Now that the 2019 NFL season is near its completion, the NFL will hold its annual NFL Honors night showcasing the best in the league for 2019. There are but two Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ that have a shot at receiving one of those honors, but if the contest was just for the Buccaneers, who would win what?
NFL Defensive Player of the Year – Shaquil Barrett
This one should come as no surprise. The free agent from the Denver Broncos caught the NFL by storm after recording 19.5 sacks in 2019, leading the NFL. Through one-quarter of the season, Barrett was on pace for a whopping 36 sacks. He quickly cooled down at the midway point and caught fire once again after Jason Pierre-Paul returned to the lineup. To further add to his accolades, Barrett passed Warren Sapp for the franchise single-season sack leader, previously set at 16.5. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will look to sign Barrett to a lucrative deal this offseason, and deservedly so.
Comeback Player of the Year – Ronald Jones II
After a disappointing start to his career, Ronald Jones II comes in as our comeback player of the year. After recording only 44 yards and one touchdown on 23 attempts, Jones’ 2018 season was one to forget about. Under Bruce Arian’s offense, Jones exploded onto the scene with 724 yards and six touchdowns on 172 attempts. Even more impressive, was Jones’ improvement in the passing game, something he was knocked for coming out of USC. His stat line of 31 receptions for 309 yards was well improved this season, and his catch percentage of 77.5% surely pushes back on his detractors. Jones II had a significantly better season in Bruce Arian’s offense. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the young running back.
Play of the Year
This particular play was a miracle in the fact that while Jameis Winston was being flushed outside of the pocket, he was able to find a very covered Breshad Perriman deep inside of the endzone. Plays like this drive fans insane and have coaches yelling “no, no, no! Yes, yes, yes!”.
Photo credit: NFL.com
