Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

It all started on play number one. The Carolina Panthers had just received the kickoff, and started in the shotgun. Cam Newton ran the read option, and chose to hand off to DeAngelo Williams, and he was stopped for a loss. Gerald McCoy was lined up in the middle, and was one of many Buccaneers in the backfield, as McCoy chased the play to the outside after reading the play and spinning off his blocker. McCoy had no impact on this play in a practical sense, but his energy and awareness would not shut off after that first play. This week, the display that number 93 has put on all season has culminated in a Pro Bowl selection. So as the season comes to an end, and the Buccaneers focus on improving from a sub .500 football team over the offseason, let’s take some time and consider the impact Gerald McCoy has had on the 2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Just two plays after the aforementioned curtain-raising example, McCoy would register his first tackle for loss. The Panthers would run another read option play, this time trying to run Williams off tackle. As the runner cut across the backfield, McCoy cut against the grain of the play, shrugged off a blocker, and made the sure tackle of the helpless running back. At this point, any Buccaneers fan watching the game had to be pleased, because an active defensive line has always been an indication of Buccaneers success. While this is certainly not the Tampa 2 defense we once revolutionized in Tampa Bay, an active defensive line is a very valuable asset to an NFL defense.

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

McCoy’s best single game performance this season has to be the Dallas Cowboys game in week 3. The defensive tackle registered 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 “stuff” (ESPN’s terminology for a tackle for loss for a lineman) and a forced fumble against Dallas, and certainly did his part in what would be a fantastic defensive effort by the Buccaneers.  The first impact play for Gerald in the Dallas game was another tackle for loss just 6 minutes into the game. McCoy got a great initial push, and combined with the effort of Roy Miller, completely shut down the Cowboys’ run blocking scheme. DeMarco Murray was lost in the backfield, and McCoy shed his blocker and began pursuit. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, McCoy’s motor was definitely running, as the lumbering lineman changed direction twice on his way to the Cowboy ball carrier. He made yet another sure handed tackle to cause another loss of yards, and the drive eventually would end in a punt.

He would make an even bigger impact in the 3rd quarter of the Cowboys game. Tony Romo dropped back to pass, and McCoy easily shed the guard assigned to block him, and had a truckload of momentum headed towards the Dallas center. He would ram the center back a handful of yards, and find himself within range of the quarterback, so he disengaged the blocker and pursued the quarterback, and wrapped him up. Romo would, for whatever reason, decide it best to try and fling it forward, but did so with an empty hand, as the impact of McCoy and his lack of balance led to a fumble, which the Buccaneers would recover. McCoy showed strength, speed, and excellent pursuit yet again on this play, and it is moments like these that define a Pro Bowl season.

As a defensive lineman, particularly an interior lineman, the voting that coaches, media, and players do is not only based on statistics and flashy plays, but on the impact that player has on preparation, and how difficult they are to play against. Surely the Dallas Cowboys offensive line marked down “G. McCoy, Tampa Bay” on their Pro Bowl ballots, because his impact on the game was felt by Romo, Murray, and the rest of the then struggling Cowboy offensive unit. McCoy would proceed to have solid statistical games against the Eagles and Saints, but his impact was beyond what a stat sheet can hold.

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In the first quarter of the home loss to the Eagles, McCoy lined up at tackle on 3rd and 14. Philly had rookie Nick Foles under center, and the quarterback was in the shotgun, hoping to pick up a first down. However, his time in the pocket was brief, less than 2 seconds in fact, as McCoy simply blew past his blocker and had a hand on the quarterback just after he released a pass that had no hope of being a first down, even if Jeremy Maclin was able to haul in the slightly off target throw. This is the kind of play McCoy made all season, and while it doesn’t show up on a traditional box score, it impacts the game, the gameplan, and the players around him. Football outsiders ranked Tampa Bay as the best defensive line against the run in all of football, and it’s not even remotely close. Using their Adjusted Line Yards statistic, the Buccaneers were more than half a yard better than the next closest team, the Bears. McCoy was certainly the driving force behind this disruptive defensive front four.

For me, the most important statistic for McCoy was the amount of snaps he has played. Gerald has seen the field for just under 900 snaps on defense this season, ranking him 8th in the league. For references, that means he’s been on the field for more plays than Elvis Dumervil, JJ Watt, Vince Wilfork, and Cameron Wake. Given McCoy’s injury history, to see his first full season end with a Pro Bowl selection shows just how much talent and drive the young man out of Oklahoma possesses.  So as we descend into the depths of the offseason and consider the Buccaneers future at many other positions on the field, remember that the Buccaneers are fortunate to have one of the better defensive tackles in football in red and pewter, and he’s only getting better.

