Buccaneers Have a Top 10 Cover Corner, But It's Not Carlton Davis

According to NFL.com's Next Gen Stats

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has gotten a lot of praise, and a lot of criticism - much of that aimed at the secondary. 

Mostly everyone agrees, however, that Carlton Davis is the best member of the secondary, and had he hit the open market this offseason was projected to make a lot of money. 

Davis still got a lot of money, but he did so in a three-year deal worth up to $44 million and returned to the Bucs in the process.

That deal makes him the second-highest paid defender on the team in base salary behind linebacker Lavonte David, according to Spotrac. 

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But dollars don't equal production and it's not Davis that hit the NFL's list of top 10 coverage players according to Next Gen Stats (NGS). 

No, that honor goes to cornerback, Jamel Dean. 

"Dean would be a spot higher on this list if Levi Wallace had not outperformed him in targeted EPA (Expected Points Added)," writes NFL.com's Nick Shook. "That's not much of a knock on Dean, whose NGS metrics jumped off the screen and screamed at me when compiling this list. Quarterbacks completed just 48.5 percent of passes in which Dean was the nearest defender, producing a coverage success rate (the percentage of targets that result in a successful play for the defense) rivaling that of A.J. Terrell, who, as you will see, is ranked very high on this list. And Dean allowed the ninth-lowest passer rating (60.5) in the league. Entering a contract year, Dean has certainly built positive momentum that could result in quite a pay day."

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Dean comes in ninth on the list while Davis is on the outside looking in as a player who "just missed the cut". 

A.J. Terrell, who Dean was compared to favorably here, is the No. 1 coverage defender on the list, making them the only NFC South representatives. 

Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans came in fourth and is the only safety to be named in the top 10. 

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!