Spreadsheeters Not Fond Of David
January 26th, 2015
Spreadsheeters were not overly impressed with Bucs OLB Lavonte David in 2014.
Joe brought word last week that stud outside linebacker Lavonte David was trying to get both his name and likeness out there for deserved recognition.
In fact, David is going to the Valley of the Sun this week to press flesh with NFL movers and shakers, and likely take a trip through radio row, and the makeshift studios of the NFL Network, Fox Sports 1 and BSPN, as well.
(Joe also believes this is a marketing effort to other teams, as David nears potential free agency.)
NFL fans, and to a degree players and coaches, have disrespected David and have, so far, prevented him from eating pineapple (or in this year’s case, munch on chips and salsa).
But it seems it isn’t just fans and fellow NFLers that David must impress. He also needs to warm over the spreadsheeters. Thomas Maney of Pro Football Focus ran his Excel programs and didn’t see fit to include David in his All-NFC South division team.
Linebackers: Thomas Davis (CAR) and Luke Kuechly (CAR)
Few linebackers played as well in coverage as Davis, who allowed just 7.1 yards per reception. In fact, the only linebacker with a better grade in coverage this season was his teammate, Kuechly, who picked up a ridiculous 81 defensive stops in the middle.
You know, when folks can’t even include David in an all-division team, the dude needs a serious public relations campaign. That is just criminal. Of course, playing for the worst team in the NFL doesn’t help.
The sad thing is, Joe couldn’t blame David if he did leave the Bucs after 2015 (though Joe is all but certain he would get a franchise tag). The guy has never experienced winning in the NFL. If some team, say Bill Belicheat or Seattle or even Jerry Jones threw a check at him, Joe couldn’t blame him for leaving.
Every player with heart wants to win. And right now Joe doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Bucs.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:13 am
David ain’t goin’ nowhere!!!
January 26th, 2015 at 9:21 am
Hope not.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:21 am
Lavonte David is the best and most complete OLB in the NFL. What a joke that the Pro Bowl employs a 4-3 defensive format requirement – but most of the OLBers chosen are 3-4 guys with only sacks on their resumes.
The upside for the the Bucs is that when it gets down to the bottom line of negotiating $s for a long term contract – they aren’t negotiating with a 3 time pro-bowler.
C’mon Joe – there’s light to be seen. 2-14 was hard to stomach – but at least Lovie did the right thing at the end of the season in tanking to get us a legit QB.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:23 am
The public relations campaign that REALLY needs to be mounted, belongs to one Lovie Smith.
He has a massive rebuilding effort ahead and all of the good will he had when he arrived last year, has come and gone. It is going to be very tough for he and Jason to try to convince Buc’s Free Agents to re-up and even tougher to cherry pick top NFL Free Agents to come to loserville.
Good Luck!
January 26th, 2015 at 9:31 am
it is a sad state of affairs….I don’t think this franchise has hit bottom yet….won’t until Lovie is gone
January 26th, 2015 at 9:34 am
ProFootballFocus is pretty terrible and I don’t understand how people think it’s useful. They’re evaluations are purely biased and not based on anything in particular. Football Outsiders crushes those chumps.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:35 am
LVD may very well trigger a bidding war in FA. Don’t kid yourselves into thinking he’s a lock to resign here.
The guy has played his heart out and wants a ring. A 2-14 team isn’t exactly on the road to success. The Bucs desperately need to show some improvement.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:39 am
Plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.
We have a coach that has seen that light before, and has a plan in place to get us there.
Lovie doesn’t have to worry about players wanting to play for him, he is a players coach widely respected.
And we have a great young QB prospect on the way soon to team with our great young receiver.
The man took over a train wreck. Give it a little time.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:40 am
JoeJoes Fungi Nails Says:
it is a sad state of affairs….I don’t think this franchise has hit bottom yet….won’t until Lovie is gone
———————-
Does the bottom of the ocean have a basement?
Lovie’s only hope is Koetter.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:42 am
Joe couldn’t blame David if he did leave the Bucs after 2015?
what kind of nonsense is that. oh im gonna go somewhere else where spreadsheeters appreciate me more even though my team loves me and wants me to spend my entire career here and will pay me like one of the top linebackers…yea great comment joe, im just kidding that was a stupid comment. what the hell was matthew Stafford doing in the probowl? he had a 12-4 record or something like that but did you know josh freeman put up better numbers than that in his first year under greg schiano?
bucs simply have to win even though our own fans talk as if it’s impossible but when the bucs start winning these fools in the media and spreadsheeters will talk about this guy as if he’s been talked about as one of the best his entire career even though he has been one of the best his entire career
January 26th, 2015 at 9:44 am
I’ll say this: David was not allowed to free lance and attack like he was with schiano. That allowed him to utilize his strengths big time. This Tampa two was too disciplined in zone assignments and gap disciplined. You saw his play vastly imrpoved as the year went on but he didn’t blitz as much as he was able to with the attacking 4-3.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:46 am
Eric Says:
January 26th, 2015 at 9:39 am
Plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.
