TAMPA, Fla. -- It’s time to look at the defensive line in our series of positional overviews for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The strength of the line is in the middle. Gerald McCoy is one of the best defensive tackles in the league. McCoy, Clinton McDonald and Henry Melton all can rush the passer and Akeem Spence also will factor into the rotation. Da'Quan Bowers, who has played mostly defensive end in his career, will get a look at defensive tackle in training camp.
The picture at defensive end isn’t quite as bright as it is at defensive tackle. The Bucs elected not to bring in any big names in free agency or the draft and they parted ways with Michael Johnson, who was a free-agent bust last year.
The Bucs did sign George Johnson from Detroit and are hoping he can be one of the starters. Johnson had six sacks for the Lions last season as a rotational player. The other end that is most likely to start is Jacquies Smith, who had 6.5 sacks last year.
But the Bucs aren’t locked into Johnson and Smith as the starters. They have a group of players with potential that have yet to really produce. Larry English, T.J. Fatinikun, William Gholston and Lawrence Sidbury each will get a long look in training camp.
