{"id":737124,"date":"2026-06-15T01:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737124\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T01:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:36:17","slug":"former-buccaneers-defender-shining-with-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/737124\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Buccaneers Defender Shining With Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">One of the bigger losses for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason was nickel cornerback and safety Christian Izien. Izien left Tampa to go to the Detroit Lions this offseason and has been doing well in their offseason workouts, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitfootball.net\/p\/iziens-early-role-filling-sidelined\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Rogers of DetroitFootball.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kv3s8ssn2x4j5xa4nz.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien\" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien\" width=\"360\" height=\"540\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"76\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aug 1, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien (29) participates in training camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">Izien appears to be in two battles this offseason for the Lions \u2014 a battle with veteran defensive back Roger McCreary for the starting nickel cornerback job and a battle with players such as Avonte Maddox and Chuck Clark for backup safety responsibilities. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">It should not be surprising, however, that Izien is not only thriving in Detroit but is being used in a variety of ways on the defensive side of the ball. During his time in Tampa Bay, Izien wore many hats regarding his role in the organization and Todd Bowles&#8217; defense. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kv3s9hhwjjz169vqkr.jpg\" alt=\"NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien\" title=\"NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien\" width=\"360\" height=\"540\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7n\"\/><\/p>\n<p>NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Christian Izien | Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\">According to PFF&#8217;s advanced stats, Izien played all over the field during his three years in Tampa. 41 snaps on the defensive line as a blitzer, 246 snaps in the box as a safety, 378 snaps playing free safety, 853 snaps playing slot cornerback and 64 snaps playing outside cornerback. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7u\">This snap spread shows not just the level of versatility that Izien brought to the Buccaneers and will bring to the Lions, but also shows the amount of trust that head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs defensive coaching staff had in Izien and his ability to fill in wherever they needed him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kv3s76bbxansr5g1sj.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers safety Miles Killebrew\" title=\"Pittsburgh Steelers safety Miles Killebrew\" width=\"360\" height=\"540\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"84\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dec 1, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers safety Miles Killebrew (28) runs off the field after the victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"88\">While the Bucs did bring in players to help on special teams in the secondary with guys like Miles Killebrew, Chase Lucas and Kemon Hall, they didn&#8217;t bring in a free agent who can offer the same type of versatility that they were getting with Izien. However, they did draft former Miami Hurricane Keionte Scott in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Scott has a very similar build to Izien and should also play with a very physical style, giving the Bucs a very similar amount of versatility as the team saw with Izien during the past three seasons.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kv3s67qt20m27m383e.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Rashad Wisdom\" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Rashad Wisdom\" width=\"360\" height=\"540\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8i\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aug 1, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Rashad Wisdom (38) participates in training camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8m\">The Bucs are also very high on former undrafted safety J.J. Roberts out of Marshall. Roberts is coming back from an injury that knocked him out of the 2025 season, and he should be in contention for not just a roster spot this training camp with fellow safeties Rashad Wisdom and Marcus Banks, but he could very well crack the gameday rotation for the Buccaneers when needed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8p\">Sign up to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/buccaneers\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BucsGameday?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bucsgameday?s=21&amp;t=nyCeWGVWMsSpULqWCupqGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/buccaneersgameday?igsh=NWVob203dzZpYnp0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for the latest news.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the bigger losses for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason was nickel cornerback and safety Christian&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-737124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}