We have a coach that has seen that light before, and has a plan in place to get us there.
Lovie doesn’t have to worry about players wanting to play for him, he is a players coach widely respected.
And we have a great young QB prospect on the way soon to team with our great young receiver.
The man took over a train wreck. Give it a little time.
—————————————-
I will say Eric that you are the eternal optimist.
60% of us will maintain that it was Lovie alone who took a derailed train and turned it into a wreck.
A little time? Take a look at the his personnel decisions. It will take at least 2 good drafts to replace what he already replaced.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:55 am
The sad part is it’s all about being on a bad team. The team prevents good players like David from being recognized nationally. I believe that if McCoy was drafted so high, they would overlook him also. We start wining and he will get his just do. Sad, but true.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:00 am
HAHAHAHAHAHA – Joe you are suppose to spinning this to hope the draft will be our savior!!!
January 26th, 2015 at 10:02 am
@Biff
Well I imagine over half the fans wanted to run Chucky out of town also. (and did so)
The original cause of the train wreck.
So, not such a good track record around here for blaming coaches – among fans or the lame local media hacks.
The “rockstar” was cropped up for five years.
The man has only had one season. He is a proven winner. Good things are coming.
He selected the rookie of the year candidate in last years draft. Other promising rookies got playing time. Eight losses were by seven points or less.
It’s coming.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:08 am
David should leave the Bucs. It hurts me to say that but with the horrible decisions the Glazer clowns make with the hiring of a mediocre has been coach that never was. David does not stand a chance of wining before his first social security check. Yes other teams deploy tampa 2 schemes but they all are far more aggressive then Lovie’s D. There is the reason players have called it passive. Funny how quick they get shipped out when calling a spade a spade. Goldson will be out the door next. Bend and don’t break worked in 90’s but no longer does. Blame goldson all you want for being over payed. There is not a person reading this now, who would turn down money or tell a gm well I am not a good fit in these schemes so give me less money. Goldson was an all pro elsewhere and most likely will follow the tradition of other good players out the door and he will play to a probowl level and enjoy a playoff game or two with his new team next year.
Letting good players constantly leave because the coaches are two ignorant to get the best out of them or to stubborn to modify their system is the main problem in Tampa. Plus, I am sick of all the choirboy crap… If a staff can’t handle a bad apple or two they should not be in the pro business. The world is not perfect nor are all the players in it. It’s insane for players to get shipped out because of minor instances and disagreements with the power hungry has been coach. A lot of so called bad apples have stayed out of trouble elsewhere with PROPER LEADERSHIP and better working environment. Lovie had his way with this team of yes man / choriboys who are weak and blow leads in the 4th qtr. You are what your record says you are Soft, Weak and 2-14.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:12 am
And here is some more light at the end of the tunnel.
http://instagram.com/p/yTikfNhMb_/?modal=true
Look at those bad apples Jameis is hanging around with.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:13 am
The organization doesn’t do much to help. The billboards feature Goldson, we are forced to look at “McCown’s Town” in the endzone, etc. David, GMC, and Evans are the only players that give us hope. They need to lock David up and feature the man!
January 26th, 2015 at 10:13 am
Now that’s what I call a snub geez who’s daughter did he defile lmao he can’t even make the all south team yet according to the stat sheets he’s second n totals stops in the nfl only to jj watt he’s got atleast 15 more stops then kueckly it think it’s like at 95 to watts 99 or suttin talk about favoritism!! That’s ight Hough u keep makin bucs fans proud 54 I kno the truth n I rock your jersey proudly brother!!!
January 26th, 2015 at 10:14 am
yep Schiano > Lovie liar
January 26th, 2015 at 10:21 am
Eric
Nice picture… The Jameis haters will still find someway to make something negative out of it. It’s going to kill the haters when he stays out of trouble and is drafted first overall. Lovie made this team dramatically worse with is last off season decisions let’s hope he makes a few mistakes this year and gets one right. Winston is his best option to win now.
