As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to take on the 2018 season, former first round pick Vernon Hargreaves doesn’t exactly have his position carved out yet.
Many Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans are a little, well, frustrated with the development – or lack thereof – of former first round pick Vernon Hargreaves. Hargreaves began his career on the outside, opposite Brent Grimes, then began to slide into the nickel corner position last season when he found himself struggling to shut down receivers on the outside.
Many analysts, podcasters, writers, and bloggers speculated that the cushion that VHIII was giving was too much and he would perform better if he was in a more of a press-man rather than that of a zone. As Hargreaves showed in the nickel, when he was up in press-man he was ranked as one of the top rated corners in the NFL.
Now, there is speculation that with the additions of Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart there will be more of a press-man feel to the Buccaneers’ secondary given that’s what the two excelled in during their college days.
Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith spoke about Hargreaves’ role moving forward and whether or not he will remain in the slot or if he will move back to the outside this coming season;
"“We’ve told everybody that we want everybody to come in with the mindset that they’re going to be the starter at their position. Vernon’s position is corner and nickel, corner in base defense and nickel in our sub package. We want these guys to go out and compete. We don’t care where they were drafted, how much they get paid. We’re going to put the best 11 guys out there on every snap and we want these guys to go out and compete against each other from day one. In terms of Vernon specifically, Vernon is competing to be the starting corner in base and probably going to be the guy we would move in because I think he has a better skill set at the nickel position in our sub defense.”"
So, in those rare occasions that the Bucs only have two corners on the field, Hargreaves will – as of now – be on the outside. However, the Buccaneers typically have three corners on the field at any given play it sounds as if Hargreaves will mostly be in the slot. Given the glowing remarks we’ve heard early on about corner Carlton Davis, one would think he’s in the driver’s seat for the other outside corner position.
It’s tough to look back and think the Bucs used a top fifteen pick on a player that will likely end up being nothing more than a starting slot corner, but given the landscape of today’s NFL, slot receivers are every bit as dangerous as those that line up on the outside. Players like Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. have no issues lining up in the slot to create mismatches. Having a shut down guy on the inside could prove vital to a team’s success.
Next: Ronald Jones Eases Some Minds
One thing is for sure – Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp just got a lot more interesting.