PR Roundtable: Who’s The Most Improved Bucs Player?

The new Pewter Report Roundtable will debut every Tuesday during the Bucks regular season. Every week, Pewter reporters tackle a different tough question. This week’s prompt: Which Bucks player has improved the most this season?

Scott Reynolds: “Zion McCollum looks like the Bucks’ starting cornerback of the future.”

It’s amazing how much Bucs cornerback Zion McCollum has improved since his disastrous rookie season, when he couldn’t make tackles and struggled to stick to receivers in coverage. McCollum injured his hamstring in a joint practice with the Titans in 2022 and missed the final two preseason games, but he will get a ton of extra reps and playing time to gain experience. should have been possible. So when he was thrown into the game last year, he thrived as a gunner in punt coverage, even though he wasn’t ready to play defense.

But this year is a different story for McCollum. He had a very good training camp and preseason, so his confidence grew and he became less hesitant in coverage on the defensive end. McCollum has come a long way as a tackler and has much better coverage than his pro football grade would indicate. In fact, McCollum’s overall PFF grade of his 49.2 and his coverage grade of his 43.8 are downright laughable.

What is the purpose of a cornerback in a soccer game? Cover the receiver to prevent a catch while aiming for a turnover due to an interception. With Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean making multiple starts this year with injuries, McCollum played in 367 coverage snaps, while Davis led the way with 419 coverage plays. Dean, on the other hand, has only 304.

Davis has an overall PFF grade of 56.4 and a coverage grade of 55. He led the trio with two interceptions and seven pass breakups, but also gave up five touchdown passes and allowed 50 catches for 764 yards while allowing quarterbacks to complete 67.6% of his passes. ing. Dean’s overall PFF grade is 64.9 and his coverage grade is 61.3. He has allowed 31 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns, but quarterbacks are completing 68.9 percent of his passes against him. Dean had no interceptions and only three pass breakups.

Statistically speaking in coverage, McCollum is the best of them, but not even close. The 6-foot-2, 199-pound cornerback gave up 32 catches for 383 yards, but completed just 50.8 percent of his passes to the QB. Although he has yet to record an interception, McCollum has broken up six passes and has not allowed a touchdown. He is the future starting cornerback in Tampa Bay. It’s only a matter of time before he takes over the full-time starting role from either Davis or Dean – possibly as early as next year.

Matt Matera: “Ratchard White was the best weapon in the Bucks’ offense”

It was going to be a huge season for Rashard White earlier this year, and it was also the second year of his NFL career. For White, it’s essentially a 17-game audition to prove to the Bucs whether he can be Tampa Bay’s running back of the future or whether Jason Richt and co should invest in another back through the offseason draft. was. It took some time, but White has gotten into a groove and has become the Bucks’ primary producer, especially over the last two months.

Bucks RB Rathard White – Photo courtesy of USA Today

Along the way, I also learned more about White. He became “Alvin Kamara Wright” in the passing game. Outside of wide receiver Mike Evans, White is the Bucs’ best offensive weapon. White showed he can do a lot of great things with the ball in his hands in space.

His 419 receiving yards on the season are third-most among running backs in the NFL, behind only San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey and New York’s Breece Hall. White’s receiving talent was evident last Sunday when he took a 31-yard screen pass to the end zone. This was his second receiving TD on a screen this year.

White has also improved his run game recently. To be fair, he struggled early on, but he looked completely different and better with the rock on his back than he did at the beginning of the season. White has rushed for 286 yards in the past three games, reaching 100 yards in Weeks 11 and 13.

The run game is improving each week as the Bucs have made slight adjustments. With 745 rushing yards with four games remaining, White could reach 1,000 yards in a season and become the first Buccaneer to do so since Doug Martin in 2015.

Another improvement for White in the 2023 season is his ability to score touchdowns. Last year, he scored a total of three goals. This year, he reached the end zone five times on the ground and twice receiving. They’ve been coming together in droves, as White has scored touchdowns in five of his last six games. A few more solid games could solidify White as a top running back option for the Bucs as they consider their offseason plans.

Bailey Adams: Antwon Winfield Jr. was already great, but now it’s the next level

Bucs FS Antwan Winfield Jr. and OLB Marquise Watts – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

It’s somewhat strange to consider Antwon Winfield Jr. the “most improved” candidate, considering he was already a great player in the first three years of his career. However, his play this season has risen to a very high level and he is worth picking as a highly developed player.

