First line of defense

So far, this collection of linemen has been better than expected - and full of surprises.

By GARY SHELTON, Times Columnist
Published December 30, 2007

TAMPA - They came from everywhere. Perhaps that is why you did not see them coming at all.

They came from the shadows and from the boonies and from the bottom shelf at Play It Again Sports. They came from the top end of the draft and the bottom, from the free-agent market and from the minor leagues, from the trading block and from the practice squads.

Surprise of surprises, the defensive linemen of the Tampa Bay Bucs are coming still.

If you are an opposing quarterback, perhaps you can feel the heat as they approach.

More and more, you cannot help but notice the improved pass rush of the Bucs. The linemen are not there yet, but to put it into the language of the profession, they have turned the corner and they are closing in fast. They are better than last year, better than the year before, and most important, they are better than most of us expected.

In other words, as defensive lines go, this one has been a whole sackful of surprises.

Oh, admit it. You doubted, didn't you? You scoffed and you vexed and you fretted, and you wondered how a Bucs lineman was ever going to get within shouting distance of an opposing passer. Didn't we all?

After all, this was supposed to be the weakest part of a weak team, remember? The Bucs pass rush was miserable last year. The familiar names with the fat contracts, Sapp and Simeon and Booger, were all gone.

In their place were guys named Greg and Gaines and Jovan and Hovan. You know: the Where-Is-He-From Foursome.

Lately, however, the pass rush has begun to swarm the way it did in the old days, back when the Bucs were a full day's pain for quarterbacks. There have been more sacks. There have been more pressures. There have been more turnovers.

"These guys have done a great job," Bucs defensive coach Monte Kiffin said. "It's been a lot better. Last year, quarterbacks didn't feel us. Earlier this year, they didn't feel us. But the guys are young, they're new, and on any defensive line, you need some continuity.

"Lately, I think the quarterbacks are feeling us again."

If anyone knows the sight of a good pass rush, it is Kiffin. Once, the pass rush was the calling card of his defense. During an eight-year period, from 1997 to 2004, the Bucs had more than 30 sacks a season seven times.

In 2005, that slipped to 25. In 2006, it slipped to 19. The defensive line looked old, worn down or, in the case of Simeon Rice, largely disinterested. Most games, it looked as involved as four guys in a parking lot searching for their cars. To Kiffin, and to the Bucs front office, it was clear some changes were needed.

So far this year, the Bucs defensive linemen have 29 sacks. Not bad when you consider that, a quarter of the way into the season, they had only six.

They are a likeable bunch, these linemen. No one yaps like Warren Sapp, and no one speaks in the interplanetary poetry of Rice. But they play the game as if they're happy to get a jersey. Given their backgrounds, who can blame them?

More than anything, that's the fascinating part of this Bucs pass rush. In an effort to rebuild it, the front office shopped in every store in the mall.

They re-signed nose tackle Chris Hovan. They signed Kevin Carter as a free agent. They started Jovan Haye, claimed from Cleveland's practice squad last year. They found Greg White in the Arena Football League. They traded for Ryan Sims. They drafted Gaines Adams in the first round and Greg Peterson in the fifth. It was like a manhunt - if there was a pass rusher out there, the Bucs were determined to find him.

"We knew it was an area we had to address," said Mark Dominik, the Bucs' director of pro personnel. "Our pass rush had a lot to do with some of the problems we had on defense last year, the yards we were giving up, the lack of big plays, the lack of turnovers. We wanted to look anywhere we could find someone who could help us."

It is a difficult thing, grabbing players from here and there and asking them to fix a problem. There were so many players without resumes, Haye and White and the rookies, that it was easy to see this line as being held together by duct tape and bailing wire. Carter, however, says he saw more.

"When I first saw this team, I thought we had everything we need up front," Carter said. "There is nothing on this team that we lack for. I think realizing that talent and bringing it together is the difference (in the improvement)."

Said Hovan: "We've jelled. We've played in some tough games together. I think we're getting better."

For Kiffin, that's the key. Although the pass rush has improved, he still wants more. Kiffin can still remember the 45.5 sacks the defensive line totaled in 2000, an extra sack a game over this year.

Perhaps this bunch will get there. With every game, Adams flashes a little more of the skills that the big-time pass rushers all possess. White, who has played an arena season and an NFL season back-to-back, should benefit from a proper offseason. Haye should get better as he learns the position.

"These guys can be special," Kiffin said. "They're young, and they're hungry. Right now, Gaines and Greg hardly know where the weight room is. They're going to get stronger. They're going to get better."

Consider this a start, then. Consider this that first step off the ball, that first spurt around the tackle. Not bad so far.

Ahead, there is a quarterback.

Again, there is a chance to get to him.

DE Kevin Carter, 93

Tackles: 72 Sacks: 3

Acquired: Free-agent signing, '07

DT Chris Hovan, 95

Tackles: 90 Sacks: 11/2

Acquired: Free-agent signing, '05

DT Jovan Haye, 71

Tackles: 92 Sacks: 6

Acquired: Free-agent signing, '06

DE Greg Spires, 94

Tackles: 39 Sacks: 1

Acquired: Free-agent signing, '02

DE Greg White, 91

Tackles: 47 Sacks: 8

Acquired: Free-agent signing, '07

DT Ryan Sims, 98

Tackles: 16 Sacks: 1

Acquired: Traded by Chiefs, '07

DT Greg Peterson, 96

Tackles: 15 Sacks: 11/2

Acquired: Fifth-round pick, '07

Fast facts

Years of sacks

The Bucs defensive line has a history of rushing the passer under coordinator Monte Kiffin. The sacks per season for the linemen:

1996 23.0

1997 40.0

1998 28.0

1999 36.0

2000 45.5

2001 30.5

2002 36.0

2003 31.0

2004 33.5

2005 25.0

2006 19.0

2007 29.0

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 18:47:10]