Tampa Bay Buccaneers: How good can the defensive line be in 2018?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line is clearly improved heading into 2018 thanks to offseason additions. Just how good can the unit be though?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have benefitted from having Gerald McCoy on their defensive line for the last eight seasons. This free agency they brought in some help in the form of veteran Jason Pierre-Paul. Then in the first round of the NFL draft, the Buccaneers selected defensive tackle Vita Vea.

Those were the two big additions this offseason, however they weren’t the only ones. Vinny Curry was also brought in via free agency, and brings plenty of experience and value to the line.

So with a formidable group of additions, just how good can this defensive line be?

McCoy was immediately overshadowed upon joining the NFL. Ndamukong Suh was part of the same draft class, and took most of the attention. McCoy has been elite basically from the moment he entered the league though.

Jason Pierre-Paul took the NFL by storm in his rookie season as well. Coincidentally, it was the same year (2010) as McCoy and Suh. The defensive end picked up 4.5 sacks and flashed plenty of potential. He then followed it up with a 16.5-sack performance in 2011.

He’s had some strong seasons since then, but also some average ones. Pierre-Paul’s career also took a weird turn when he suffered the infamous fireworks injury The 29-year old is coming off seasons of seven and 8.5 sacks however. He clearly brings a true sack threat to the line, and should make things much harder for opposing quarterbacks.

Curry has had a much more consistent career outside of his 2014 season that saw him pick up nine sacks. He’s floated around three each season for the rest of his career. Curry isn’t an elite pass rusher, but he’s solid enough. He’s also going to be a major help in the run game, and is a boost to the depth.

Finally, there’s rookie Vita Vea. The defensive tackle has the size (6-4, 347 pounds) and his college resume is on his side. Obviously the NFL is a completely different animal. That being said, he’s in a fantastic situation to succeed. The defensive tackle isn’t being brought in to be the savior of a terrible line, but instead be another piece in a potentially very dangerous line.

This takes pressure of the rookie. He won’t be targeted as much, and will be put in an environment that’s much easier to grow in. All of that combined with his impressive skill set should help him put together a fantastic season.

Last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense was 23rd in rushing yards allowed and dead-last in passing yards allowed. They also finished 13th with 40 sacks on the year. So the expectations need to be tampered a little bit. Yes, they’ve improved drastically, but it was a pretty large hill to climb.

They could easily climb into the top 10 in sacks. Meanwhile, they should improve in both rushing and passing yards allowed. However, an improvement in those two areas shouldn’t be too hard.

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Overall, this is a solid unit that can definitely cause havoc for a quarterback. Vea and Curry will help McCoy in the run game, and Pierre-Paul adds to the sack numbers. Basically, this isn’t an elite unit (although if Vea is a freak immediately he could fight for them to be), but they will be dramatically improved compared to last season.