Players: Andrew Adams, Chris Cooper, Mike Edwards, Troy Warner, Antoine Winfield Jr.
2021 Evaluation: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ safeties combined to produce eight of the team’s 17 interceptions in 2021 and 25 of their 85 passes defensed. Three safeties ranked among the Bucs’ top seven tacklers.
That was mostly the work of Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards, in that order in terms of playing time. All three missed either three or four games due to injuries or suspension, but Winfield played 98% of the defensive snaps when he was active for the games. He and Whitehead started every game for which they were available, but Edwards was still on the field for 56% of the Bucs’ defensive snaps.
Tampa Bay’s pass defense finished 21st overall in 2021 but fourth in yards allowed per pass play, as the Bucs frequently built large leads and ended the season facing the most pass attempts of any NFL defense by a wide margin. The Buccaneers’ 17 interceptions tied for eighth most in the NFL.
Winfield finished the season with the most complete stat line of any Buccaneer defender. He ranked third on the team with 88 tackles and also contributed 2.0 sacks, four tackles for loss, three QB hits, two interceptions, six passes defensed, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. In the playoffs he tied for the team lead with 14 tackles and added a sack, two quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Whitehead was right behind Winfield with 74 tackles and, since he played so frequently and effectively near the line of scrimmage, was an important part of the Buccaneers’ third-ranked run defense. Like Winfield, he secured two interceptions and also broke up eight passes and had five tackles for loss, one QB hit, and one forced fumble. His playoff contributions included 13 tackles, two for losses.
Though Winfield and Whitehead occupied the first two spots on the Bucs’ safety depth chart, Edwards got onto the field three different ways: as a starter when…