Quarles shows Bucs he has right moves

Linebacker leads team with 59 tackles after shift to middle.

By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 19, 2002

TAMPA -- By 6:15 most mornings, Bucs middle linebacker Shelton Quarles is in the film room, trying to cram every detail about that week's opponent into his mind.

This is the price he pays for being moved from the strongside to the middle. This is the penalty for the six-year veteran, a speedy, versatile and studious product of defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's one-gap system.

Sound unfair? Not to Quarles, and not to the Bucs.

During the six months in which the Bucs hired a new coach, overhauled their offensive coaching staff and picked up several high-profile free agents, the decision to move Quarles may have been the most significant.

So far, it's been one of the most productive.

After six games, Quarles leads the league's No. 1 defense with 59 tackles and is playing at a level that reminds teammates and coaches of former Pro Bowl player Hardy Nickerson.

Quarles, 31, would rather avoid the accolades.

"I see it as me doing my job," he said. "I'm not doing anything different from the previous linebackers. We've had some good ones around here. I would rather sell myself short and be humble than talk about myself."

But everyone else is talking.

"We're getting production from our middle linebacker that we definitely haven't had in two years," linebackers coach Joe Barry said. "We rely on those guys to run so much. You've got to be able to run, cover ground and have instincts.

"As smart as Shelton is, it's still instinctual for him. There are still keys, reads and formations that, all of a sudden, are the first time he's seeing it. If you're a linebacker that has instincts, just naturally, when you see something you haven't seen before, you respond to it."

Quarles' quick adjustment has not surprised coaches. When Jamie Duncan left for the Rams and Nate Webster had offseason surgery, Quarles' speed and knowledge of the defense made him the automatic choice.

"It wasn't like Shelton was coming in like a free agent we had signed off the street," Barry said. "Here was a guy who was in our system for six years. Just by sitting in that linebacker room for six years, even if you're the (outside) linebacker, you're going to hear what the middle linebacker does. That stuff's going to start to sink in.

"You're talking about a guy who had a handle on the defense. You throw in his speed, you throw in his intelligence and his instincts, that's why we felt so comfortable with him."

The Bucs knew that Quarles and Webster would dedicate extra time to film work and play review. In the Bucs' system, the middle linebacker makes the defensive calls. Quarles and Webster want to know every set they'll face.

"I think the linebacker position itself is (meticulous) and that's something that was started back with Hardy," Derrick Brooks said. "They laugh at us because we always walk around with brief cases and book bags. We've taken more notes than anybody, and that's a part of bringing it to the field and making sure we're on top of everything. Shelton and Nate have to be because they set the defense."

As for Quarles, one area of doubt was his size. At 6-1, 225 pounds, the Nashville native is small for a middle linebacker. He bulked up to 240 at the start of training camp but has lost some since. In Tampa Bay's speed-oriented scheme, Quarles smaller frame has not been a setback.

"Our defense, traditionally, has always used smaller linebackers," Quarles said. "Being smaller, you learn to use your speed to your advantage. You get to where you need to be much quicker. In that way, if you make a mistake you can make up for it. That's what I try to do, I try to operate at full speed."

But getting there quickly is pointless if you can't make a tackle, and so far Quarles has missed few.

"His attributes, obviously, are his speed and the fact that he's tackling very well right now," Brooks said.

Quarles downplayed his tackling success this season .

"I haven't been in many situations where I have to make tough tackles," he said. "All the tackles I have been in position to make have been relatively easy.

"It's not just on one person. It's on all of us."

But the numbers don't lie. Brooks, a Pro Bowl player, has led the Bucs in tackles four straight years. He trails Quarles by two.

"He's making it hard every week," Brooks said. "That's good. That shows there are a lot of plays being made by a lot of different people on this defense. But I told him, it's a long season and I'm going to be biting him on his heels."