TAMPA, Fla. -- Back in the days of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, it wasn’t unusual for defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to play 90 percent of the defensive snaps.
Schiano’s logic was simple -- McCoy was his best lineman and, even at 80 percent, he was better than the alternatives.
But the arrival of coach Lovie Smith last year brought a change in philosophy. The Bucs went to a rotation on the defensive front and they’re planning to stick with it.
"If we have seven guys up, all seven play,’’ defensive line coach Joe Cullen said Monday. “Very simple. No one's going to play 65 snaps and play every down. You'll wear out through the year, it's proven. The best teams and the best rush teams always have a rotation."
The Bucs are set up well for a rotation. They brought in tackle Henry Melton to rotate with McCoy and Clinton McDonald as well as backup Akeem Spence.
At defensive end, there are no stars. But the Bucs are hoping for strength in numbers. They brought in George Johnson from Detroit. Jacquies Smith, T.J. Fatinikun, Larry English and William Gholston also are in the mix. Gholston has the ability to shift inside in certain packages.
"Ideally, you'd like three inside that rotate and three outside to rotate, and on third down, you'd like your four best rushers on the field," Cullen said. "It's hard to put a limit on, but you do have a pitch count. As a coach, you have to be confident in the guys behind them, which I am. In the second quarter, backed up, Gerald, take this series off, but you're in on third down. That's the thing with him, he's going to be in on third down, but he's going to have some early downs off."