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Adrian Clayborn and Gerald McCoy have left the Bucs preseason game against the Patriots with undisclosed injuries. (Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

The Buccaneers started out strong against the New England Patriots, but things got sour very quickly as both Gerald McCoy and Adrian Clayborn have left the game and will not return due to injuries they suffered on the first and second drives of the game respectively.

McCoy exited the game ont he first drive on a play that saw Michael Bennett fly around the Patriots offensive line and drill Tom Brady’s blindside, forcing a fumble. It appeared though, that McCoy was cut block at the line of scrimmage as he immediately went to the ground and grasped at his knee. McCoy eventually walked off under his own power, and even returned on the next series, but was pulled from the game and sent to the locker room for further evaluation.

Clayborn went down on the next drive on a play that saw Mark Barron intercept Tom Brady and return it for a touchdown. Clayborn held his left arm and went promptly to the locker room for X-rays.

No further word has been announced on the status if either of the two players but Stephen Holder tweeted that Clayborn’s injury was cause for concern. McCoy has had a rash of injuries his first two seasons in the NFL and hasn’t finished a full one yet. If he misses time to begin 2012, it would mark the third straight year he’s missed games since being drafted.

We will have more word on the injuries to McCoy and Clayborn as we hear information.

UPDATE: Both McCoy and Clayborn have returned to the sidelines, but both remain out for the game. Still no diagnosis on the injuries.

July 30, 2011; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (93) during training camp at One Buc Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Then McCoy hit the NFL where the baseline talent level is much higher than in college and suddenly that lack of technique caught up with McCoy. That’s not to say he hasn’t been good in his first two seasons, actually in spite of lacking polish McCoy has still rounded into a very good defensive tackle and was vital to the Bucs 4-2 start (as well as a big part of their 0-10 finish when he got hurt).

I have a feeling year three is going to be a lot different for #93 thanks largely in part to his new coach.

“We do a tackling circuit before every practice, and I’ve never done anything like that before,” McCoy said of Greg Schiano’s weekend minicamp. “I realize now that, before, I was just playing football. Now, I’m really learning how to tackle and I think it’s going to help me a lot.”

It’s OK if your first inclination is to laugh at that. I did. I mean, Bob Stoops must have read that and cringed. The most famous tackling drill in existence is actually called the Oklahoma drill, McCoy was an All-American at the University of Oklahoma and he claims he just learned how to tackle over the weekend…

But once you get past the fact Gerald McCoy basically just admitted he phoned it in during two-a-days at OU, this is exactly what a player like McCoy needed.

The talent and potential are there, that’s been obvious since before the Bucs drafted McCoy, he has the part of the game that you can’t teach. So it’s probably good that the Buccaneers have finally gotten around to teaching him the rest of it. He’s going to learn the rest now though, the Bucs have hired a guy who will make sure of it.

Greg Schiano, as Ronde Barber puts it, hammers home fundamentals.

Good.

May 4, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Greg Schiano talk during rookie mini camp at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

This was a team last year that squandered potential on sloppy play and mental mistakes. I think we’re gaining a keen insight into why Mark Dominik wanted Greg Schiano. Dominik believes in the work he’s done on the personnel side of things, he’s brought in several talented draft classes and added free agents from the waiver wire and now (this offseason) from the top of the heap.

He just needed someone to actually coach them.

Raheem Morris, a player’s coach, wasn’t that guy. Being a player’s coach works on a veteran team. When the Giants talk about what’s worked with Tom Coughlin lately, it’s a subtle move towards a more player-friendly approach. Coughlin is never going to be laid back, but he relaxed a little and gave the team some room to breathe, it paid off. The difference is that was a veteran bunch with a lot of experience under their belt. You can afford to do that with an older group.

This group in Tampa needs a guy to stay on them. They need that direction and discipline. This group hasn’t earned a player’s coach yet.

That’s why Kellen Winslow’s comments were so absurd. Of course K2 liked Morris, not only did Raheem traded for him and pay him handsomely, he also didn’t make Kellen Winslow practice for three years. Winslow didn’t want to go because he felt Morris was slighted or Schiano was a bad guy. Hell, K2 knows Schiano from college and his time in Cleveland should have taught him this league is a business.

No truth be told after coasting for three years and only turning it on during gamedays, the idea of suiting up and getting back to fundamentals didn’t appeal to Winslow.

But that’s what this Bucs team needs, it’s what Gerald McCoy needs and it’s going to pay off sooner rather than later.

Greg Schiano is going to turn this group into professionals.