Buccaneers HC sees a little bit of Antoine Winfield Jr. in one rookie
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in need of not just good safety play, but simply more bodies at the position after having a deep safety room in 2022. All that remains from the quartet of Antoine Winfield Jr., Mike Edwards, Logan Ryan, and Keanu Neal is Winfield Jr. himself. He's easily the best player out […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in need of not just good safety play, but simply more bodies at the position after having a deep safety room in 2022.
All that remains from the quartet of Antoine Winfield Jr., Mike Edwards, Logan Ryan, and Keanu Neal is Winfield Jr. himself. He's easily the best player out of the four, which is good for the Bucs in the sense they didn't lose their best player. At the same time, however, that was a pretty effective group, when healthy, in 2022. So, it definitely stings.
The Buccaneers were able to bring in free agent safety Ryan Neal, which should be considered a steal when the 2023 season is over. And no, that's not a combination of Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal – this Neal is a former starter that carved out an effective role with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 and should bring a physical presence to the safety room.
But even then, the Buccaneers need a lot of help at safety. Nolan Turner is on the roster, but there's zero guarantee he can turn into a viable depth option.
The team did pick up a couple of undrafted free agents, however, and there's one in particular that could easily find himself on the 53-man roster when it's all said and done: former Rutgers safety Christian Izien.
Izien started 41 consecutive games and played in 50 total games during his time with the Scarlett Knights. He was a very productive player, evidenced by the fact he's just the 14th player in school history to surpass 300+ tackles in a career. He also recorded four interceptions, 15.5 tackles for loss, 19 pass break-ups, three fumble recoveries, and even a blocked kick during his five seasons at Rutgers.
But that's all in the past, obviously. All that matters is what Izien does now in his new pewter and red threads.
When listening to Todd Bowles talk about him, it's easy to see why Izien's name is one to watch over the summer.
"Christian reminds me of [Antoine] Winfield Jr. a little bit in the way he plays," Bowles told reporters Friday. "He’s not the same guy, but obviously, he has a burst and he’s very physical down there… those two guys [Izien and fellow UDFA S Kaevon Merriweather] could have been drafted."
No one is expecting Izien to come in and have the immediate impact Winfield Jr. provided back in 2020. Very few are expecting Izien to even get close to having a career like Winfield Jr.'s, even.
But, even if Izien can develop into a viable S3 or S4 over the years, that's a win for the Buccaneers. Especially if he can find the field and provide quality reps at any point during the 2023 season.
His experience should help him get to that point, too.
"You like the maturity part because they've played a lot of games. It used to be like that back in the day, about maybe 10 years ago we're talking about," Bowles said when asked about older rookies coming in. "Now they come out early so you kind of have to teach them what they know in college then try to advance from there. But guys that have played 40, 50, 60 games in college and have a good understanding of how to play the game, they learn it faster. So that's a big advantage."
The Buccaneers really need to find a viable option behind Winfield Jr. and Neal, especially when considering the former played a career-low 87% of defensive snaps due to injury in 2022 and missed four games for the second-straight season. Neal, while he can cover, he is better suited to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Losing Winfield Jr. for any length of time in 2023 could be disastrous for a Bucs defense that really needs quality play from its safeties.
Izien has a shot to be that guy. He's just gotta make it happen.
