Da'Quan Bowers' incredible talent was on display in 2011

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost Da'Quan Bowers to injury, but the former second-round pick certainly showed his talent last season. According to Football Outsiders, 55% of his 'plays' (tackles, sacks, pass defenses and other things that show op on the sheet) last season resulted in 'defeats', which ranked fourth in the NFL. They define a defeat as a play that causes a turnover, a loss of yardage or a third- or fourth-down stop.

The most interesting part of the appearance of Bowers on that list is that he's listed among a large group of pass-rushers, but his own defeats didn't happen as a result of rushing the passer: he only had 1.5 sacks last year. Instead, his 4 passes defensed and his 7.5 tackles for loss were the main reasons for his appearance on the list. Bowers has a lot of talent as a pass-rusher, but didn't get to the passer much.

Of course, there's also one problem there: he only managed to get in on 26 total plays over the season. While part of that is a result of playing as a backup, another part of is that the rookie was simply inexperienced and lost at times, especially in run defense. He'd have his splash plays - but you'd also see him get out of his gap and mess up repeatedly. That's something that will get fixed with experience, but given his Achilles injury, he can't fix those problems right now. Even if he gets back on the field late in the season, that could still be an issue.