A former Buccaneers player expressed a strong belief that Tampa Bay’s defense will not feel the absence of Carlton Davis.
After experiencing disappointment with Cameron Sutton’s performance last season, the Detroit Lions are banking on Carlton Davis to step up as their
primary shutdown cornerback. Davis is confident that he can fulfill this role within a defensive scheme that emphasizes more man coverage.
However, a concern surrounding Davis as he joins the Lions is his history of inconsistent availability. Throughout his six seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he played a minimum of 10 games but never exceeded 14 in a single season. Additionally, his performance dipped last year.
Ian Beckles, who played guard in the NFL for nine seasons with the Buccaneers, shared his thoughts on Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht’s moves in free agency on a recent episode of his podcast “In The Trenches.”
Ex-Buccaneer criticizes Lions cornerback Carlton Davis.
Beckles had a lot to express regarding Davis.
“Carlton Davis wasn’t good last year,” Beckles said. “Carlton Davis was on the bad end of a lot of very big offensive plays. The one that comes to mind was Scotty Miller catching a bomb on him. I think Scotty Miller caught two balls last year. And one of them was on Carlton Davis deep against Atlanta.”
“I didn’t think Carlton Davis had a very good year,” Beckles continued. “So Carlton Davis was traded to the Lions. You are also getting rid of a lot of cap space. A lot of cap money. When you bring in a Carlton Davis, are we better with Carlton Davis? I’m not sure. Because there were times last year when Carlton Davis was out and the Buccaneers played better defensively. They did. I saw it.”
Let’s analyze whether the statistics support Beckles’ claim that the Buccaneers’ defense performed better without Davis last season. Specifically, we’ll look at points and passing yards allowed in the five games he missed (he played only 10 snaps in another game).
Week 2 vs. Chicago Bears: 17 points allowed; 169 passing yards allowed
Week 3 vs. Philadelphia Eagles: 25 points allowed, 271 passing yards allowed
Week 10 vs. Tennessee Titans: 6 points allowed, 167 passing yards allowed
Week 15 at Green Bay Packers: 20 points allowed, 261 passing yards allowed
Week 17 vs. New Orleans Saints: 23 points allowed, 202 passing yards allowed
Tampa Bay ranked 29th in pass defense last year, allowing an average of 248.9 yards per game, but they were seventh in scoring defense, giving up 19.1 points per game. Based on the five games he missed, along with the one where he played very little, Davis didn’t appear to significantly influence the team’s defensive performance, either positively or negatively, over a substantial sample size.
When Davis was acquired, he carried a $14.35 million cap hit for the year, which was the final year of his contract. The Lions have since restructured his contract to create cap space. While the Buccaneers did save some cap money, Beckles’ characterization of it as “a lot” seems exaggerated.
Only time will tell if Davis lives up to the Lions’ expectations and fulfills his claim of being a lockdown corner. However, Beckles’ harsh criticism of him seems out of place. If it had come from a former teammate of Davis’ in Tampa Bay, it would carry more weight.