Cornerback, not right guard, named Tampa Bay Buccaneers biggest battle

In a recent article, the cornerback battle was named as the biggest camp battle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; here is why this analysis is incorrect.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) is a tool that has revolutionized how to evaluate talent and rosters around the NFL. They recently posted an article where they sought to identify the biggest camp battle for each team entering training camp, and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they chose a position different than the popular opinion.

Mark Chichester of PFF identified the cornerback battle as the biggest battle for the Buccaneers heading into camp rather than that at the right guard position. He identified the battle as a four-way competition between Vernon Hargreaves, Ryan Smith, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Jamel Dean; Chichester, whether on purpose or by mistake, left off Carlton Davis from the list while including the suspended Smith.

"“Looking to steal time away from Hargreaves will be rookies [Murphy-Bunting] and Jamel Dea, who both ranked inside the top-10 of PFF’s positional rankings and allowed two combined touchdowns in coverage all season ([Murphy-Bunting] allowed zero” (Chichester via PFF)."

The cornerback position is, without a doubt, a major camp battle as the Buccaneers look to fix a secondary that performed to the tune of last in the league a year ago, but it is more of a problem of solving a puzzle than a battle. While Hargreaves could lose a starting job on the outside, he would still be relegated to significant playing time in the nickel, and same for Murphy-Bunting.