10.5 sacks in his last two seasons for Washington. He has a reputation for having work ethic issues, but he can get after it when he wants to.
Clinton McDonald has also been an effective gap shooter when he’s been on the field. in his 31 games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he has 8.5 sacks. The problem is that he has played only 31 games in three seasons.
Linebackers
Lavonte David can do anything the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ask him to. He was the modern origin for the “money backer” position, as an extremely quick, coverage specialist who can flow sideline to sideline on running plays but needs to be kept clean. David has put up seasons with five sacks, or five interceptions, and has multiple seasons with over 140 tackles. He has moved past the days when he was considered a coverage specialist and become one of the league’s premier 4-3 outside linebackers.
Kwon Alexander is another smaller, quicker linebacker playing the middle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has averaged 8.5 tackles per game for his entire NFL career. That matches the Lions leading tackler Tahir Whitehead‘s 2016 pace. Not all tackles are created equally, but Alexander cleaning up his own messes has taken the pressure off David to be everywhere at once.
Devante Bond appears to have the inside track to claim the strong side linebacker spot. He missed his entire rookie campaign with a hamstring injury but looked like the prototype for the role in his college days. He can stack and shed blockers, but if isolated in coverage, players like Theo Riddick and Eric Ebron will make him look bad. The Buccaneers, of course, have Alexander and David to fill their nickel linebacker spots, which will force the Lions to be creative in exploiting Bond.