Deone Bucannon Jersey , and we now know for certain the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t be anywhere to be seen this post-season.We’ll have plenty to
discuss about the Bucs as the calendar moves into a new year, but here are three
things I wanted to discuss with all of you right now.OFFSIDES: Disrespecting the
ChargersDenny Medley-USA TODAY SportsThe hottest team in Los Angeles right now
isn’t the Lakers and it isn’t the Rams. It’s the Chargers.Who runs the AFC West?
Most would say the Kansas City Chiefs do. However, after their dramatic comeback
win over the Chiefs, the Chargers are tied for the lead in the division with two
games to play.In Week 16, Los Angeles faces the Baltimore Ravens at home and the
Chiefs travel to Seattle to play against the Seahawks who have plenty to play
for.Don’t sleep on the Chargers. They’re the best chance Los Angeles has at a
championship, right now.FALSE START: Don’t bury the Eagles just yetKelvin
Kuo-USA TODAY SportsIt looked like the Philadelphia Eagles were going to be next
in a catalog of Super Bowl hungover teams who win or make it to the big game
just to miss the playoffs entirely the next season.Well, after a letdown loss by
the Dallas Cowboys and a big win over the Rams by the Eagles, things have gotten
a little more interesting and it may not be time to bury the champs quite
yet.Philly fans are Buccaneers fans this weekend as a loss to Tampa Bay in
Dallas drops the Cowboys to 8-7 with one game remaining.The Eagles have to take
care of their own business of course as the 10-4 Houston Texans come in looking
to secure Philadelphia’s off-season plans.If things go right for the defending
champions, then Week 17’s divisional contest filled schedule will carry a ton of
weight with Dallas traveling to face the New York Giants and Philadelphia headed
to D.C.FREE PLAY: Coaching candidatesMatthew Emmons-USA TODAY SportsI don’t know
many people who feel like Dirk Koetter has a realistic shot at returning for
2019 as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.That being said, I figure now
is a good time to give my top three of possible coaching candidates. So, here
they are.KRIS RICHARD, DALLAS COWBOYS PASSING GAME COORDINATOR AND DEFENSIVE
BACKS COACHRichard was on the top of my list of candidates until the Glazers
announced they would be bringing coach Koetter back for 2018.Unless this happens
again, Richard will be at the top of my list again, and for good reason.Until
this year, Richard had been groomed by Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll
and was part of the staff which helped create the fabled ‘Legion of Boom’.Moving
on to Dallas, he’s been a big part of the improvement Dallas’ defense has seen
in 2018. The Cowboys are among the league leaders in scoring defense, total
yards allowed and rushing yards allowed. They’re Top-10 in passing yards allowed
as well.After spending three years as the defensive coordinator in Seattle and
with this successful experience with the Cowboys, Richard is a man on the way
up. Tampa Bay needs to take a good hard look at him as their next head coach, if
they do indeed move on from Dirk Koetter.JOHN HARBAUGH, BALTIMORE RAVENS HEAD
COACHWith this season being his eleventh leading the Baltimore Ravens, Harbaugh
has gotten his team to the post-season six times, but have failed to make the
playoffs since the 2014 season.Despite their four-year drought, Harbaugh’s only
losing season came in 2015 when his squad finished 5-11. His team’s finished
with eight or more wins in both 2016 and 2017, and with their Week 15 win over
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have eight victories up to this point in 2018.The
Ravens want to be serious contenders, and this much is understandable, but with
many other franchises trying to fight their way simply into playoff contention
on a regular basis, Baltimore’s unwillingness to stick with a successful coach
may give the Bucs an opportunity to land a proven leader this off-season.PETE
CARMICHAEL, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS OFFENSIVE COORDINATORSean Payton and Drew Brees
get a whole lot of well-deserved credit for the Saints’ offensive successes
since they moved to NOLA
Donovan Smith Jersey , but Carmichael deserves his share too.Carmichael has been with the Saints since 2006 - the same year Peyton and Brees arrived.Since
then, New Orleans has had an offense ranked sixth or better in the NFL every
single season and has had the top offense in six.One of the biggest abilities
the Saints have had over the past twelve years with Peyton and Carmichael has
been flexibility.Just this year alone New Orleans has won seven games where
Alvin Kamara touched the ball fewer than 20 times while also winning seven games
this year while Drew Brees threw for fewer than 250-yards passing.In fact, in
two road wins in 2018, Brees didn’t have a single passing touchdown and in the
six games Kamara failed to find the end zone this season the Saints averaged
almost thirty-points.Offensive flexibility is big in New Orleans, and has helped
the franchise sustain a high level of performance and success for over a decade.
Bringing Carmichael into the building could help end over a decade of
underperforming in Tampa. The talented LSU standout is now a Buccaneer."Devin
White is good. Really good. So what can the Bucs expect from the former LSU
linebacker? For a refresher on White’s background, check out his draft profile
here.White is stylistically pretty similar to recently departed Bucs linebacker
(and also former LSU standout) Kwon Alexander. You can tell that LSU has a
‘type’ of linebacker that they scout for when recruiting. What Alexander was so
good at is what is often referred to as “click/close” - when identifying the
ball carrier, few close and make the tackle as quickly as Kwon. White isn’t just
as good, he’s better - he possesses even better sideline to sideline speed and
range to make those plays. Where Alexander ran a 4.55 at the Combine, White ran
a 4.42. White even has better length than Alexander.All those things make White
much more able to turn and run in coverage with running backs and tight ends,
though LSU didn’t ask him to do much of that. White has said that defensive
coordinator Todd Bowles’ scheme is very similar to the one he had at LSU under
Dave Aranda. That means White should be able to step in quickly on Day 1 , as he
won’t have to unlearn a previous scheme like many of the established players on
the team will. And because his role should be similar, his learning curve in the
NFL may be more about adjusting to professional life than any X’s and O’s
issues.However, it’s not just strengths they share. Alexander and White have
similar holes in their game too; slow and incorrect reads, biting on play action
too much, route anticipation and zone awareness in coverage is spotty, and
playing recklessly out of control going for the big hit and missing tackles.
It’s just that White makes them less often or not quite to the same degree. It’s
safe to say that White is a lot like Alexander, both the good and the bad, but
with a noticeably higher floor to his play. Whether it was the fault of the last
coaching staff, which was poor, or because Kwon just was who he was at that
point, Alexander didn’t develop the way you’d hope. White doesn’t have as far to
go, and hopefully he gets the benefit of competent coaching.White may not be as
rah-rah of a guy as Kwon, but he’s just as capable of being the heart and soul
of a defense. White has a motor that stays hot, and he’s dedicated to getting
better. He will set the tone and set it hard. If he’s going to unlock his full
potential though, White will need to work on the mental side of his game. If he
does, he’ll be a perennial Pro Bowler and one of the premier linebackers in the
league. Even if he doesn’t, it is unequivocal that White makes the Buccaneers
better than they were, which means it was a good night for the Bucs.
