Bucs fans are used to seeing Lavonte David play great, game after game after game. And aside from a terribly public gaffe in Week 1 of the NFL season, David has demonstrated nothing but being one of the game’s best linebackers.

Case in point is a category called “run stuff,” which is stopping a ballcarrier at the line of scrimmage. In this stat, David has few if any peers, so notes the Buccaneers.

Since his first game with the team, Bucs LB Lavonte David has shown his run-stopping abilities. David has 9.0 run stuffs this season, the second-most in the NFL and most by a linebacker. Over the past two seasons, his 23.5 run stuffs trail only Houston DE J.J. Watt (30).

David is simply a ballhawk, there really is no other way to describe it. He is a tackling machine. Joe will have something later today on David when he spoke with him earlier in the week.

A sneak peek: David is as humble and modest of an NFL player as you will find. He’s friends with Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner, of Carolina and Seattle, respectively, two guys who David came into the league with last year and guys who are gaining a lot of notoriety for their stellar play. Well, David had something to say about those who suggest he is playing in their shadows.