A Pirate's View Of The Unpredictable NFC South

On paper, it’s going to be very tough for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to compete for let alone win the NFC South in 2009.  The Bucs might as well be starting from scratch with all the changes they have incurred in the past several months.  A new regime, a brand new coaching staff and numerous new faces to replace very familiar veterans who unfortunately had to be let go.  The reason for that is when you change the identity of a football team, everything should be new. There shouldn’t be anything that someone could point to that would remind people of the old regime.  So that’s what the Glazers have done and even though it probably was the best thing to do at this time, it will probably be a few years before we see those glorious Buccaneers of the past. 

Tampa Bay brings in two young new faces to run their “pirate ship”; a new general manager in Mark Dominik and a new head coach in the defensive minded Raheem Morris.  Jeff Jagodzinski, the architect of Boston College’s high flying offense captained by current  Atlanta Falcon’s QB Matt Ryan now takes over the Bucs’ offense.  With Monte Kiffin’s departure to join his son at the University of Tennesee, the very capable Jim Bates steps in to try to re-create the once great Buccaneer defense.

On the field, new faces galore have shown up.  Kellen Winslow Jr. finally gets the escape from Cleveland he so wanted and former Giants running back Derrick Ward joins Earnest Graham in the back field hoping to form a fierce tandem.  Byron Leftwich brings with him a Super Bowl title to help him fight for the starting quarterback job along with the very confident Luke McCown and this year’s controversial first pick of the draft, Josh Freeman of Kansas State.    With the departures of Derrick Brooks, Jovan Haye, Cato June andPhillip Buchanon, the Buccaneers defense will have several holes to fill and that won't be easy.  Free-agent linebacker, Angelo Crowell and former safety Jermaine Phillips will flank alongside veteran Barret Ruud in manning the middle of the Buc's defense.  Draft picks, Roy Miller and Kyle Moore will be good additions on the D-line especially Miller, who fits in well with Jim Bates “big bodies up the middle” philosophy. In the secondary, it’s basically a declining Ronde Barber looking for lots of help.  Mike Nugent arrives via free agency to give Matt Bryant a kick for his money.   All in all, this season will be about learning about each other, and whether the potential they have to be a winner can surprise some people and arrive earlier than is expected.   

The two favorites to win the NFC South are the defending division champs, the Carolina Panthers and the offensive juggernaut of 2008, the Atlanta Falcons.  It will take key injuries to either team from that not happening in 2009.  In a surprising off-season move, the Falcons added future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez to its offense joining potent arsenal like Rookie of the Year, QB Matt Ryan, Pro Bowl running back, Michael Turner and exciting wide receiver, Roddy White.  The key to the Falcons success in 2009 will however, rely on their very young defense which will try to survive the departures of defensive stalwarts, Lawyer Milloy, Keith Brooking and Michael Boley.  Former Jacksonville Jaguar Mike Peterson joins the Bird’s nest to fill the void at linebacker .   

The Carolina Panthers will once again rely on their 2 headed monster in their offensive backfield to be successful once again.  That monster of course has two names, DeAngelo Williams and second year phenom, Jonathan Stewart.  The two ran the ball for over 2300 yards last season and took some pressure off Steve Smith who used to be the main weapon of this Panther offense.  Smith by himself had over 1400 yards receiving, so he is not going to disappear anytime soon.  Jake Delhomme enters into his seventh season with a brand new five year contract extension and even though his QB rating isn’t anything that special, he still is able to run a steady offense and let his O-Line and his talented backfield create long successful drives.   New Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks will have his hands full as standout defensive end, Julius Peppers continues to be disgruntled and might be a holdout as training camp opens.  The Panthers might have been thinking how to fill that void already when they took defensive end, Everrett Brown in the second round out of Florida State.   Cornerback, Richard Marshall will move into the starting lineup replacing the departed Ken Lucas while CJ Wilson and 2^ndround pick, Sherrod Martin both look to replace Marshall in nickel situations.  Overall, the Panthers defense plans on being as aggressive as it has been over the years. 

Aggressive Defense are two words that have been absent in New Orleans for the past few years.  Their main priority in their off-season via the draft and free-agency was to upgrade a very porous defense.  The main focus was going after the secondary which has allowed 67 pass plays of 25 yards or less the past two seasons.   The team reacted quickly to shore that up by signing free agent defensive backs Darren Sharper, Pierson Prioleau and Jabari Greer as well as taking Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins with the 14^th pick and grabbing safety Chip Vaughn in the 4^th round of this year’s draft.   Former Falcon and Raider Rod Coleman might help on the D-Line as well.   Over on the offensive side, there really are no weaknesses at all except to find a replacement for the oft-injured Deuce McCallister, who sadly retired this past off-season.  Drew Brees will strive to continue his magnificent 2008 season by passing to the likes of Reggie Bush, Marcus Colston, Devery Henderson and Lance Moore.

Don’t always look on paper with the outcome of this division. In the past five years four different teams have won the NFC South and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up just as unexpected this season.  The 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers might just fit that formula .