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Smitty’s Take: Tough break for all Devonta Freeman owners, as the runner is having groin surgery. On IR, he will sit a minimum of eight weeks. That makes both Ito Smith and Tevin Coleman extremely valuable for the rest of the season. There is a chance both share carries enough to destroy any kind of high-end RB2-type value within this situation, but there is also a chance one thrives and cranks out top 10RB numbers down the stretch. Coleman has the edge, but don’t count out Smith (a top 1-3 waiver wire add for Week 7). Freeman is still young, 26, so he still could have a future in this league, and with the Falcons, as he is getting paid big bucks; his 2018 outlook, though, is about as murky as it gets.
Smitty’s Take: Even in 2-3 weeks, it sounds like he will be iffy with the injury to the elbow. Don’t give up on this guy in dynasty. The Bills certainly need to build a better supporting cast around this kid, but he has elite skills. I still firmly believe that in 1-3 years, he shines. He has arguably the second-strongest arm in the entire NFL and he is extremely mobile. His accuracy and football intelligence are very underrated, and he’s proved that on several occasions already. Give the kid more weapons and some blocking and he will be a potential top 4-7 fantasy QB of the future.
RabidBucFan’s Take (Guest/Forum Analysis): Well the Bucs got rid of Mike Smith and replaced him with Mark Duffner. His DC role in Cincinnati saw his team go from 14 to 32 in the league – stellar resume. All he’s done as a coach is keep teams at or below average defensive stats for 22 years.
All in all the Bucs D stinks.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my Bucs and will root for them each and every game. However, through inept drafts and poor coaching, the defensive side of the ball has been bad for the last eight years. They have been in the bottom 10 all but one year since 2010.
The Bucs DST in a nut shell:
The weakest link of a rusted chain is what can be described, at best, as a porous backfield. Justin Evans shows promise. Jordan Whitehead has potential, if he doesn’t end up aggravating his leg due to being rushed back into action. Andrew Adams, uh, yeah, the Giants cut him and the Giants suck. Isaiah Johnson, OK, the only reason anyone knows his name is because he ran into the wall really hard against the Stealers. Chris Conte moved to IR, one of the best defensive moves the Bucs have made in years. Brent Grimes, his best days are behind him… he would be fine in a supporting role, but being counted on as “the Man”, he’s not up to that any longer. Vernon Hargreaves has potential and can be a good player. Welcome to IR, see ya next year. Carlton Davis… potential, but he must prove he can stay on the field, so far nope. Ryan Smith and MJ Stewart are backups who’ve been thrusted into the spotlight – going to burn their retinas out. Without new blood from the outside, or adequate pass rush from the second worst part of the defense, these poor saps will be running more than Usain Bolt during the Olympics and World Championships.
Middle of the field… the linebacker core. If only they had some help.
Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David are bonafide studs. However, they cannot be called upon to stop all things all the time. and that’s what the D-line and the DB’s do. If either of these players goes down for any length of time, bet the over and take home the cash. There is no depth to fill in for them. None, zero, nada, zip, zilch.
The men in the trench. Oh boy.
Jason Pierre-Paul is the formidable player on this line. He is the player that is making the most impact and showing the most leadership and “want to” for this defense. Vinny Curry is doing his part as well. At one point Gerald McCoy was a force to be reckoned with. Now he’s a guy that used to be a force to be reckoned with. He takes plays off, he “almost” gets to the QB, he’s a good leader – well, unless he’s hamming it up on the sidelines when the team is getting their butts handed to them – and, now he’s hurt. Oh, he has a great smile.
William Gholston is a penalty waiting to happen and an average player. Vita Vea is a mountain of a man. Mountains don’t move much and neither does he. As long as someone runs into him, he’s good to go, otherwise, meh so far. Rakeem Nunez-Roches is now on the team; he was holding his on in KC, so maybe he’ll be of some use here.
Who will be the next Defensive Coordinator?
