It seems to be the consensus throughout Bucs Nation that Vernon Hargreaves still has some work to do. And it’s been brought up a few times, by fans, that maybe it’s time to make a change.
Could veteran, McClain do a better job in the place of Hargreaves?
It’s no secret that Vernon has had some confidence issues on the field, as well as lacking aggressiveness, which he is said to have worked on, during the off-season. And even though he’s made some great plays this season, there still seems to be something amiss. Why exactly is he giving receivers a 10 to 15 yard cushion? Jay Bucs of The Bucs Report believes it is due to a lack of confidence. He believes it’s due to Hargreaves being afraid of getting burnt deep like he has quite often and that created a new problem in which he is now being burnt in the short and medium.
In a recent interview, Defensive Coordinator, Mike Smith, gave his thoughts about this when talking about the issues in pass coverage. Pretty much saying that he didn’t want it put on him, it’s a Hargreaves issue.
“I don’t think the soft coverage by design in terms of what we’re asking our players to do. We give our guys a little bit of flexibility in terms of where they feel comfortable.There’s ranges in where we would like them to line up. ”Smith said. ” We don’t say, ‘hey, we want you to be right here in this specific defense.’ We do give them, because based on their skill set; you know, Brent Grimes is going to play it different than Vernon Hargreaves.” “And again, I think Vernon, he had a lot of snaps last year. I think he continues to learn. Like I said, he gets a lot of opportunities because of who we have at cornerback on the other side.” Smith did go on to acknowledge that there is still good with is bad, emphasizing that Hargreaves is getting a lot of action because teams are avoiding throwing at Grimes. “You’re going to win some; you’re going to lose some,” he said.
Only time will tell if a change will be made, or if it needs to be made. But let’s hope Hargreaves gets the message and begins to play more aggressively.
