What to Expect from the Buccaneers' Pass Rush and Pass Defense in 2015

Lovie Smith's return to Tampa Bay last year failed to immediately resurrect the Buccaneers' Super Bowl-caliber defense. Pass rush or lack thereof was a key contributor the Bucs' struggles last season. The 2015 season could be the turning point for a defensive renaissance for the pass rush and the defense generally.

The Tampa 2 defense—and Smith's iteration in particular—relies on the defense's ability to generate a pass rush with just the front four defensive linemen. This allows the back seven to fall into zone coverage and both prevent big plays and force more turnovers, a hallmark of Smith's defenses in Chicago.

The defensive line must have a consistent 3-technique defensive tackle disrupting the opposing offensive line's interior so that the defensive ends can win one-on-one matchups on the outside.

Under Tony Dungy, DT Warren Sapp wreaked havoc on offensive lines and quarterbacks alike. By collapsing the center of the line, Sapp kept quarterbacks from stepping up in the pocket, leaving them vulnerable to the ends rushing from the outside.

Now the Bucs have Gerald McCoy, one of the league's premier interior defensive lineman and a perfect fit for a Tampa 2 defense. Over the past three years, McCoy was a wrecking ball that smashed offensive lines and tormented offensive lines:

Gerald McCoy's Pass-Rush Results, 2012-2014

	Games	QB Hurries	QB Hits	Sacks	Stops	Batted Passes
2012	16	36	12	5	20	1
2013	16	56	14	10	36	3
2014	13	27	9	9	22	3

Stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Even excepting the three games McCoy missed in 2014, there was a drop in his productivity. Therein lies the key to the Bucs' pass-rush success in 2015.

The Tampa 2 defense isn't complex. It doesn't employ a variety of blitz packages or disguised coverages. Instead, it merely relies on the discipline of the players to stay on their assignments and do their jobs correctly. When scheme takes a back seat to execution, player mistakes are magnified, as they were in Tampa Bay last season.

Bucs cornerback Alterraun Verner joined the Bucs last season to fill the position vacated by Darrelle Revis, and he acknowledged the difficulty of simplicity with Lovie Smith's defense to Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds:

"

It’s not the first time I’ve played Cover 2, but it was the first time I’ve ever run Cover 2 the way they run Cover 2 with the responsibilities and discipline. The defense is very simplistic, but the reason why it’s simplistic is because the defense is so detailed. We don’t run a lot of defenses, and because we don’t, they expect you to run it extremely well. Most of the time teams are going to know what we’re doing, but it takes the discipline to run it well.

"

The Bucs defense was not built in a day or even a year. If Verner, one of the smartest players on the team, struggled to learn the defense, last year's struggles were inescapable.

Year two of Lovie Smith's regime brings not only more experience and comfort with the defensive scheme, but also greater understanding and familiarity with personnel, which was another significant contributor to the Bucs' struggles last year.

Smith and general manager Jason Licht made a series of personnel moves that proved inimical to their plans for the team. Most significantly, they signed Cincinnati defensive end Michael Johnson as their marquee pass-rusher.

Though he was hobbled by an ankle injury, Johnson was not an elite pass-rusher when the Bucs signed him. The fact that he returned to the Bengals after the Bucs cut him indicates Tampa Bay simply wasn't a good fit.

This year, the Bucs are relying on a group of relatively inexperienced edge-rushers to provide what Johnson couldn't.

The likely starters will be last year's breakout defensive end Jacquies Smith and the returning George Johnson. Smith came on strong midseason and ended the year with seven sacks. He displayed the kind of speed and agility that Michael Johnson lacked.

George Johnson was a preseason star for the Bucs from 2010 to 2012, but he struggled to sustain his success during the regular season until he notched six sacks for Detroit in a rotational role last year.

Neither Smith nor Johnson has much experience as a starter. While the Bucs put a lot of faith in Smith, his late-season disappearing act last year is alarming, as he barely sniffed the quarterback in the last three games.

Johnson took only 531 snaps for the Lions last year, according to Pro Football Focus, less than half their total defensive plays. He may not have the stamina to play at a high level over 16 games.

Depth at defensive end is as big a concern as experience. Behind Smith and Johnson, the Bucs have more unproven pass-rushers. Will Gholston, Lawrence Sidbury, Larry English and Matt Masifilo don't inspire much confidence if Smith or Johnson go down with an injury or can't handle the starting role.

Gholston has the most potential and looks to focus on playing defensive end this year after splitting time at defensive tackle for most of his Bucs career. According to Scott Reynolds, Gholston spent the offseason dropping weight, going from 292 pounds to 271 pounds.

English, a seven-year veteran, also slimmed down this year to get quicker off the edge. 

Sidbury and Masifilo have upside, which is a nice way of saying they haven't done anything in the NFL. That might not be a problem if the Bucs had more experience at the top of the depth chart, but the Bucs are rolling the dice on the position in 2015.

The Bucs have the opposite problem at defensive tackle, where they have three viable starters. McCoy, former Seahawk Clinton McDonald and former Cowboy Henry Melton comprise one of the best defensive tackle groups in the NFL.

McDonald was the Bucs' best free-agent signing last year, providing Super Bowl pedigree and consistent play against both the run and the pass. Melton might be the Bucs' best free-agent signing this year and could be the key to helping McCoy to his best season yet.

Coming off an ACL tear in 2013, Melton spent 2014 in the defensive tackle rotation in Dallas essentially rehabbing. Now fully healthy and a year removed from knee surgery, Melton can return to terrorizing quarterbacks the way he did for Lovie Smith in Chicago.

What makes Melton so valuable in Tampa Bay is his effect on McCoy. With a proven, formidable pass-rusher able to spell McCoy without a great drop-off in talent, the Bucs can rest him more often and maximize the effectiveness of his snaps. Melton may also see time at defensive end according to Pewter Report's Zach Shapiro.

The talent and experience disparity between defensive tackle and end could end up offsetting one another, but it's still unclear which way it could go. What may trend it upwards is the team's assimilation of Lovie Smith's defense.