Draft Winston and Promote Koetter! Just say no to Lovie!
January 26th, 2015 at 10:23 am
David is currently on the side of the stadium.
Lovie had nothing to do with Goldsten. We had no QB when he took over. There were very limited QB options – McCown and Vick basically. And, only five draft choices and tons of holes on the team.
Schiano?
Heck Raheem Morris found a coordinator job before him.
He’s not even in the discussion when a college gig comes up….
January 26th, 2015 at 10:26 am
145 total tackles and 17 tackle for loss. He ranks 6th and 5th respectively. He ranked 3rd in tackle for loss out of LB’s.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:31 am
you nailed it chris. i wondered how playing in a disciplined defense would look for his numbers. schiano’s bs D put him in a great position to make plays. he still had a really good year. i wonder if we get MLB who is more of a coverage guy will he be freed up t make more splash plays. he’s a grt player though and no way the bucs can afford let him walk. maybe we can get the perryman kid out of miami. or maybe lansanah can play middle. not hating on foster, just think he’d be better at SAM for us. always thought he’s better suited for that spot anyway.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:33 am
Eric he had nothing to do with acquire Goldson but had everything to do with coaching him this year. Simply put Lovie is too rigid of a system coach. He easily could have modified the safety position to more reflect Goldson’s skill set same with Lavonte David. David was so much better when allowed to use his great instincts and blitz more. Lovie turns the front for lose but the back 7 guys are in a very rigid system or they give up big plays. I think the rule changes more than anything make the passive bend don’t break defenses irrelevant.
Raheem’s a good coach who was hung out to dry by the glazer clowns. They were paying down the man u debt and gave rah nothing to work with. He was too young and made a lot of mistakes but he will be a head coach in this league again. Unlike Lovie who was given a blank check and proceeded to light the cash on fire with horrible decisions and signings.
I do agree there was limited QB options and that the bucs did not nor currently have a nfl level QB on the roster. Lovie has to draft Winston.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:01 am
@ tmax
I agree 120% with the first part of your post. Second part not so much.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:02 am
PFF is irrelevant! They know NOTHING about football and since they pushed Anthony Collins as an elite tackle, I put more stock in what my server at McDonalds has to say…about ANYTHING! Anthony Collins…NUF SAID!
January 26th, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Need players to win, and can’t afford to lose the great ones.
January 26th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
Schianos defense wasnt as complex as Lovies. At least in regards to what the wlb is responsible for. Just wait. I have a feeling this defense will be top 10 next year. Of course we need upgrades at de and s not to mention we will probably be developing a mlb too but David Mccoy and Banks gives our defense s good core going forward.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
I think those sign’s on the walls of RJS touting players are pure rinky dink. Where was Lovie’s Losers?
January 26th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Did David have any real impact plays in 2014?
Love Lavonte but he went from 5 picks and 6 sacks in 2013 to what in 2014?
May have an impact on outsiders views of #54.
Go Sucs!
January 26th, 2015 at 2:55 pm
by david’s already lofty standards, it was a down year. he was a tackling machine in a scheme where he ought to be making most of the tackles. but the splash stats he assembled under schiano have gone way down. maybe he will be more of a difference-maker with a year under his belt, but it’s possible he will never be the statistical freak in this scheme that he was in the previous one.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:32 pm
Year 1 of Lovie’s scheme and he did a good job. The first half of the season LVD was over pursued his gap responsibility, and ran his self out of plays. In the second half of the season he stayed in his gap and made the play. Some were tackles for loss. I know he will be great in year 2 of Lovie’s scheme.
January 26th, 2015 at 4:35 pm
@ElioT. Don’t get to caught up in those stats. Brooks never had more than 3 sacks in a season and only had 13 in his career..Cover 2 is a new system which requires a pass rush to help create bad throws which lead to those INT you are looking for. David is an All Pro WLB.
January 26th, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Go pull up #55 stats in 1996 which is his first year in the cover 2 system. Lets be a little more optimistic.
January 26th, 2015 at 5:25 pm
David seriously struggled in coverage the first half of the season. He played much better down the stretch but if the first half of the season is factored in, it will obviously bring down his seasonal stats.
January 27th, 2015 at 11:28 pm
Derrick brooks made it into the hall of fame playing the same position as LVD. Don’t tell me that the Tampa 2 is holding lavonte down. He’s just getting comfortable in the system. It’s new to him and the rest of the team. As he gets comfortable with the system and the players, you will see more attacking.