Bloggin the Backs: D Backs that is! How does the 2010 Tampa Bay secondary rate?

• Vito McKeever
• Rod Jones
• Craig Swoop
• Ivory Sully
• Ray Isom
• Bobby Futrell
• Carl Carter
• Milton Mack
• Joe King (No, were not (say his name real fast))

Ok, you in the corner. Whats that you say? They were all Defensive Backs on some of the worst Bucs defenses in history? Give the kid a prize! From 1983-1995, Tampa Bay had some of the worst secondary players ever assembled. From Rod ‘Toast’ Jones to Joe King, as in you must be to put him covering Jerry Rice, Tampa Bay fans need not look to far to figure out why they couldnt win during those magical double digit losing seasons. Then Rich McKay and Tony Dungy came along, and to be fair, Rich McKay and Sam Wyche along with Floyd Peters drafted a few of the decent D backs like Charles Dimrey, Melvin Johnson, and of course Martin Meyhew and John Lynch. So which group does our 2010 look the most like? They look most like a growing unit we had in 1998. With John Lynch entrenched, Tanard Jackson seems to hold the same leverage. Donnie Abraham had the corner spot locked down with his spectacular play for a couple of years, and Aqib Talib seems to have done the same. At issue is the new Corner on the field, Ronde Barber was drafted in 1997 but played in ’98, and Myron Lewis could be the next guy to start in the secondary for the next decade of Buccaneer football. In ’98 veteran Charles Mincy had the other safety spot, and veteran Sean Jones acquired from the Eagles in Free Agency will probably supplant Sabby Piscitelli, unless by some miracle Sabby is able to correct some of his inherent flaws. Of course, one of the key reasons the Bucs secondary of old was so terrible, was the lack of a pass rush. Thank Ron Holmes, Curt Jarvis, Jim Skow and Keith McCants for that, oh list above! The ’98 players had Brad Cullpepper, Warren Sapp and Co beating down the QB, which makes for a much easier time in coverage. Look at it this way, its a lot easier to cover a Jerry Rice for 4 seconds, than for 10!  This year, the  Bucs added some Defensive Linemen similar to what was around in the mid nineties, and the results could eventually be the same; a furious pass rush, and defensive backs going to the pro-bowl. Just dont tell them that, let them figure it out for themselves!