Bucs replace Gerald McCoy with Ndamukong Suh, but at what cost?
Less than 24 hours after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut Gerald McCoy, the third overall draft pick in 2010, they signed Ndamukong Suh, the second overall pick that season and the one player aside from Warren Sapp whose shadow McCoy has always seemed to chase.
McCoy’s critics said he wasn’t nasty enough, needed to be less "finesse" and more disruptive, and he smiled too much, even after he accumulated more Pro Bowl selections (six compared to Suh’s five) and almost identical sack numbers (54.5 sacks in 123 career games compared to Suh’s 56 sacks in 142 career games).
The Bucs now have Suh, and not McCoy. At what cost?cheap nike nfl jerseys free shipping
Schematically, the move makes sense. Suh can immediately occupy McCoy’s three-technique position and can still be disruptive at age 32. He played in a similar system last year under Wade Phillips with the Los Angeles Rams.
Suh beat his block within 2.5 seconds on 19 percent of pass-rushes last season, which ranked 66th out of 91 pass-rushers with 300-plus rushes (including playoffs), according to NFL Next Gen Stats. McCoy beat his block within 2.5 seconds on 22 percent of pass rushes last season, which ranked 54th out of 91 pass-rushers with 300-plus rushes.
Suh also has a reputation of going against everything the Bucs have been trying to build in their locker room from a culture standpoint. Suh's reputation as a dirty player and questionable teammate is well documented. General manager Jason Licht has acknowledged publicly that the Bucs have needed to do a better job of vetting players in terms of personality.
You appreciate the honesty, but with that line of thinking, Suh perhaps shouldn't have been on the Bucs' short list. The Bucs certainly wouldn't have made the move if he'll make as much as McCoy would have, but is saving a few million truly worth it when it includes a major headache?cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale
Suh was once suspended two games for stomping on former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Evan Smith, who is now with the Bucs. How will that go over? The only way this works is by having a coach like Bruce Arians -- who once had a gun pulled on him as a bartender in college -- with a strong enough personality to manage the Bucs' personalities.
It’s a one-year deal for a 32-year-old player who has played in 16 games every year the past seven seasons and immediately fills a huge need. But don’t expect him to mentor Vita Vea or stay after practice helping Noah Spence with pass-rush moves or go on mountain-climbing expeditions with Beau Allen. He wasn’t welcomed back with the Rams for a reason. He doesn’t jibe with their current group.
