Buccaneers targeting safety Sydney Brown?

Sydney Brown has gotten a lot of attention from mainstream media throughout the draft process because of his unique story. Brown doesn’t just come into the draft alone he comes with a twin brother. He and his brother Chase are each vying for the attention of NFL teams this offseason. Brown’s brother is a running back and former teammate of Sydney out of the University of Illinois.

In short order, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are likely to be faced with the reality that their incredibly deep group of safeties from years passed will wither away to a group of nameless faces behind young star Antione Winfield Jr. The Buccaneers are navigating major cap issues this offseason and a long list of pending free agents. In the defensive backfield alone, they are going to be faced with losing 4 players who received a decent share of playing time last season, cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting and safeties Mike Edwards and Keanu Neal. Three of the four are homegrown talents who have worked to develop themselves into desirable free agents this offseason.

With two safeties set to hit the market, it makes sense that the Buccaneers may be looking into a prospect like Sydney Brown. The safety out of Illinois has some concerns around his size and frame, measuring in at five feet 10 inches. An undersized prospect might not be something that deters Tampa though, see Antione Winfield Jr. Another young reliable safety, opposite Winfield Jr. could really help a Tampa Bay defense that was still respectable last season but played beneath its own caliber.

At the combine, Sydney Brown clocked a 4.47 40. He was on the tip of Tampa Bay’s scouts’ tongues as he took the field. The traits and abilities that seemed to excite Tampa’s brass were his good ball production from college, Brown tallied 10 career interceptions at Illinois, six of them last year alone. His ability to handle himself in man or match coverages was also a topic of praise and while some have him scouted as a prospect who may struggle against tight ends at the NFL level the Bucs scouts seemed confident that was another positive that Brown could bring to the team.

The evaluation period for teams is long and far from its conclusion, however it would appear at least for the time being Sydney Brown is a player on the Buccaneers’ radar that they could see a future with.

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