You know it's a slow news time in the NFL when everyone is writing stories speculating where Gerald McCoy is going to sign. The Bucs released him (and might have got better by signing Ndamukong Suh), but McCoy is on a free agent tour like he's Reggie White. He signed a one-year deal with the Panthers yesterday.
Suh and McCoy went 2-3 in the NFL Draft back in 2010. In those nine years since, Suh has played for Detroit, Miami and the Rams, and been part of better than average pass rushes for many of those years (especially Detroit).
McCoy spent all nine years with Tampa Bay, and though it has a lot to do with the team around him, he's been part of one of the league's least effective pass rushes for much of that span. No more than 38 sacks, which is average, in any of those years, and considerably less than in many of them. At least he's going to one of the better ones in Carolina.
TEAM SACKS, 2010-2018 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Defense | '10 | '11 | '12 | '13 | '14 | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | Tot |
LA Rams | 43 | 39 | 52 | 53 | 40 | 41 | 31 | 48 | 41 | 388 |
Pittsburgh | 48 | 35 | 37 | 34 | 33 | 48 | 38 | 56 | 52 | 381 |
Minnesota | 31 | 50 | 44 | 41 | 41 | 43 | 41 | 37 | 50 | 378 |
Carolina | 31 | 31 | 39 | 60 | 40 | 44 | 47 | 50 | 35 | 377 |
Green Bay | 47 | 29 | 47 | 44 | 41 | 43 | 40 | 37 | 44 | 372 |
Denver | 23 | 41 | 52 | 41 | 41 | 52 | 42 | 33 | 44 | 369 |
Arizona | 33 | 42 | 38 | 47 | 35 | 36 | 48 | 37 | 49 | 365 |
Philadelphia | 39 | 50 | 30 | 37 | 49 | 37 | 34 | 38 | 44 | 358 |
New England | 36 | 40 | 37 | 48 | 40 | 49 | 34 | 42 | 30 | 356 |
Baltimore | 27 | 48 | 37 | 40 | 49 | 37 | 31 | 41 | 43 | 353 |
Seattle | 37 | 33 | 36 | 44 | 37 | 37 | 42 | 39 | 43 | 348 |
Kansas City | 39 | 29 | 27 | 47 | 46 | 47 | 28 | 31 | 52 | 346 |
Tennessee | 40 | 28 | 39 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 39 | 343 |
Chicago | 34 | 33 | 41 | 31 | 39 | 35 | 37 | 42 | 50 | 342 |
Detroit | 44 | 41 | 34 | 33 | 42 | 42 | 26 | 35 | 43 | 340 |
Houston | 30 | 44 | 44 | 32 | 38 | 45 | 31 | 32 | 43 | 339 |
Washington | 29 | 41 | 32 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 42 | 46 | 339 |
Cincinnati | 27 | 45 | 51 | 43 | 20 | 42 | 33 | 41 | 34 | 336 |
New Orleans | 33 | 33 | 30 | 49 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 42 | 49 | 331 |
Miami | 39 | 41 | 42 | 42 | 39 | 31 | 33 | 30 | 31 | 328 |
LA Chargers | 47 | 32 | 38 | 35 | 26 | 32 | 35 | 43 | 38 | 326 |
Buffalo | 27 | 29 | 36 | 57 | 54 | 21 | 39 | 27 | 36 | 326 |
NY Jets | 40 | 35 | 30 | 41 | 45 | 39 | 27 | 28 | 39 | 324 |
NY Giants | 46 | 48 | 33 | 34 | 47 | 23 | 35 | 27 | 30 | 323 |
San Francisco | 36 | 42 | 38 | 38 | 36 | 28 | 33 | 30 | 37 | 318 |
Dallas | 35 | 42 | 34 | 34 | 28 | 31 | 36 | 38 | 39 | 317 |
Jacksonville | 26 | 31 | 20 | 31 | 45 | 36 | 33 | 55 | 37 | 314 |
Indianapolis | 30 | 29 | 32 | 42 | 41 | 35 | 33 | 25 | 38 | 305 |
Cleveland | 29 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 31 | 29 | 26 | 34 | 37 | 296 |
Tampa Bay | 26 | 23 | 27 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 38 | 22 | 38 | 283 |
Oakland | 47 | 39 | 25 | 38 | 22 | 38 | 25 | 31 | 13 | 278 |
Atlanta | 31 | 33 | 29 | 32 | 22 | 19 | 34 | 39 | 37 | 276 |
Last year, Tampa Bay was better (38 sacks) than Carolina (35). The Panthers drafted defensive end Brian Burns (10 sacks at Florida State last year), signed veteran Bruce Irvin, and now McCoy. Collectively, that should be enough to get them back to having an above-average pass rush.
Tampa Bay swapped out McCoy for Suh, but the biggest development was Jason Pierre-Paul injuring his neck in a car accident; he's expected to miss a good chunk of the season. Doubtful Tampa Bay will have a strong pass rush in 2019.
--Andy Richardson