Bucs looking at blitzing?

If you've watched the Bucs' defense for any length of time, you probably know not to expect much (if any) blitzing from defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

I get the sense it's not his favorite thing and, truth be told, it may or may not work so well within the Tampa 2 scheme.

But I'm starting to get the feeling Tampa Bay is looking at some ways to implement some more blitz packages into its system. There have been bits and pieces of conversations this offseason with Kiffin and others that lead me to believe this. And when Jon Gruden mentioned the possibility during the draft on Saturday, I really started to pay attention.

After drafting Aqib Talib and in trying to convey the current strength of the secondary, Gruden said, "We do have the ability now, I think, in the secondary to mix up coverages if we choose to blitz a little bit more -- which is a big part of the National Football League these days. It's good to have some ball-hawking guys back there that can cover man-to-man and instinctively play the football when it's in flight."

It's an important point. If the Bucs are to mix in some blitz, they'll have to play something that at least resembles man-to-man coverage against receivers. Most times, it's linebackers (and sometimes safeties) that do the blitzing. So, if you were to send a linebacker or two, you would not have them available in pass coverage, as is customary in the Bucs' zone defense.

Something that can't be underestimated here is the impression other team's blitzes have made on Gruden. He went on and on before and after January's playoff game about the Giants' blitzes, almost lustfully. Hard to blame him considering how effective New York was in using them.

Now that I'm putting all this together, I guess it's a question I need to ask a little more directly when the opportunity arises. But there was definitely some experimentation underway in the secondary last season with a variety of other coverages. And Kiffin himself has told me that even though their scheme is effective, they are constantly trying to find ways to tweak it to be a little less predictable.

One way to do that would be to throw something new into the mix -- like a little more blitz.