Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
We’re looking at 10 stats to know for Week 3 matchup between the Philadelphia #Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football
The Eagles and Buccaneers are among seven undefeated teams in the NFC, and the two clubs will meet in an intriguing matchup on Monday Night Football.
Baker Mayfield has been efficient while avoiding turnovers.
At the same time, his counterpart from Oklahoma, Jalen Hurts, will look to remain undefeated, while owning one of the best win percentages over the past two years.
With preparation for the matchup underway, here are ten stats for Week 3.
If the Bears hope to get their first win of the season, here are some players to watch on the Buccaneers.
The Chicago Bears are turning the page after their dreadful 38-20 Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers and are preparing for their first road game of the season. The Bears are set to travel south to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2.
Tampa Bay isn’t the team they have been the last few years after the retirement of Tom Brady, but they did get off to a strong start to begin the year behind new quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Buccaneers defeated the Minnesota Vikings on the road in a tough 20-17 victory thanks to big defensive plays and timely scoring.
If the Bears want to get a win and stave off the dreaded 0-2 start this weekend, here are a few players we’ll need to keep an eye on:
From Vita Vea to Chris Jones, here’s Doug Farrar’s list of the 11 best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That simple truth is important for the purposes of our list of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen because we’re in a league where quick-game passing concepts are perhaps more prevalent than ever. And with those zero- and one-stop drops, and one- to three-level RPOs, your edge-rushers aren’t always going to get to the quarterback in time.
So, it behooves your NFL franchise to develop as much interior pressure as possible. That’s where the straight line comes in.
In a recent episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” Greg and I got into the traits for every player aligned to every gap along the defensive line, and those big guys getting to the quarterback made up a big part of that.
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The attributes required to make our list of the best interior definitive linemen coming into the 2023 season are as follows:
So, here’s our list of the 11 best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today. You can read the rest of our position lists linked below, leading up to our list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.
The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders
The NFL’s top 11 linebackers
The NFL’s top 11 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 safeties
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
Two names that weren’t at OTAs last week have returned for the second stint.
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Vita Vea and Jamel Dean are among the veterans present at #Bucs OTAs 🏈 pic.twitter.com/nE9ganZwBe
— Brianna Dix (@briannadixNFL) May 30, 2023
The second stint of OTAs began on Tuesday, and two Tampa Bay Buccaneers players that weren’t there for the first stint have made their return to camp.
CB Jamel Dean and NT Vita Vea were not among the veteran players at OTAs when they first kicked off earlier in the month, but the two have returned to this next portion of them as reported by Bucs team writer Brianna Dix. Dean was recently given an extension in free agency in the offseason, and Vea remains one of the defense’s highest-paid players.
Some players that skipped OTAs the first time around also didn’t show up on Tuesday. Here is a list of those players, as per PewterReport:
Notable #Bucs not in attendance at today’s OTA include: WRs Mike Evans and Russell Gage, C Ryan Jensen, OLB Shaq Barrett and ILBs Lavonte David and Devin White, and CB Carlton Davis III. RBs Chase Edmonds and Sean Tucker are here but not practicing.
— PewterReport 🏴☠️ (@PewterReport) May 30, 2023
Gage is dealing with an unknown injury first revealed by Baker Mayfield, so that is most likely the reason for his absence. The biggest name to watch is Devin White, who is currently in a contract dispute with the Bucs — him not appearing in OTAs isn’t necessarily an indicator he’s holding out, but it would be notable if he were to miss mandatory minicamp.
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Here is what the defense could look like for 2023:
For the first time since he became head coach, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers belong to Todd Bowles. Tom Brady is gone, and Bruce Arians’s influence has faded with the firing of Byron Leftwich. Now firmly in the driver’s seat, Bowles and his defense will come to define the Bucs in 2023.
On its face, the defense looks much like it has over the past few years, still boasting headliners like Lavonte David, Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield Jr. However, the guts of the defense, its depth, is not what it once was.
When Tom Brady was their quarterback, the Bucs could load up their depth chart with veteran backups and rotational players. That is no longer the case, and the Bucs will be much younger and less experienced as a result.
Here is the Bucs’ projected 2023 defensive depth chart:
The Bucs have made numerous moves this offseason to shore up their defensive front.
