Buc Ball- Is Ronde a safe choice?

Ronde Barber is one of the all time great Buccaneers, in a poll ran by the official Buccaneer UK fan club ( Top 100 players )he came 3rd to the late Lee Roy Selmon who has been immortalised in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Derrick Brooks who as you saw in my last piece, is a knockout candidate to get to Canton. Barber's career has lasted 15 seasons and he enters his 16th in a position that he has had some experience in but this was somewhat limited. Ronde Barber has spent the majority of his career at cornerback, he has played in nickel and dime packages for the Bucs but has spent time on the "island" going toe to toe with some of the better guys in the game, although he hasn't done it for a while partially due to his age and modern receivers being much bigger in stature. Barber was drafted in 1997 but didn't see serious action until the 98 season, taken part in all 16 games and starting 9. Since then, Barber has played in every game for the franchise, all but one as a starter. A phenomenal achievement given that his position, more so that so Quarterback is a young man's job!


Barber will go down as a Buccaneer legend first and foremost, he has had many memorable moments for the Franchise His most notable being the "pick 6" he had against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2002 NFC Championship Game. It sealed the game and sent the Buccaneers to San Diego where they went on to win the Super Bowl, and have not been back since. Ronde’s “coast to coast run” was also voted the number one Buccaneer play of all time by the Buccaneers official fan club: The Best Play in Franchise History

The play can be seen here, it is 10:28 into the video:

Spoiler:

Barber was never the tallest Cornerback but he had good speed, instincts and what was important in Monte Kiffin's famous defence, good tackling ability. He holds many NFL records, and for a large part of his career was a very solid cornerback. When talking about his possibilities of making it to the Hall of Fame, you would ask was he ever considered the best in the game? Unfortunately I think the answer is no, he has made Pro Bowls and All-Pros but I wonder was he ever considered elite, while his best days came before I was a fan of the team, I get the impression the Barber was never considered an elite Cornerback like say Darrelle Revis or Nnamdi Asomugha were. Or that's what some Buccaneer fans think. You could argue that some of his records (and he has quite a lot!) come down to longevity or playing primarily as a nickel guy, but he has put up some great numbers. He also deserves immense praise for the way he has carried himself throughout his career, he has maintained a high level of fitness in a position that isn't suited to aging veterans, his performance has declined over the past few years but he is still a very solid player.

Ronde's records and accomplishments :

Only NFL Player with at least 40 interceptions and 25 sacks (Barber has 45 interceptions and 27 sacks)

5x Pro Bowl (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008)
3x First Team All-Pro (2001, 2004, 2005)
2x Second Team All-Pro (2002, 2006)
Super Bowl Champion (XXXVII- 37)
NFL 2000s All- Decade Team
Ed Block Courage Award (2011)- award giving to NFL players who are role models in inspiration, courage and sportsmanship.
Most Consecutive starts by an NFL Cornerback
Most QB sacks by an NFL Cornerback
Active leader in defensive TDs/ consecutive starts.
2001 NFL Interception Leader
2006 NFL interception Touchdown Leader
20/20 Club Member (members need 20 sacks and 20 interceptions to get in Barber is the only cornerback in the club, which has 10 other members)



It's important to note that Barber's last on field accomplishment really came in 2008 (excluding Ed Block Award as it's more for leadership and more about being a great team mate and leader, while the All Decades team acknowledgment was based on his work prior to 2008) since then Barber has gone into a bit of a decline. Over the past 3 seasons, Barber has led the league in missed tackles, while Buccaneer fans won't be surprised to see a former team mate follow in Barber's footsteps, Tanard Jackson is in second place who amasses 7 less missed tackles than Barber. What is astonishing about "Tjax" however is the fact that he accrued 50% less playing time than Barber. Maybe it's not such a bad thing he got let go! There are 3 Buccaneers on the lost and if you saw the porous defence of the Buccaneers last season (it was bad in other seasons but never so bad), you shouldn't be surprised. In defence of Barber, he lined up in some pretty strange roles under Raheem Morris last season, it looked at times as if he was playing a linebacker role, pretty insane for a man of his size and stature.


Barber may have been suited to a role as safety in the past but his decline in the tackle area in particular leaves me incredibly concerned, ProFootball Focus studied how efficient defensive backs were in the tackle area, Barber was tied 8th in the standings, although he had 200 more snaps than most candidates. Tanard Jackson took the spoils in that department. Missing a tackle roughly every 4 times he attempts one. Barber's was closer to 6 ( precisely 5.6 attempts per missed tackle) and while Cornerbacks such as Nnamdi Asomugha are statistically worse, Barber moving to a position where efficiency is so important (unless you're Tanard Jackson) would leave me concerned as a Buccaneer fan. Is he really reliable to make the crucial tackles? There is no doubting he has some great instincts and this could lead to some interceptions and broken up plays but the fact that Free safeties like Danieal Manning , Jarius Byrd , OJ Atogwe were all in the top 15 of efficient tacklers would suggest that being a guy who can wrap up solidly and get the guy down is far more important than making the occasional big hit like Tanard Jackson did. Is Barber that guy? The stats would suggest he mightn't be. Only time will tell I suppose.

Pic that could be used:

Spoiler:

http://v2journal.com/buc-ball-is-ronde-a-safe-choice.html

He's savvy and he's a complete pro. He's the least of my worries on our defence.

He was a pretty big problem last year. If it were any other team I don't think he would be startign I think Bucs fans judgment is a bit clouded with Barber. I think he will be relatively solid and there are more concerns on the defensive line and corners buthe won't set the world alight.

Not sure how much NFL Network you watch, but there's one thing Warren Sapp has been saying a lot this off season: as long as Sapp has known him, Ronde has always been a 'gambler'. It's what has produced so many fantastic plays, especially the NFC 2002 Champ game, but as Sapp keeps warning, you cannot gamble like that when you're a safety. It made me wonder how many times Ronde's 'missed' tackles were due to him not being able to tackle as well any more, or whether gambling so much just left him too often in bad angles to make the tackle. I reckon his success at safety will be all down to whether or not he can fight the instinct to attempt for a pick at the risk of leaving his deep half of the field exposed