After almost two full weeks of training camp, Todd Bowles’ defense hasn’t just been beating the offense, they have been crushing them. I know what you are probably thinking, only two days of full contact. Lets not jump to conclusions, but I’m here to tell you that this camp already feels different.
These are not hollow story lines of “Noah Spence has slimmed down” or “Vernon Hargreaves is impressing coaches”. This is for real. This defense is flying all over the field, blitzing from multiple positions and multiple gaps in order to confuse the offense.
Who’s Standing Out?
One player who is having the best camp of his career is Noah Spence. And like I said before, these aren’t just hollow story lines, he is showing us his speed on the field.
#Bucs Noah Spence with some nice reps today, here he eats up Donovan Smith and gets there for the sack. pic.twitter.com/K2d5uTvUWE
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) July 29, 2019
Rookie safety Mike Edwards is even making an impression early, returning an interception for a touchdown in Monday’s practice.
.@UKFootball rookie S Mike Edwards with the pick-6.#Bucs have had Edwards running with the second and third team to get extra reps at multiple DB spots.
This was his second interception of the day, and it was a beauty. pic.twitter.com/9EgKOZNzG2
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) July 29, 2019
Even when the offense completes a play down the field, the defensive line is right next to the quarterback for a would be sack.
#Bucs Winston finds Godwin again in 11-on-11. pic.twitter.com/EqoIazYr50
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) July 29, 2019
Implications of the Defense
Now I’m sure there are many fans who are getting excited about what this defense can do, and there are still others who are waiting to see how they perform on Sundays. But the night and day difference from last year is staggering already.
I remember watching training camp last year, where the defense would continuously play off ball coverage and sit in a zone, reacting instead of playing aggressive. It just looks and feels different this year, even if we’re only a couple of weeks into camp.
What does this say about the offense? Well, the offensive line has not been good, plain and simple. This unit needs to figure it out and fast. I doubt Bruce Arians goes into week one with the current starting five, and I fully expect a few lineman to be signed throughout camp to compete for the right guard position.
But this is the danger with training camp, when one side of the ball dominates, the other will consequently suffer. I believe the offense will pick up speed as training camp progresses, as most years, but so far, this new look defense is out for blood.
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