Tampa’s Secondary woes were partially attributed to Smith and Frazier’s defensive scheme, but many also attribute it to the lack of pass rushing. Gerald McCoy played hurt last year and still came up a Pro Bowler, while when healthy, Jacqueis Smith lead the team in sacks for a time, but it was ultimately Gerald McCoy’s 8.5 sacks that took the team lead. Tampa had 38 sacks on the season which is not horrible by any means it’s tied for 14th in the NFL, but a lot of those came from backups and linebackers.
It’s not the sack numbers that need to go up, although that would be nice; it’s the pressure on the quarterback that needs to rise. If Tampa were getting the pass rush it needed last year, a lot of games would have had a much different outcome. Example: The Redskins come back game. Getting to Cousins on more of those snaps, would have deflated many of those drives allowing the secondary to compensate better, and deny them of their comeback. Kwon Alexander stating that we need more guys who rush the quarterback is sound advice. The Buccaneers should look to the Free Agency as well as the Draft to find these guys. I believe the secondary will instantly level up, as soon as the quarterbacks begin to worry about our front seven.
“The Buccaneers improved by four wins between 2014 and 2015 and while that wasn’t enough to allow coach Lovie Smith to keep his job, it was a sign that they hit on their decision to draft quarterback Jameis Winston with the first overall pick of last year’s draft.”
“Now they need to fill in other weak spots around the team so that they can continue to improve and make a return to the postseason for the first time since 2007. Linebacker Kwon Alexander has identified one area where he believes the team should be focused on this offseason.”
“We need to get some more guys to, you know, to get some push on the quarterback,” – Reported by Josh Alper
More on this here: Kwon Alexander: Bucs need more guys who can rush the quarterback