Ever since the Bucs released safety Jordan Whitehead, the notion was that Tampa Bay would move Tykee Smith from nickelback to strong safety to replace him. The reasoning behind this would be that Smith is one of the Bucs’ best players in the secondary and putting him at safety would increase his playing time from around 75% in the slot to 100% and playing the entire game with the chance of making even more plays.
However, after speaking with general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles, those plans might be a little different. In March at the NFL Scouting Combine, Bowles hinted that Tykee Smith could be moving to his more natural position at safety, and that was even before Whitehead didn’t have the option year on his contract declined by the team.
Todd Bowles Needs Tykee Smith For All 17 Games
So why the sudden change in course? It has nothing to do with the capabilities of Tykee Smith, last year’s third-round pick, but more so his ability to stay healthy. Smith missed four games last season due to injury, and the Bucs might be planning to keep him ready to play all 17 and the postseason.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and NCB Tykee Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“Confidence in Tykee is high,” Bowles said. “It’s just a matter of him being healthy. We think he’s a heck of a football player. Coming back, just being a rookie, it’s kind of tough to go through a year like and go through 17 games plus playoff games and preseason. That’s a lot of games. So hopefully he comes back more conditioned for the NFL season, I think he’ll be fine. From a confidence standpoint, we feel like we can put him anywhere.”
Perhaps playing fewer snaps at nickelback would keep Smith healthier in the long run than playing more snaps at safety would?
Regardless of where Smith plays in 2025, Tampa Bay needs to figure out what they want to do at safety and nickelback – wherever Smith doesn’t play. A benefit that the team does have is that Antoine Winfield Jr. is hopefuly back for a full season.
“Hundred percent confident he will be healthy,” Bowles said. “He’s been training his butt off. Win’s a guy, he’s not going to say much, he’s going to train and get back to himself. He always has a chip on his shoulder whether he’s a first-round pick or a free agent. If he can stay healthy he’ll be the same guy he was two years ago.
“He got injured first [week of the season]. The second one was friendly fire, obviously that was frustrating for him. He could never get his feet on the ground and the season kind of ended that way. He’s very determined to come back and be what he was.”
What Will The Bucs Do At Safety?
Bucs DB Tykee Smith and FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht was also noncommittal to Tykee Smith playing next to Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety, citing that the team didn’t want to put too much on his plate entering his second season in red and pewter, though he could probably handle it.
“It’s definitely something that Todd [Bowles] has talked about,” Licht said. “You don’t want to load up a rookie with too much. I think with Tykee having a year under his belt can handle a lot more. It just kind of depends on how the construction of the roster continues here after the draft, but it could be a possibility.”
Licht also did admit that Smith is the type of player that would be able to make the move without dealing with too much of an adjustment based the heady player that he is. But whether he’s best utilized at safety or nickelback is another decision that Licht and Bowles will have to make this offseason – likely after seeing the outcome of the 2025 NFL Draft and what defensive backs are selected.
“He’s definitely wired the right way,” Licht said. “He wants to play all the time. So do a lot of young players – and older players. But our young players – that’s a quality we like in them. They want to do whatever they can to get on the field as much as they can.”
