SR’s Fab 5: Bucs’ Bye Week To-Do List

Welcome to SR’s Fab 5 – my weekly insider column on the Bucs that features five things that are on my mind. SR’s Fab 5 is now a quicker read, but still packs a punch. Enjoy!

FAB 1. Get Calijah Kancey Healthy

The Bucs need to use the bye week to get their injured players back to full health – or as close to it as possible.

The good news is that wide receiver Mike Evans tweaked his hamstring in New Orleans and it doesn’t appear to be a serious injury. Tampa Bay will need all of its weapons to beat a tough Detroit team that can put up points. The Bucs might need to score 26 points – or more – again to beat the one-loss Lions in Week 6. It looks like Evans could be in play for the creamsicle game.

Getting cornerback Jamel Dean’s shoulder right will also help, as well as giving Carlton Davis’ toe another week to heal up. Getting inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis back from a hamstring back will not only aid special teams, but help the rookie’s development, which has been stunted with a three-week absence.

But the rookie the Bucs really need to get healthy is Calijah Kancey, the team’s first-round pick.

Kancey has played just 11 snaps this season after missing most of training camp and all of the preseason with a calf injury, but has already flashed in limited playing time – emphasis on the word “limited.” The 6-foot, 286-pound defensive tackle practiced a few days prior to the season opener, but felt his calf tighten up early in the first quarter at Minnesota.

The Bucs hoped to have him back sooner, hence not putting the Pittsburgh product on short-term injured reserve. But the calf injury has proved to be troublesome and he missed the last three games as a result. The hope is that the extra week of rest during the bye will allow him to attempt a comeback next week in preparation to play against Detroit.

Head coach and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles hasn’t even gotten to play with his new toy, and Kancey has the speed, suddenness, agility and athleticism to be a difference-maker up front. His ability to quickly penetrate the line can disrupt both the running and the passing games of Tampa Bay’s opponents.

The Bucs have been playing reserve Mike Greene a good deal in base defense alongside nose tackle Vita Vea and opposite Logan Hall. Greene has struggled in his first season, evidenced by a paltry 39.9 Pro Football Focus grade, and Tampa Bay would be significantly better up front with Kancey in the lineup instead.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Vea already has 3.5 sacks to lead the Bucs despite drawing his share of double-team blocks. Imagine how much more productive he could be playing next to a living cannonball like Kancey. Or how effective Kancey could be playing next to Vea if the big 350-pounder continues to draw double-teams?

Even if Kancey doesn’t get the sack with initial penetration, he could boost the sack totals of Shaq Barrett, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Anthony Nelson, YaYa Diaby and Cam Gill by flushing quarterbacks from the pocket and into the waiting arms of Tampa Bay’s outside linebackers.

The Bucs already have 12 sacks through four games and are on pace for 51 this season, which will be a new team best since Bowles has been running the defense. Adding a pass rusher like Kancey, who had 14.5 sacks in his final two years at Pitt, to the mix for the rest of the season could take that number to new heights.

FAB 2. Hot 3-1 Start Means Bucs Must Play The Best Players

The sneaky secret about the Bucs’ 2023 season is the fact that this is a developmental year. Tampa Bay is trying to three-peat as NFC South champions along the way, but due to salary cap constraints, the Bucs were on a budget this year and were forced to play – and start – a lot of young players from the last three draft classes.

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum Photo By: USA Today

The Bucs’ brass isn’t fretting over that task, as the team believes it hit on a lot of its draft picks. Some of the recent picks, including right tackle Luke Goedeke and cornerback Zyon McCollum, have made some real big strides in their second season, and a few rookies, including right guard Cody Mauch and wide receiver Trey Palmer have already contributed in a very positive way.

But the fact remains that Tampa Bay has the youngest tight end group in the NFL and one of the least experienced running back rooms in the league. The Bucs have no choice but to play those youngsters and see if they can actually play and be a factor in 2024 and beyond or if the team has to significantly upgrade certain positions next offseason.

That said, the Bucs most focus on their 3-1 start and do whatever they can to keep winning, given their early lead in the NFC South and the NFC in general. If Tampa Bay started off 1-3, then the focus on player development and experimentation would be understandable.

