The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't had much of a defense in recent years, in NFL or fantasy terms. They've ranked 21st or worse in points allowed in each of the last three seasons, while their fantasy ranking (1 point for sacks, 2 points for turnovers, 6 for touchdowns) has been 14th, 22nd, 21st and 18th in the last four years.
But now Lovie Smith is running the show, and as we've pointed out in the past, his defenses in both St. Louis and Chicago were among the NFL's best in fantasy terms, with some impressive opportunism. Better yet, there's a free agent cornerback who could be an ideal fit for the Bucs: Chicago's Charles Tillman.
Tillman turns 33 this month, but he's still playing at a high level. He's recorded at least 3 interceptions and forced at least 3 fumbles in each of the last four seasons. He's been a large part of why Chicago ranks 3rd in total interceptions over the last five years.
What's interesting is that Tampa Bay has been better than you might think in that area over the last five seasons, even with their defense generally struggling. They've recorded the 6th-most interceptions since 2009, trailing only teams well-known for their opportunistic secondaries: Green Bay, New England, Chicago, Buffalo and Seattle. With Smith in town, and if the Bucs can complement Darrelle Revis with a player like Tillman, they're a candidate to really break out defensively in 2014.
Team interceptions over the last five seasons are presented below.
INTERCEPTIONS, 2009-2013 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Tot | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
Green Bay | 114 | 11 | 18 | 31 | 24 | 30 |
New England | 103 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 18 |
Chicago | 97 | 19 | 24 | 20 | 21 | 13 |
Buffalo | 94 | 23 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 28 |
Seattle | 93 | 28 | 18 | 22 | 12 | 13 |
Tampa Bay | 91 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 19 | 19 |
Arizona | 90 | 20 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 21 |
Philadelphia | 90 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 25 |
San Francisco | 88 | 18 | 14 | 23 | 15 | 18 |
NY Giants | 87 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 13 |
Atlanta | 86 | 10 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 15 |
Baltimore | 85 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 22 |
Carolina | 84 | 20 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 22 |
Tennessee | 80 | 13 | 19 | 11 | 17 | 20 |
Cincinnati | 79 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 19 |
Kansas City | 77 | 21 | 7 | 20 | 14 | 15 |
Washington | 75 | 16 | 21 | 13 | 14 | 11 |
NY Jets | 72 | 13 | 11 | 19 | 12 | 17 |
San Diego | 72 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 14 |
New Orleans | 71 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 26 |
Detroit | 70 | 15 | 11 | 21 | 14 | 9 |
Miami | 70 | 18 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 15 |
Cleveland | 69 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 19 | 10 |
Denver | 69 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
Dallas | 68 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 11 |
Jacksonville | 68 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 15 |
Houston | 66 | 7 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 14 |
St. Louis | 65 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 8 |
Pittsburgh | 64 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 12 |
Indianapolis | 61 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
Oakland | 58 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
Minnesota | 56 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 11 |
--Andy Richardson