Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy recorded his seventh sack of the season on Sunday, dropping QB Matt Hasselbeck for a four-yard loss in the first quarter. McCoy is now just three sacks shy of 10 on the season, which if reached would give him a new career-high, surpassing the 9.5 sacks he had in 2013. He is on pace to just get past the 10-sack mark, which would make him the first Buccaneer to hit double digits since Simeon Rice had 14.0 QB takedowns in 2005.
That sack of Hasselbeck also moved McCoy out of a tie for sixth place in team history in the sack category, and within one of taking over fifth place. Here are the top 10 sack artists in Tampa Bay's franchise history:
Buccaneers Career Sacks
|
Player |
Seasons |
Sacks |
|
1. Lee Roy Selmon |
1976-84 |
78.5 |
|
2. Warren Sapp |
1995-03 |
77.0 |
|
3. Simeon Rice |
2001-06 |
69.5 |
|
4. David Logan |
1979-86 |
39.0 |
|
5. Chidi Ahanotu |
1993-00, 04 |
34.5 |
|
6. Gerald McCoy |
2010-15 |
34.0 |
|
7. Brad Culpepper |
1994-99 |
33.0 |
|
8. Ronde Barber |
1997-12 |
28.0 |
|
9. Broderick Thomas |
1989-93 |
26.5 |
|
10. Greg Spires |
2002-07 |
26.0 |
* *McCoy's rise up the list continues a franchise-long trend of getting sacks from more than just the edge rushers. It's interesting to note that the Bucs' top 10 includes three pure defensive ends (Selmon, Rice, Spires), four defensive tackles (Sapp, Logan, McCoy, Culpepper), one player who split his career between end and tackle (Ahanotu), one linebacker (Thomas) and one cornerback (Barber). McCoy is carrying on a fine tradition of Buccaneer QB-sacking defensive tackles, and in fact he is the league's best at his position since the start of 2012.
Most Sacks, Defensive Tackles, 2012-15
|
Player |
Team |
Sacks |
|
1. Gerald McCoy |
Tampa Bay |
30.0 |
|
2. Geno Atkins |
Cincinnati |
29.5 |
|
3. Ndamukong Suh |
Miami |
26.0 |
|
Buffalo |
25.0 |
|
Tennessee |
23.5 |
This year, McCoy has gotten a nice bit of help from the edges, however, as defensive ends Jacquies Smith and Howard Jones rank second and third on the team with 6.0 and 4.5 sacks, respectively. Last year, Smith came out of nowhere as a first-year player claimed off waivers from Buffalo right before the season. He saw his first NFL regular-season action in 2014 and complemented McCoy's 8.5 sacks with 6.5 of his own.
Now Jones, with his similarly ubiquitous last name, is providing an instant replay of Smith's breakout performance. Jones was signed to the Bucs' practice squad in the first week of the season and then promoted to the active roster a month later, allowing him a chance to see his first regular-season action. Jones is on pace for 6.5 sacks by season's end, while Smith is on his way to roughly nine QB takedowns.
If McCoy, Smith and Jones can all maintain their paces, or something close to them, they would be one of the most productive pass-rushing trios the team has had in some time. The last time the Bucs had three players with at least six sacks each was in 2007, when the feat was pulled off by Greg (later to become Stylez G.) White (8.0), Gaines Adams (6.0) and Jovan Haye (6.0). If all three managed to get to seven sacks, that would be something the Bucs haven't seen in quite a while. The last time three different Bucs hit the seven-sack mark in the same season was 1998, with Brad Culpepper (9.0) joined by Warren Sapp (7.0) and Regan Upshaw (7.0).
