Buccaneers secondary deserves some shine and recognition

With the offense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the subject of disdain so far in 2022, the Buccaneers defense has been one of delight, and one phase of the defense, in particular, deserves some extra praise.

The struggles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense have been lamented in great length already in this young 2022 NFL season. While the Buccaneers’ defense has been given its proper praise as arguably the best in football, one unit of the defense may not be given its proper shine and recognition, and we are here to correct that injustice.

The Bucs pass-rush is both deep and lethal, while the linebackers Devin White and Lavonte David are flying all around the field making plays. The secondary though may just be the best part of this defense so far this season.

Carlton Davis III has remained solid on the outside at cornerback, always seeming to find his way to the ball. While his usual partner the last couple of seasons in Sean Murphy-Bunting has been on the side of milk cartons as of late, his replacement in Jamel Dean has been nothing short of sensational. Dean’s Pro Football Focus grade of 85.2 is just short of the best in the entire NFL behind only Jonathan Jones of the New England Patriots with 85.6, and directly ahead of Jalen Ramsey’s 82.3. The point is, Dean has been awesome.

As for the safeties, Antoine Winfield Jr. has looked like an All-Pro himself. When he isn’t patrolling the back end of the defense, he’s been splitting his time in the slot and doing so with great aplomb. His game opening week against CeeDee Lamb was sensational, as Winfield had him in jail all evening. While Winfield is busy with that, new signing Logan Ryan has been taking his place and like Davis, always finds his way to the ball, albeit in limited action.

Then there’s Mike Edwards, who in his first full season as a starter after taking over for the departed Jordan Whitehead, has kept up with his reputation as a ball hawk, already picking off a pass and taking it to the house, as he’s prone to do. His 21 total tackles are second on the team behind White’s 24.

Speaking of tackles, perhaps the most impressive part of this group is their ability to tackle. We already touched on Edwards, but Davis’ 20 total tackles is third on the Bucs roster, with Dean’s 16 being good enough for fifth on the team. Elsewhere, Ryan has recorded eight total tackles, more than the entire defensive line, while Winfeidl’s 19 total tackles are tied with David for fourth on the team. Obviously, it pays to have a secondary that can cover, but when they can tackle as well, that is one colossal cherry on top of a delicious Sunday sundae.

The defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been incredible, and a big part of that is the play on the back-end in the secondary, and we think it’s past time they get their just due.