So head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Dave Canales must play the absolute best players down the stretch regardless of circumstance.

That might mean keeping Zyon McCollum in the starting lineup over Jamel Dean, who struggled at the start of the year before missing half the Eagles game and all of the Saints game with a shoulder injury. If McCollum continues to have the hot hand, he needs to start regardless of how much Dean is making with his $12.8 million average salary.

The Bucs want to get a long look at former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as he’s in a critical third season. Tryon-Shoyinka has two sacks to start the season after topping out at four in each of the last two seasons. He’s a player whose production has run hot and cold. If he doesn’t become more consistent, then it’s only right for Bowles to start top reserve Anthony Nelson, who had 5.5 sacks and led the Bucs with three forced fumbles last year.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

The Mike Greene experiment isn’t going very well so far. While the Bucs know what they have in aging Will Gholston, who is past his prime, the veteran is playing better than Greene is and deserves more snaps.

Ko Kieft has proven to be a liability in the passing game as a receiver and just a mediocre blocker. Perhaps David Wells deserves more playing time at Kieft’s expense? Or maybe making Payne Durham active on game days to see what he can do and how he can help Tampa Bay.

Is Rachaad White really an NFL feature back capable of producing 100-yard rushing games? Or is he really just a guy – a backup or a complementary back? We already know Ke’Shawn Vaughn isn’t starter material. But what about Sean Tucker and Chase Edmonds when he comes back from his injury?

If Bowles and Canales rely on the game film and the production on the stat sheets to keep making personnel decisions and continue to avoid looking at draft status and salary cap values, there’s no reason why the Bucs can’t keep winning and find themselves in the playoffs for a fourth straight season.

FAB 3. Keep The Takeaway Train Rolling

The Bucs defense has started the season hot with 10 takeaways in the first four games. Tampa Bay has at least two takeaways in every game thus far and is on pace to produce 42 this year, which would exceed Todd Bowles’ stated goal of 30, which is comprised of interceptions and fumble recoveries.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The only problem is that the Bucs were actually at 11 takeaways at this time last year through the first four games of the 2022 season and finished with just 20 – 10 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries. That was well short of the goal of 30 for the year.

Tampa Bay went into a takeaway slump after a Week 4 loss to Kansas City. The Bucs squandered a plus-5 turnover margin at the start of the 2022 season and wound up finishing minus-2. Right now, Tampa Bay is at plus-7 due to the fact that the Bucs offense only has three turnovers. That’s played a huge role in the team’s 3-1 start and will need to continue for this Bucs team to keep its lead in the NFC South and make the postseason for a fourth straight season.

The Bucs defense has had a near identical start to takeways as it had a season ago. The 2022 Bucs had six interceptions and five fumble recoveries – which is similar to the 2023 squad. But the difference is that the starters in the secondary had four out of the six interceptions last year, with Jamel Dean leading the way with two, followed by a pick from Antoine Winfield Jr. and Logan Ryan.

Bucs NCB Christian Izien and Eagles WR Olamide Zaccheaus – Photo by: USA Today

This year, Christian Izien leads the Bucs with two interceptions and is tied with reserve defensive back Dee Delaney. Starting outside linebacker Shaq Barrett has the other one, which was returned for a touchdown.

We’ve yet to see an interception from Winfield or Dean this season, nor have we seen one from Carlton Davis III or new strong safety Ryan Neal. When that happens, it’s a safe bet that the Bucs top last year’s INT total of 10.

Turnovers come in bunches and are hard to predict. But it seems like this Bucs defense is out for blood this year and looking to make amends for underperforming in the takeaway department last season. They simply can’t afford to let the bye week break their momentum and slow down the takeaway train, which was rolling through the first month of the season.

FAB 4. Get Devin White More Involved In Pass Rush

The Bucs have done a good job in the sack department thus far in 2023. Tampa Bay has 12 sacks on the season and is averaging three per game. That puts the Bucs on pace to hit 51 sacks, which would eclipse the team’s stated goal of 50, and would be the second most in franchise history.

