Who Is Playing Middle Linebacker?
December 10th, 2015
Lovie talks middle linebacker. A little.
Bucs fans have to face the ugly fact: Kwon Alexander is gone.
The studly rookie starting middle linebacker will not play again this year, unless of course the Bucs make the playoffs.
The next three games are critical. They are winnable, but that doesn’t mean two of the three will be pushovers (the Lambs are about dead). Two of the next three opponnets have quarterbacks that can light up a defense if the moment is right.
The first is Sunday’s opponent, Drew Brees and the Saints. With Alexander gone, you can bet your $10 cup of lukewarm, foamy Bud Light that Brees is going to aim for the middle of the Bucs’ defense, oh, maybe a dozen times or more Sunday.
Why not,when backups are playing there?
So who is playing in place of Alexander? Well, as one can guess, the always open Bucs coach Lovie Smith, always at the top of his high school gamesmanship ways, danced around the subject yesterday.
“We have a plan, I’m very comfortable with saying that,” Lovie said. “I think you guys know who we’ve been playing in that area. As far as who we are going to go with, we are going to go through the week, really. We talked about Bruce Carter, Danny Lansanah, guys that have both played that position. We always like options when we have situations like this that come up. We feel pretty good. There’s a reason why Kwon Alexander was our starter, but we feel pretty good about the group of linebackers we’ll put on the field this week.”
Here comes the dicey part: Bruce Carter is coming out of the concussion protocol, though he was a full participant in practice yesterday. The concussion issue is tricky, so there isn’t a firm answer at this time if he can go or not.
Then there is Lansanah, a great story that harkens to the administration of former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. Last year, in the throes of the Chase for Jameis, the Bucs tried Lansanah at middle linebacker when then-starting middle linebacker Mason Foster was injured. Bucs coaches were left largely unimpressed — so much so that they drafted a middle linebacker.
Joe has a bad feeling Brees is going to exploit the void left by Alexander big time.
To hear more from Lovie, click on the arrow below. Audio courtesy of Joe’s friends at WDAE-AM 620.
December 10th, 2015 at 7:16 am
To be honest……Many QBs lit up the middle of the field even when Alexander was playing….they’ve been doing it for years.
I think it’s safe to say that we need to score and score often Sunday.
December 10th, 2015 at 7:29 am
No Mark Ingram, Brees will pass 60 times, hopefully it’s because they are behind by 20 and Bucs are control on the clock
December 10th, 2015 at 7:59 am
Lets defrock the Saints
Silence the Lambs
Trap the Bears
and
Skin the cats
Looks like LVD wll be back to worrying about the MLB not covering his assignments. We all saw how the defense played when that happened.
Lovie is going to have to be extra aggressive with his blitzes and on offense.
The Saints receivers are dangerous.
December 10th, 2015 at 8:38 am
Who knows…
…maybe Lansanah will be able to have a pick 6. He has done that in the pass several times. BTW one of those from Brees:
http://www.buccaneers.com/videos/videos/SLOW-MO-Lansanah-Pick-6/b1ba25df-c8a8-4172-a430-657f40eaac06
Go Bucs!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 9:42 am
Keys to the game:
1.Pressure Brees and cause him to make some mistakes.
2. DB’s need to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage to give the pass rush an extra second to pressure Breed.
3. Must stop the run.
4. Need at least 100 yards rushing from Simms/Martin.
5.Limit the dropped balls and penalties.
6. Give Winston time in the pocket.
Since 1,2 and 5 probably won’t be consistently done, then the other keys need to be done well. Also we need a loud fan presence!
Go Bucs!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 10:39 am
We need to establish that RUN! Own time of possession! Keep Brees off the field!!
LET’S GO BUCS!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 10:58 am
I think we will be fine…this team is playing with confidence and knows what’s at stake…GO BUCS!!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 11:08 am
LVD has played pro ball long enough here that he knows how Brees works. He’ll be spying on him. The more Brees airs it out, the more opportunities for picks. We now have an offense as good as the Aints’ even with all the rookies. It will be at full strength with ASJ playing his 2nd game and shedding the rust. I’m looking forward to listening to it. Go Mighty Bucs Sunday–Put a Hoodoo on the Aints!!
December 10th, 2015 at 11:46 am
According to PewterReport, Lansanah will be in the middle and Carter will take the strong side position.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:54 am
I think Lansanah will play fine. All the dude does is make plays when given the opportunity
December 10th, 2015 at 12:01 pm
I really don’t see why David can’t shift over for a few games. Bruce and Carter are better suited for OLB, and if they play at MLB David will be devoting half his time to helping them anyway.
How great would it be to have David excel at MLB to prove he’s better than the Panthers MLB?