Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting offered some inspirational words on Instagram recently in light of current events.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense will look to make a big step forward this season in Year 2 under Todd Bowles. The Bucs used their second-round pick in April’s draft on versatile safety Antoine Winfield Jr. out of Minnesota, one year after they took another talented defender in round two in cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.
SMB had a strong rookie campaign and will be looked upon to be one of the leaders of this young Bucs defense in 2020. But as Murphy-Bunting prepares himself for the upcoming season, he’s also taken time recently to acknowledge the growing social conflict in our country following the death of George Floyd.
The Bucs cornerback took to Instagram the other day to offer a little inspiration and hope to his followers. Take a look.
See who Adam Rank over at NFL.com believes will be the breakout star for the Bucs this season.
As excited as people are to see the new-look Buccaneers in action with Tom Brady, the fact remains that the Bucs’ pass defense needs to step up this season if the team is going to make a serious run at the postseason.
Tampa Bay’s defense allowed 270.1 passing yards per game last season, 30th in the league. The team drafted safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round of April’s draft, hoping to add another young, versatile piece to their defensive puzzle.
Tampa Bay has worked hard the past few drafts to improve their secondary, and according to Adam Rank of NFL.com, one of their recent draft picks could be a breakout star in 2020. In his piece looking at the state of the Bucs franchise heading into the season, Rank chose 2019 third-round pick Jamel Dean as his potential star for Tampa Bay.
“He made his debut later in the season against the Seattle Seahawks when he started for the injured Carlton Davis III. It didn’t go well. He gave up three touchdown passes and yeah, that was the good part. But he did play well down the stretch and the Bucs’ defense really started to excel in the secondary. He could take another big step this season.”
Dean’s game against the Seahawks was a forgettable one, but to his credit he didn’t succumb to the criticism. Dean and fellow cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting showed flashes of what they are capable of in their rookie seasons. Now, with a year of experience under their belts, they’ll be looked upon to help further carry this secondary going forward.
Chris Godwin isn’t the only Bucs player switching numbers this offseason. Find out why CB Sean Murphy-Bunting made a switch.
Tom Brady taking over at quarterback wasn’t the only big change to happen for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason. The team also ditched their 2014 redesign and unveiled a more traditional look.
That means Brady will be donning No. 12 in uniforms that remind fans of the Bucs’ glory years, including their championship season in 2002. Brady’s arrival to Tampa Bay stirred mild controversy at first when many wondered whether Chris Godwin would give Brady the No. 12. Godwin, of course, did and will now wear No. 14.
But one other Buccaneer decided to make a number change this offseason, and that’s cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. SMB, who was the team’s second-round pick in the 2019 draft, made the change from No. 26 to 23, and recently explained the reasoning behind the move.
Sean Murphy-Bunting says he loves the Bucs' new uniform, and he changed his jersey number to 23 in part because he has two younger brothers and three older brothers and he's honoring them.
A touching and good reason to change numbers, that’s for sure. Murphy-Bunting finished last season with three interceptions and one touchdown, and will be one of the key pieces in Tampa Bay’s secondary next season.
Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is switching numbers. See which one SMB will wear now.
It’s been an offseason of changes for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, from getting a new quarterback in Tom Brady to (thankfully) getting new uniforms that are a callback to the team’s glory days. We’ve also seen wide receiver Chris Godwin change his jersey number from 12 to 14 so that TB12 could still be… well, you know.
With all the changes, why not throw one more into the mix? Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who was selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft, will be switching from 26 to 23, which was worn by Deone Bucannon last year when Murphy-Bunting was a rookie. Bucannon was cut from the team last October.
What started as an innocent post by the Bucs on Instagram quickly turned into a friendly feud between Andrew Adams and Sean Murphy-Bunting.
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady spent two decades playing for the New England Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick. While championships seemed to come on almost a yearly basis for the G.O.A.T., the “Patriot Way” and Belichick’s strict environment may have ultimately played a role in Brady’s decision to bolt this offseason.
Now in Tampa Bay, Brady will be playing for Bruce Arians, a coach who seems to be the complete opposite of Belichick in terms of personality. Even better, Brady will be walking into a locker room filled with great teammates and big personalities. It really is a brotherhood among Bucs players in the locker room, which was clear after Brady signed and several Bucs players initially refrained from celebrating out of respect for former QB Jameis Winston.
And if you want more proof of just how close-knit these Bucs players are, take a look at this recent Instagram post from the Buccaneers’ official account. What started off as an innocent highlight video of cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting quickly turned into a friendly feud between SMB and Bucs safety Andrew Adams.
Check out this video Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting posted to his Instagram recently where he surprises a young fan.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting had quite the rookie season, proving critics wrong who’d said the Bucs had reached for Murphy-Bunting by taking him so high in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The rookie out of Central Michigan played in all 16 games, starting 10 and collecting three interceptions, a touchdown and one sack. For a team desperately searching for a franchise cornerback, Murphy-Bunting has all the makings of one.
But even though his star is on the rise, the young Buc hasn’t forgotten his roots or the people who have been there by his side throughout his football journey. Take a look at the below video the cornerback recently posted to his Instagram account, where he makes a surprise appearance at a special fan’s 10th birthday party.
The 50 media members who vote for the NFL’s All-Pro team seem to need a little help getting it right. Here are a few suggestions.
There are those who will tell you that the votes for Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections aren’t a big deal. It’s just a popularity contest, right? Well, not really. A lot of players have bonuses built into their contracts based on their nominations on those teams. Hall of Fame voters absolutely take the number of Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections into account when deciding who is given the NFL’s greatest honor.
The All-Pro vote is supposed to be taken more seriously because there is not a fan element involved, but when looking at the selections from a panel of 50 media members, it’s hard to say that every vote should be given equal weight. And that, for all the reasons listed above, is a real problem. Here’s the list for the 2019 team; see what you think, and give these five suggestions for improving the process a look-see.
Give every voter a subscription to an advanced metrics website.
Frank Clark’s one defensive tackle vote was not well-deserved. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)
Whether it’s Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, or Football Outsiders, there are websites which, for a nominal subscription rate, give anybody a much better look at who’s doing what in the NFL. I’m not talking about PFF’s grades, per se — I find them far less accurate than their charting stats. But those charting stats have a lot of merit, as do the SiS and FO numbers. With these subscriptions, you can do everything from deducing which quarterbacks and receivers are the best on which routes, which outside cornerbacks and slot cornerbacks are the most effective in coverage, which teams run which defenses most effectively, and which pass-rushers are the most disruptive beyond just sack numbers. There are too many votes that are obviously skewed to old-school box-score thinking, and we should be way past that at this point in time. We have better metrics, and the game has exploded in both complexity and positional specificity.
PFF also has positional snap counts, which would have helped the one voter who wanted to add Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark to the list of interior linemen. Per PFF, Clark has 718 defensive snaps this season, and six of those are inside — one at left defensive tackle, four at right defensive tackle, and one at nose tackle. We don’t know what this voter was thinking, but we’d sure like to.