Bucs LB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Nose tackle Vita Vea leads the way with 3.5 sacks with safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka are tied for second with two sacks. A total of eight different defenders have at least half a sack, so there is not just one player Todd Bowles is relying on to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis.

But one player that Bowles does rely on to record sacks each year has yet to notch his first quarterback capture this year. That player is inside linebacker Devin White.

White has 20.5 career sacks since entering the league as the Bucs’ first-round pick in 2019. He’s had no fewer than 2.5 sacks in any season, which came during his rookie season, and White almost led the team in sacks with nine in 2020. Last year, White had 5.5 sacks, which is the second most in his career. Three of them came in the first two weeks of the season.

This year, White has yet to get home, but his blitzing last week on a crossfire blitz with Winfield occupied a blocker and allowed the Bucs star safety to beat running back Alvin Kamara and get home to sack Derek Carr.

White had 33 pass rush snaps through the first four games of the 2022 season and had nine pressures, including three sacks. This year, White has been deployed as a blitzer 31 times, but has had just five pressures and has yet to have a QB capture.

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

Perhaps White’s groin injury has slowed him down and has been the reason why he hasn’t be as effective rushing the passer this year. Maybe Bowles could do a better job scheming White to get open. The head coach and defensive play-caller needs to be looking at that during the bye week.

White was effective as an immediate A gap blitzer in 2019 and 2020. But then teams schemed against that and QBs were ready to sidestep White’s early pressure and cause him to miss.

Bowles adjusted by sending White on some delayed blitzes, which were very effective in the first part of the 2022 season and resulted in two sacks in the season opener at Dallas and one in New Orleans the next week.

Whether it’s going back to immediate A gap blitzes and delay blitzes, the one thing missing in the Bucs’ pass rush through the first quarter of the season is sacks from White, who is in a contract year and would love to see his stats padded for his big pay day in 2024.

FAB 5. Keep Opening Up The Offensive Playbook

Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales really opened up the playbook in the team’s 26-9 win at New Orleans. Whether it was an 11-yard end around to Deven Thompkins, who seems like he is a first down waiting to happen, or a reverse to Chris Godwin, who threw a pass to Trey Palmer, Canales showed imagination and creativity against the Saints.

Bucs WR Deven Thompkins – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Canales even deployed right tackle Luke Goedeke as a tight end lined up next to left tackle Tristan Wirfs and had an unbalanced line with tight end Ko Kieft at right tackle in between right guard Cody Mauch and tight end Cade Otton. We didn’t get to see the outcome of what that play would be because it caused a confused Saints defense to immediately call a timeout. But Canales needs to go back to that play – and keep opening up the playbook as the season progresses.

Those gadget plays are fun for the offensive players to run and it keeps them engaged during the week in practice and during meetings.

“It’s fun, for sure, to that point,” Canales said. “The guys do enjoy that. As long as they’re a part of the play – because, again, that’s a lot of mileage if we aren’t giving them an opportunity for the ball – but, in a drive like that against a defense like this, I just wasn’t going to try and make it this macho, mano-a-mano type of thing. There’s ways to do that. Make them work.”

Canales said there needs to be a fine line between the Bucs continuing to work on their bread-and-butter run and pass plays, which are going to become a staple in his offense when perfected, and using some imaginative, inventive plays to manufacture some first downs.

Bucs OC Dave Canales and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I think coming out of the first three games, I just felt like maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough to just get first downs – make yards while we’re learning the core of our system, while we’re trying to learn the fundamental blocking schemes that we’ve got to get good at,” Canales said. “The reads for the [running] backs – we talk a lot about the rhythm of the backs over the last couple of weeks – but the combos up front. We have to be able to practice all of that, but while we’re getting those things, try harder to get first downs, try harder to make yards. I was happy about that [in New Orleans].”

Canales said that during a press conference on Monday, so the bye week wasn’t even in full effect yet. But his awareness to already grasp this shows what a forward thinker he is, and you can bet that he’s already using the bye week to come up with some more of those manufactured first downs on gadget plays and new wrinkles for the 13-week stretch that’s to come.

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