Tuesday, July 9, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Buccaneers square with four corners

Tampa Bay signed 31-year-old CB Terrell Buckley Monday, giving the Bucs a very solid foursome at the position. Pro Bowl CB Ronde Barber and up-and-comer Brian Kelly will start and be backed up by Buckley and Dwight Smith, who proved capable under holdover defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin in 2001. Buckley has bounced around the league, having played for Green Bay, Miami and New England, and is known as a very solid cover man who at times takes too many risks.

Buchsbaum: The way the NFL is set up right now, everyone needs four corners who can cover to match up with the Rams, the team everyone feels they will have to beat to win the Super Bowl. By adding Buckley, the Buccaneers now have those four corners. Last year, Tampa Bay had a similar situation when they had Donnie Abraham, but when the Bucs lost Abraham to the Jets, they were one corner short. In the role that the third and fourth corner plays in Tampa Bay, Buckley will be more than adequate as he showed with the Patriots last year. He will gamble and give up some big plays, it is easier to hide that deficiency when you are the third or fourth cornerback and you don’t put him on an island. "T-Buck" still has very good closing quickness, breaks on the ball well and is a productive interceptor. He is not a strong run-support tackler but he will tackle when he has to. The Bucs plan to go with Kelly, who replaced Abraham in the starting lineup last year, as one of their starters and Barber, a ballhawk, as the other. Smith was very impressive as a rookie and could be a third corner. If he isn’t ready, T-Buck will move into that role.

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