Lavonte David: No. 5
July 21st, 2015
Elite tackler.
‘Tis the season of lists! There is a list for quarterbacks. There is a list for defenses. There is even Joe’s list of hottest Bucs cheerleaders (Do you really wonder who Joe has ranked atop such a list?).
The seasons of lists continues until Bucs training camp opens a week from Saturday. Of course, Bucky Brooks of NFL.com is one purveyor of lists, and this time he has ranked top tacklers. Look who he has at No. 5: Why it is none other than Lavonte David.
The relatively diminutive (6-foot-1, 233 pounds) Buccaneers linebacker lacks ideal size for the position, but there is no disputing his explosive power and pop as a tackler. Few defenders in the NFL can stop runners in their tracks like David, making him one of the scariest defenders to face between the hashes. His nonstop motor and exceptional pursuit quickness allow him to track down runners on outside runs, which drastically shrinks the field for the defense. Considering how quickly he attacks the line of scrimmage after post-snap diagnosis, David’s presence in the middle of the field poses a huge problem for teams attempting to probe the heart of the Buccaneers’ defense.
Joe has written this previously: Never in his life did Joe ever think he would see the reincarnation of Derrick Brooks, but David is damned close.
And please leave Luke Kuechly, Bucky Brooks’ top tackler, out of the conversation. If the Bucs had selected Kuechly rather than Mark “Most Definitely” Barron, the Bucs would not have drafted David. It’s that simple.
Only Matt Millen would tie up that many millions of dollars to the same unit.
July 21st, 2015 at 9:18 am
Another slip in the face to David. He put up his 2014 number missing two games. He should be 2-3 easy, just look up the stats over the last 3 seasons and tell me how he is 5th.
July 21st, 2015 at 9:21 am
a slap too
July 21st, 2015 at 9:27 am
Thanks DamnImFameis.
Anybody want to claim Ace Sanders or sign Reggie Wayne? I’m would consider Ace because there is no real down side to bring him in, he is a local guy.
July 21st, 2015 at 9:56 am
David is not short at 6 foot 1. The inch or two is not much relevant. He is just a more compact tackler and a ferocious hitter at that. I notice the article didn’t give the height and weight of Levy or Kuechly.
July 21st, 2015 at 10:05 am
Lovie got his start as a linebackers coach. Urlaquor and Briggs became household names under Lovie,trust me David is about to get all the kudos he’s been missing out on thru out the league over the last few years.
July 21st, 2015 at 10:08 am
David would have been ranked better if the Bucs had a recent winning record.
I don’t view this as a slap in the face. I view it as motivation. None of our players should be ranked too high unless they help win games. Period.
You can bet that once we have a winning record, he’ll get his pro bowl invite too.
July 21st, 2015 at 10:27 am
@Nos-Bos
You know that Urlacher was a 1st round draft pick with the #9 overall selection! Was the defensive rookie of the year in 2000, He made the Pro-bowl 3 years in a row before Lovie became the bears HC!!!!
I do not consider Urlacher “became household name under Lovie” !!!!
July 21st, 2015 at 10:38 am
Lavonte David had an off year last year due to 21 missed tackles, 0 INT and only one sack. Some of the drop in productivity was due to the two games missed as well as to the adjustment to the new Tampa2 defense. Luke Kuechly did have better stats two out of last three years over David. I am sure Von Miller and Bobby Wagner were ranked ahead of him. So there is only three LB who statistically should be ranked ahead of David over the past three years? I would still take David over all of the above LB. I can not wait to see David line up with Lansanah and Alexander/Carter. The Buccaneers have a playoff caliber LB corps who are ready for a breakout season.
July 21st, 2015 at 10:48 am
tampa2bucsforever
Carter will be out on injury most of the season.
July 21st, 2015 at 11:03 am
LaVonte David WE ARE NOT WORTHY!
If you’re reading this please don’t leave us we need you brother. Please please please stay, championships are overrated. 😉
Plus what better feeling would there be than you leading the bucs to the Lombardi trophy? Thats how you get into the hof.
Who’s your favorite player? (Everybody now) MR.#54!!
You guys are going to see a grown man cry next year when he leaves Tampa:(
July 21st, 2015 at 11:37 am
“If the Bucs had selected Kuechly rather than Mark “Most Definitely” Barron, the Bucs would not have drafted David. It’s that simple.
Only Matt Millen would tie up that many millions of dollars to the same unit.”
Unless your man-crush Dom told you this definitively, you can’t assume that Joe.
In fact – Dom doubled up at DE in 2011 (Clayborn 1, Bowers 2) and doubled up at DT in 2010 (McCoy 1, Price 2).
Linebacker was an area of serious need coming into the 2012 draft and Foster (a natural SAM LBer) had not wowed at MLB in his rookie season.
Considering how much the Bucs liked and wanted LaVonte David (moved up 10 spots to get him in the 2nd round) – it is well within the realm of possibility that they would have done the exact same thing to move up and get him – even after taking Kuechly with the #7 overall pick.
Barron was a terrible pick – especially at #7 overall. Kuechly would have been a fantastic (franchise changing) pick at that spot. If I and everyone I was watching the draft with knew that (we were all screaming for Kuechly when the Bucs were on the clock) – why didn’t Dom know that???
Because he was a terrible GM who was a bad talent evaluator – that’s why!
And considering that the new CBA was already in place at that point – your statement of “tie up that many millions of dollars to the same unit” doesn’t fly either. Nice try though.
The bottom line is that there was no excuse for Dom not to take Kuechly with that high 1st round pick – he was obviously the best player on the board at that spot and this blatant whiff is just one of a long string of reasons that Marc Dominik is no longer employed by an NFL team and probably never will be again – certainly not as a GM anyway.
July 21st, 2015 at 11:45 am
UNLEASH THE BEAST! #LVD
July 21st, 2015 at 11:54 am
100% agree with Pickgrin
Read that quote in the post and was ready to make every single point he already made. You can’t know for certain that they wouldn’t have taken David and in fact, history indicates otherwise
July 21st, 2015 at 12:12 pm
Interesting fact Realist!!! I personally didn’t notice much about Urlaquor until after Lovie’s arrival.
July 21st, 2015 at 12:51 pm
Nole-
For you to say you didn’t know Urlacher until Lovie makes me question how long you’ve been a fan. Urlacher killed the Bucs for two years before the realignment.
July 21st, 2015 at 1:30 pm
I really hope David flourishes this year. Of course that will really depend on everyone else knowing their assignments and staying in their gaps.
LVD was ferocious in Schiano’s defense, and I can’t wait to see him start wreaking havoc in the Tampa 2, but God;s sake can we let this guy blitz at least once in a while?
July 21st, 2015 at 1:51 pm
I knew who he was bro,I’m not into giving to many props to a guy I seen get in our arse you know what I mean.
July 21st, 2015 at 3:11 pm
What Stanglassman said^^^
July 21st, 2015 at 3:17 pm
I want to be the “elite tickler” of the hottest cheerleaders
July 21st, 2015 at 5:12 pm
@pickgrin
I was going to say the same thing about Mark doubling up on the same position 2 years in a row. It’s useless to debate with Joe on anything that makes Mark Dominic look like a bad GM. Mark and Joe Dominic could be a new thing now!
July 22nd, 2015 at 9:26 am
dominick also drafted 2 WRs almost back to back in that McCoy\Price draft. he was never afraid to double down on a position in the draft. maybe they don’t trade up for LVD if Kuechly was the pick, but i can’t be confident they would have passed him over if he had been there when their pick came up.
regardless, this is the year Lavonte starts to closely resemble lance briggs and (fingers crossed) derrick brooks