Bucs Leverage Defensive Chess Pieces

The NFL is an intricate game of cat and mouse. In recent years, positionless defensive players have emerged to combat revolutionary offensive trends. From defenses responding to West Coast principles with zone coverage and blitzes, to defenses shifting to a hybrid man/zone format and nickel packages to accommodate the growing use of pass-heavy attacks featuring Spread and Air Raid philosophies, change is inevitable. Nickel, or a five-defensive-back-look, has become the new norm in the NFL to prevent isolation mismatches.

In the modern era, versatility is held at a premium. Tight ends that can run routes like a receiver and block like an offensive lineman. Running backs that can run and catch. As a result, do-it-all safeties and shifting defensive linemen have emerged on the scene to confuse offenses. Downhill linebackers and prototypical box safeties have become obsolete against the horizontal stretch.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a slew of chess pieces invigorated the defense in 2023.

“Right now, the chess pieces we have are [Antoine] Winfield, Lavonte [David], [Joe] Tryon-Shoyinka, and [Zyon] McCollum,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles at the annual Owner’s Meetings. “Those four guys can do a lot of jobs. Other people can do some jobs but those four guys in particular right now that last year you could see – Lavonte on the edge, back deep and you can see him up front. You can see Zyon at safety, at nickel corner and you can see Joe playing inside backer, three-technique and outside backer. You can see Winfield at nickel, backer, safety – those guys move around. You don’t need all of them to be chess pieces. You just need a few to be chess pieces. If you have more, that is great, and you can use them.”

All of the aforementioned names play a variety of roles on the field, keeping offenses off-balance.

Winfield Jr. put up a historical season in 2023, rallying the team. He earned first-team Associated Press All-Pro honors for his contributions in 2023 and amassed 122 tackles, 12 passes defensed, eight quarterback hits, 6.0 sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three interceptions last season – all of which established new career highs. Winfield Jr. became the first player since data became available in 1999 to finish a season with 100-plus tackles and at least three interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries and sacks in a single season. He concluded the year with a share of the league lead in…