Good Tackling
June 2nd, 2015
Data shows Lavonte David is an elite tackler.
Nothing drives Joe to throw rocks at traffic more than rotten tackling. It drives Joe insane when defenders try to blow up ball carriers, fail to wrap up, and watch said ball carrier run downfield.
Damn, just thinking about it, Joe slammed his mouse on his desk.
This pretty much came to a halt last year under the tutelage of Lovie Smith. The Bucs were one of the best teams for not allowing ball carriers to break tackles. Per Vincent Verhei of Football Outsiders, the Bucs had the third-lowest/best average in the NFL. Only the Bears and New England were better.
In fact, two Bucs linebackers were among the best at their position when it came to wrapping up last year. Former middle linebacker Mason Foster did not allow one broken tackle, per Verhei. Foster also ranked second-best among linebackers in missed tackles, only Jonathan Bostic of the Bears was better.
The third-best linebacker for tackling? That would be Lavonte David.
The lone blemish on the Bucs defense was “Hawk” Goldson, who was among the worst defensive backs for giving up broken tackles. He coughed up a dozen.
June 2nd, 2015 at 8:35 am
Anyone still mad that we got rid of the Hawk?
June 2nd, 2015 at 8:52 am
And yet people hated Greg Schiano because he had the audacity to continue to teach professional football players simple things like proper tackling technique.
June 2nd, 2015 at 8:53 am
Yet the talking heads say Washington secondary will be much improved with Goldson. Do these media writer actually research the Bucs before commenting? Obviously not.
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:05 am
The Squawk….”America’s Miss Tackle Safety”
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:11 am
100 days until we get to see LVD smash Mariota when he takes off on a scramble!!!
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:24 am
Senor Mofo Says:
June 2nd, 2015 at 8:52 am
And yet people hated Greg Schiano because he had the audacity to continue to teach professional football players simple things like proper tackling technique.
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And yet they didn’t actually exhibit proper tackling technique until a non-college coach took over. Schiano was among the worst coaches the Bucs have EVER had.
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:33 am
Interesting how there are discrepencies in this kind of analytics…I’m pretty sure ProFootbalFocus said that Lavonte missed way more tackles than usual last season.
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:49 am
Foster, a sure tackler was let go because he could not cover short passes, only to wind up with a division foe. Lovie gets a feather in his cap for the overall sure tackling. The Hawk gets his just rewards, coughed out.
June 2nd, 2015 at 10:05 am
Of course Mason was great, let em catch it, then get the sure tackle. Don’t get me wrong, Mase, was one of my favorite players, but how about we defend some passes, no rule against breaking up a pass play unless you hit em’ like the Hawk did in 2014
June 2nd, 2015 at 11:12 am
You mean, just maybe, Pro Football Focus is not the absolute last say in NFL tendancies? (gasp)
June 2nd, 2015 at 11:12 am
How about Danny Lansanah coming in at #5 on that list?
June 2nd, 2015 at 11:43 am
Dude I’m shocked and amazed. Looking at the tape you’d think we can’t tackle at all. I guess stats are for losers.
June 2nd, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Kwon Alexander and Bruce Carter are tackling machines also, and both of them has just as much speed as Lavonte. Hardy Nickerson is excited about his LB group, maybe the fastest group in the league.
June 2nd, 2015 at 12:43 pm
Since when did Chicago become a division foe? That’s where Mason Foster went.
June 2nd, 2015 at 12:49 pm
Have to give credit to Coach Schiano on this one! While the percentage went down slightly from 2013 to 2014 from 6% to 5.3%. You have to take in account of all the plays for loss more that 2013 had in the attacking defense compared to the ” passive defense” (according to mark barron) of Lovie’s defense that keeps all plays in front.
June 2nd, 2015 at 3:32 pm
I wasn’t suggesting that PFF was the be-all-end-all, although I do enjoy their site, I just find it interesting that two well-respected sources can watch the same tape and come to different conclusions about something that seems relatively cut and dry.
June 2nd, 2015 at 4:54 pm
Ben the GA Buc… thanks for the correction, I was thinking the Falcons.
June 2nd, 2015 at 8:29 pm
clayborn is probably who you’re thinking about buccfan37
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:12 pm
I want to throw my tablet right now, the bucs suck!
June 2nd, 2015 at 11:02 pm
The Bucs have a MLB now in Carter who can tackle like Foster but can also cover passes deep down the seam too and is much faster than Foster. That is the reason the Bucs will be in the top ten on Defense. Lovie is a novice at Offense but he is dynamite on Defense. If we have even an average OL, with all the great skill players we have and a Pro and proven NFL OC so we should be winning a lot more than just six wins. This will be a competitive team this year unless Winston gets hurt and we have to depend on Glennon.