The most improved defensive lines following the draft 😤 pic.twitter.com/0YqEHZ17Cn
— PFF (@PFF) May 7, 2023
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made quite a few moves to shore up their defensive line this offseason, and there’s reason to believe that those moves will pay dividends once the regular season starts.
Pro Football Focus seems to think so, at least, as they named the Bucs among the 10 teams who most improved their defensive lines after the draft per PFF’s Gordon McGuiness. The Bucs’ NFC South rivals in the Saints were also listed.
Many may point to the team’s acquisition of DT [autotag]Calijah Kancey[/autotag] in the NFL draft, but the Bucs have done more than that over the offseason to ensure the defensive line remains stalwart. The team signed DT [autotag]Greg Gaines[/autotag] in free agency, who had starting reps with the Rams for the past few years, so that veteran experience should go a long way. The Bucs have had NT Vita Vea for quite a few years, and on top of that, Tampa Bay re-signed DT Deadrin Senat, further emphasizing the Bucs’ wishes to build up a strong defensive line with depth to match.
It remains to be seen whether Kancey will pan out, but if he does, Tampa Bay could have a fearsome defensive line on its hands.
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Our next entry in the 27 Days, 27 Picks series is the first Jason Licht first-rounder to get a major contract extension since Mike Evans in 2014:
In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.
GM Jason Licht had a pretty decent string of picks in the first round from 2018-20, selecting three players that would help him get a Super Bowl ring. The first of those players, drafted in 2018, was DT Tevita Tuliʻakiʻono Tuipulotu Mosese Vaʻhae Fehoko Faletau Vea — but most people just call him Vita.
Check out our 27 Days, 27 Picks rundown on [autotag]Vita Vea[/autotag] below:
What position do you think is the biggest need for the Bucs?
With the first wave of free agency winding down, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now have a much clearer view of the holes across the roster. Despite entering free agency $56 million over the salary cap, the Bucs are not in as bad of shape as their early cap deficit would have suggested.
The journey to cap compliance led to a number of roster casualties. The Bucs lost left tackle Donovan Smith, right guard Shaq Mason, defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches and most recently, safety Mike Edwards. They also cut running back Leonard Fournette and tight end Cameron Brate after the start of the league year.
These moves helped the Bucs retain key players like cornerback Jamel Dean and linebacker Lavonte David while picking up quarterback Baker Mayfield, all of whom are potential starters.
These moves and trade-offs begin to paint a picture of what the Bucs plan to do to build the roster over the rest of the offseason.
Here are three needs the Bucs still have after the start of free agency:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a flurry of contract restructures Friday, clearing a ton of much-needed salary cap space
Bucs have restructured contracts with veterans Vita Vea, Carlton Davis, Ryan Jensen and Chris Godwin to create $44 million in 2023 cap space.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 10, 2023
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made some serious progress on their salary cap woes with additional contract restructures on Friday.
Tampa Bay has restructured three other players’ contracts after doing so for defensive tackle Vita Vea, according to FOX Sports writer Greg Auman.
The team has also reportedly restructured with cornerback Carlton Davis, center Ryan Jensen and wide receiver Chris Godwin. Combined, the four restructures create 44 million dollars in cap space for 2023.
The space is sorely needed for the Bucs, who entered the offseason $55 million over the cap, and it has been hard at work making moves to get under it. Tight end Cameron Brate, tackle Donovan Smith and running back Leonard Fournette are set to be released, which should clear space, and these latest restructures will do quite a bit more to get under the cap to ensure the team can operate with its roster and sign its upcoming draft picks in the 2023 draft.
Quite a few other players on the roster could be potential cuts, so it will be interesting to see what else general manager Jason Licht does to alleviate his team’s situation in the coming weeks toward free agency.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have restructured the contract for defensive lineman Vita Vea, saving them some much-needed cap space
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are continuing the process of moving money around to get under the salary cap before the start of the new NFL league year next week.
Their latest move? Restructuring the contract for Pro Bowl defensive lineman Vita Vea, converting a large portion of his base salary into a bonus, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
This change will help the Bucs clear around $9 million in salary cap space, per Stroud.
The Bucs have already released longtime starting left tackle Donovan Smith, and are expected to move on from veteran running back Leonard Fournette and tight end Cameron Brate in the coming days, as well.
More restructures are also likely, with wide receiver Chris Godwin and cornerback Carlton Davis III among the top candidates.
