At times during his duties as Tampa Bay’s defensive play caller, tod bowles He was playing chess while opposing offensive coordinators were playing checkers.
Look no further than the Bucks defeating the Eagles 32-9 in last year’s wild-card playoffs. Bowles’ game plan in that postseason victory was a masterpiece, reminiscent of Tampa Bay’s 31-9 victory over Kansas City in 2020’s Super Bowl LV. In that game, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were held out of the end zone, and the Bucs soon afterward made Bowles the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the NFL.
Two years later, Bowles replaced Bruce Arians as the team’s head coach and continued as the defensive play-caller. Bowles provided some defensive gems late last year as Tampa Bay won five of its last six games and made the playoffs. His defense won a shutout in a 9-0 win over Carolina in Week 18, winning their third straight district title, as well as a season-ending loss to Green Bay (34-20) and Jacksonville. He also contributed to the lopsided victory in the match (30-12).
Tampa Bay’s chess master established a reputation as one of the NFL’s most creative and innovative blitzers. To do so, you need to complete your roster by placing some key chess pieces. Bowles named his four chess pieces at Tuesday’s NFL annual meeting and spoke about the versatility each player offers.
“The chess pieces we have now are [Antoine] winfield [Jr.]Labonte [David], [Joe] try[-Shoyinka] and [Zyon] McCallum. Those four people can do a lot of different things. Other people can do some work, but especially these four people right now, if they have more work, there’s more work to do. But last year it was just the four of us. ”
Four of Todd Bowles’ most versatile defenders are ‘chess pieces’
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and FS Antwan Winfield Jr. – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
It’s no wonder two of the names Todd Bowles mentioned happen to be the Bucs’ best defenders. Linebacker Lavonte David led the team in tackles with 134 last year, led the team in tackles for loss with 17 and tied for fifth in sacks with 4.5. David also excelled in pass coverage despite being 33 years old, with five pass breakups.
All-Pro free safety Antwon Winfield Jr. led the Bucs in almost every other aspect last year. His six forced fumbles led not only Tampa Bay but also the NFL, and he also had a team-high four fumble recoveries and three interceptions. His 12 pass breakups were also the most on Tampa Bay, his 122 tackles were second to David, and his six sacks were second on the Bucs to Yaya Diaby’s 7.5.
But who are the other two chess pieces, according to Todd Bowles? Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Soyinka and cornerback Zion Soyinka are on the chess master’s mind. It’s McCollum.
“I see Labonte on the edge, I see him deep back, I see him up front,” Bowles said. “You can see Zion at the safe nickel, corner. You can see Joe play inside ‘backer,’ three-technique, outside ‘backer.’ You can see the win in the nickel, “backer and safety.”
Bucks HC Todd Bowles and CB Zion McCollum – Photo courtesy of USA Today
“Those guys can move around. They don’t all have to be chess pieces. You need some. If you have more, that’s great. Even if you don’t need to use them, it’s That’s wonderful.”
Tryon Soyinka had 45 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup last year, as well as a career-high five sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 587 snaps last year as an outside linebacker, 10 snaps inside as a defensive end/tackle, 17 snaps as an inside linebacker and 11 snaps as a slot cornerback.
The Bucs drafted edge rusher Tryon Soyinka, who had just 13 sacks in three seasons in Tampa Bay, and Bowles will move on to the next player. JTS played the role of “Joker” There, he can use his 6-foot-5, 265-pound size and athleticism to do more than just line up at outside linebacker.
“Joe is a very unique player,” Bowles said. “He’s not going to be a Shaq-type guy that runs around the corner. Joe can move beyond the line of scrimmage and helps us with a lot of things. He’s our linebacker and , is a defensive end, three-tech, part-time nickel, and part-time inside “backer.” He can come from different regions, so he has a lot of work. He’s one of the chess pieces I’m talking about. ”
McCollum was primarily used as an outside cornerback last year, filling in for either Jamel Dean or Carlton Davis III when they were injured. However, when Dean and Davis both got healthy at the end of the season, Bowles found a way to keep McCollum on the field in the secondary.
McCollum played 66 snaps in the box last year, 25 of which came in the final four games of the year, including the playoffs. In the same time frame, McCollum played 34 of 36 snaps at free safety. Of the 95 snaps taken in this slot, 38 were from Week 17 onwards.
Is Jordan Whitehead the next piece for Todd Bowles?
Bucks SS Jordan Whitehead and head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
New strong safety Jordan Whitehead spent the past two seasons in New York and played far more coverage with the Jets than he did with Tampa Bay from 2018-2021. Whitehead should be a more versatile and complete player for Todd Bowles this time around, which could allow him to be used in a few different ways in 2024.
“I thought he had grown,” Bowles said of Whitehead. “I thought his hands were very good and worked well with the Jets. I thought he played much better deep and in quarter-and-half coverage where we used him more near the line of scrimmage. I think we understood. We used him a few times in coverage. I think he became a very good third-down player. He was young when we got him. But over the years he’s grown a lot. Everything we expect to see when we get on the field.”
Bowles uses OTAs, minicamp and even training camp to test out the Bucks defenders on the roster. He’s excited to take a look at the new and improved Whitehead and see if he can become an interchangeable chess piece, much like Antwon Winfield Jr. is in the secondary.
“That’s very likely,” Bowles said. “We’re going to continue to monitor it as the offseason starts, bring players in and see what happens. He can do those things, and whoever’s on the field at that time is going to be that type of player. It’s just a question of whether you can do it.”
Game Start.
