Carlton Davis took the next step in 2020.
The Buccaneers have been hurting for a player like Carlton Davis for a very long time. A true lockdown corner is one of the most valuable players in football, and the Buccaneers struggled in the absence of one such player for more than half of a decade.
Tampa Bay was known for its offense, but the defense was horrific during the “offense first” years. The Bucs posted a mountain of points each game, but the defense wasn’t up to the task of keeping any opponent out of the end zone, and that started with the secondary.
The Buccaneers whiffed badly on serval players to fill the void of a lockdown corner, with Vernon Hargreaves epitomizing this perfectly. The Bucs invested a ton of capital in a player who still hasn’t panned out, and they paid the price for that when their number one corner rarely showed up.
Some free agents were able to stem the bleeding from time to time, Brent Grimes was great at first, but longevity plays a key in redefining a unit as necessary as the secondary.
The Buccaneers took a chance on Carlton Davis in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, and they’ll be rewarded for that decision for years to come at the current pace.