New Buccaneers defensive line coach Brentson Buckner saw firsthand what the Buccaneers could do with a good offensive line.
When the NFC South was formed in 2002, the Panthers line he played with alongside Julius Peppers, Kris Jenkins and Mike Rucker formed an immediate rivalry with the Bucs, which featured Hall of Famer Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice.
And while the Bucs bullied their way to the division title in 2002, Bucker was so impressed he flew to Tampa to see their playoff game in person.
“I came down right here for the first playoff game and watched,” Buckner said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Me, Kris Jenkins, Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers, as much as we disliked Warren Sapp, we admired what they did. And I wanted to see what kind of atmosphere they would create when they came out, the energy with which they played with. And to see those guys run out of the tunnel on Sunday, you thought it was an earthquake.
“And I remember calling Mike Rucker from the stands and was like, ‘This is what we’ve got to create in Carolina. They’re doing this with their front four. It’s not the quarterback running out. It’s not the star running back. This is the defensive line that’s being introduced.’ We wanted what those guys created here, and we tried our best to get it.”
The Panthers did it the following year, winning the division (including an epic 12-9 win over the Bucs which included two blocked kicks by the Panthers linemen to force overtime and win).
The difference between what those two lines had and what Buckner has to work with now is simply talent. Other than Gerald McCoy and project Noah Spence, the Bucs don’t have much to work with, which is much of the reason they were last in the league with 22 sacks. Getting them back to anything resembling the glory days will be a big job.