On Wednesday the Buccaneers began their two day series of practices against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Similar to last week against Philadelphia and during training camp in general, the defensive line stood out.
It’s been a long time since the Buccaneers had a good defensive line. Every Buccaneer is familiar with the ghost of Simeon Rice and the extent to which it haunts the team’s defensive line. There’s a decent chance you had a “MySpace” profile when last the Bucs had a defensive lineman get ten sacks.
While the Michael Bennett, Da’Quan Bowers, Adrian Clayborn, Brian Price and Gerald McCoy group from 2010 had high hopes, but it was all based around potential and what could happen down the road. This group is ready to go right now and won’t accept anything internally other than immediate success. Quarterback Jameis Winston talked last week about a requisite team-wide intensity even in the preseason and mentioned newcomer Robert Ayers by name as someone who has brought that intensity thus far. You have to imagine that the sentiment has spread to his fellow defensive linemen as well.
In the team’s preseason opener versus Philadelphia, the Bucs defensive line flashed on multiple occasions and successfully weathered a tough first quarter storm. Clinton McDonald made his return from a pectoral injury that cut his 2015 season short after six games and recorded a sack along with two tackles. Every member of what will be the Bucs’ core defensive line (with exception of Will Gholston, who did not play) made a play and flashed in the game, and as a group they continued their offseason trend upwards. While it’s just preseason, we’ve actually seen Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald have success playing next to each other in the past. The lack of talent on the edges that held McCoy and McDonald back in the past appears to be a thing of the past.
The Bucs traveled up to Jacksonville on Wednesday for a two-day series of joint practices leading up to their game on Saturday night. Judging from the tweets, reports, and videos coming out of day one in Jacksonville, it appears that the defensive line continued their high level of play.
#Jaguars OL Luke Joeckel vs. #Buccaneers DE Noah Spence Part Deux. (via @mike_e_kaye) https://t.co/s9zh4ZClMA
— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) August 17, 2016
Both OL/DL drills working on 2-man stunts and twists. Noah Spence and Robert Ayers did one combo so well they both got quick penetration.
— Scott Smith (@ScottSBucs) August 17, 2016
Gerald McCoy is a load to handle in Jacksonville. More from practice at https://t.co/uyGzTXFlyr. https://t.co/xpd4vuptdG via @YouTube
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) August 17, 2016
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Team reporter Scott Smith elaborated further on the success of the defensive line today on the team website, and coach Dirk Koetter spoke glowingly about Robert Ayers in particular in his post-practice media scrum. Overall it seemed to be another successful day for the Bucs long-suffering defensive line which has to make fans happy.