It was the system, not time, that held back Sapp from exploding onto the scene.

Common perception is that Warren Sapp didn’t really become Warren Sapp until 1997 when the Bucs went to Pewter uniforms. Thats not exactly correct, as Sapp put some good numbers down in 1996, his second season. His rookie year was still under Sam Wyche and Defensive Coordinator Rusty Tillman. There were streaks of games Sapp did not even start, instead Santana Dotson got the nod. Sapp as we know became the player he turned out to be by becoming a 3 technique extraordinaire. This involved lining up opposite the 3 gap, and firing into this gap and disrupting the offensive backfield. Not using a player the right way is most likely to mislead everyone with his stats. Sapp had 3 sacks in his rookie season, but had 9 in 1996, his second year. 1997 resulted in 10.5 QB take downs for the QB Killa. Derrick Brooks was similar, recording 60 solo tackles in his rookie campaign with 79 overall. But in 1996 under Tony Dungy, Brooks recorded 133 tackles with 92 of them solo. In his Pewter Debut, double nickle laid out 182 opposing uniforms with 118 of them all by himself. So it is not without reason that Gerald McCoy and Brian Price could conceivably play very well despite being rookies because they are in the system they were chosen for, one that utilizes their talents and takes advantage of their best attributes.