After a dismal 2022 season in that slot, Winfield is back at his natural safety position and is doing it all. He impacts the game every week and creates the type of splash play that no one else on the Bucks’ defense has. This season, he has four sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

In fact, Winfield is the only defensive back since 2000 with at least three sacks, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries in a season, joining Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins. Along with him, he has recently joined the ranks of the elite. He also had two interceptions, a career-high 11 pass breakups and a team-high 97 tackles.

Winfield was already great, but this year he became an elite player. He deserves a second Pro Bowl appearance and is worthy of serious consideration for his first All-Pro appearance. He has played well and is well on his way to signing his second contract this offseason.

Winfield has also developed as a leader on defense and in the locker room. He became a captain for the first time this year and has shown leadership both in play and words, the latter evidenced in the speech he gave to the team in the locker room after the Week 7 loss to the Falcons.

Josh Quapo: Cody Mauch has made great strides during the season

Have you noticed that the Bucs’ run game has gotten noticeably better over the past month or so? Back in Week 11, Tampa Bay’s run game generated total yards and yards per carry: 66 ( 3.7), 125 (6.6), 128 (4.6), 148 (4.0). Rashard White deserves all the flowers (see his colleague Matt Matera’s beautiful monologue about him), but much of this positive growth needs to be credited to the offensive line. . And no player improved more from Week 1 to Week 14 than rookie right guard Cody Mauch.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

If you check his PFF results, you might be disappointed. He currently ranks 53rd in the metric out of 55 eligible guards. But don’t be fooled.

Mauch’s play has gotten better and better each week against high-profile defensive tackles like Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Derrick Brown. Mauch went from being a left tackle in the FCS to a right guard in the NFL and is learning quite a bit on his job. But considering the last two times the Bucks have made such a transition, you can see that Mauch is far ahead of his time. Luke Goedeke was unable to make the same moves as last year and was benched by Week 8. Alex Cappa attempted the same transition in 2018, forcing him to operate in a timeshare.

What the Bucks asked Mauf to do is a tough job. And he rose to the occasion. What’s especially amazing about him is how he learns and adapts throughout the game. A defensive tackle may win with a single maneuver, but he rarely makes multiple tackles.

He has exceeded most expectations as a pass blocker this year, but many (myself included) thought he would struggle coming from a run-1, 2-3 program like North Dakota State. was. And he’s figured out how to execute blocks in tight spaces against stronger defenders, recently having the best game of his career against Indianapolis. He has also received attention from industry analysts.

Mauch’s future is very bright and he is a foundational figure for the future.

Adam Thrivon: Luke ‘The Lifter’ Goedeke helps lift Bucks’ O-line

One of the unexpected developments for the Bucs this season occurred along the offensive line. Last year, many prematurely labeled Luke Goedeke a failure because of his play at left guard, but he looked like a different and much improved player at right tackle. The doubters were proven wrong.

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

Advanced metrics support this very convincingly. PFF rated Goedeke a 46.7 grade last year, playing primarily as a left guard, but this season Goedeke’s grade is 70.2, ranking him 29th out of 84 tackles in the NFL.

Although he looked like a solid starter on the right side, Goedeke’s growth as a pass blocker was evident throughout the season, especially early on against the likes of Haason Reddick, Cameron Jordan, and Aidan Hutchinson. It was noticeable when I did it. In the run game, he really resembled the glass-eating player the Bucs envisioned when they selected him with the 57th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Being able to learn from Tristan Wirfs allowed Luke Goedeke to return last season, and they became close friends through their mutual experience. off season fishing trip and challenge each other in the weight room. For Goedeke, being one of the most improved backs is not only due to his physical strength, but also to his mental determination. Despite a difficult rookie year, his confidence remained strong and he spent a lot of time developing behind the scenes.

Earlier this season, the second-year right tackle admitted that trusting his technique and offensive practice led to better results.

“I think at the end of the day, I just really trust my technique,” ​​Goedeke said. “We offensive linemen come to practice week in and week out and try to attack really hard. That’s what I’ve always done in all my years of playing football. Whatever it is, if you practice at full speed, you’ll be in the game. It will feel much easier.”

There’s always room for improvement, but Luke Goedeke’s play this season has quickly changed the perception from a failure to a long-term starter.