Addressing The Lavonte David Decline
January 26th, 2018
Joe wrote about this a bit during the 2016 season and fans freaked out.
And here we are again. Caution, if you like your head in the sand, Joe recommends you stop reading.
Guess who had zero sacks and just one official pass defensed in 2017. That’s right, Lavonte David.
In years past, David was lauded regularly for being a ferocious and successful blitzer, as well as for being the prototype three-down linebacker — stout in coverage and against the run.
So what the hell happened this year?
This is priority No. 1 for Mike Smith, or it should be. Get the most out of your stars.
There is a divide at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters. The Joe typing this is sick and tired of hearing about how great the Bucs linebackers are. Their blitzing and pass coverage skills declined. How the heck do David and Kwon Alexander go sackless for the season? Some of that is on them.
David did a great job forcing five fumbles this year, but his overall production tailed off considerably.
Yes, David had a nasty ankle sprain in Week 2. What the effect of that was is unclear, but he sure looked healthy soon after his return. Last year, David battled multiple nagging injuries and supposedly wasn’t himself until very late in the season.
Is it fair to call him injury-prone?
Now 28 years old, David hits a crossroads, in a year in which he will gobble up $8.75 million of Team Glazer loot.
Dirk Koetter said repeatedly this year that linebacker was the most consistent Bucs unit, with tight end right there with them. Well, consistent is nice and important. But there simply has to be more production from David. Joe’s not advocating dumping David, but if he’s going to stick around for big money, he’s got to deliver.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Declined? Most underrated player I can think of in the entire NFL.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Players say all the time, they just execute the calls made from the coach. If other coaches recognize the weapons they have and use them to their advantage, it’s frustrating when your team does not.
Lavonte should average at least 5 sacks a season but the COACH must put him in a position to do it. He has demonstrated the ability to rush the passer but we need a flexible coach who is willing to adjust his scheme to fit his personnel.
I have the same issue with Brent not being able to shadow the other teams top receiver all game. Let them do what has made them great. We have players on our roster will skills that aren’t being used appropriately.
If I’m counting correctly, Lavonte caused and recorded 5 fumbles by himself! I wonder how many more would have happened if he was given the opportunity to come off the edge or with clever blitzes.
Coach Smith, we need you on your A game for 2018-2019!
January 26th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
Lol underrated I didn’t see him make splash play behind the line of scrimmage if the Bucs could trade him I would with other holes we have
January 26th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
how many sacks did derrick brooks have? lavonte made impact plays every game that he was healthy, and at least to my untrained eye was doing his job play in and play out. it’s not his fault his job did not involve rushing the passer as often this year
January 26th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
but if he’s going to stick around for big money, he’s got to deliver.
————
You spew this BS but never ever call out your ice cream boy. How much you getting paid to sweep his lack of production under the rug?
Yawn. Nonsense. –Joe
Did LVD lead the team in TFLs? I’m pretty sure he did. He makes plays every game all over the field and makes BIG TIME plays at critical moments which is a lot more than you can say about your buddy McSmiles-alot
So he had zero sacks and just one pass defensed but he makes “big time” plays at critical moments, yet the Bucs have the 32nd-ranked defense??? Look, David is a good player. Absolutely. But if this staff can’t maximize him, then there’s a huge problem.–Joe
January 26th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
i love how many people’s answer to making the team better is ditching the teams best players. i assume those would be the same people grumbling while lavonte made a run at DPOY honors someplace like philly under Jim Schwartz
January 26th, 2018 at 1:27 pm
Put LVD’s stats up against Derrick Brooks then put McTuttifrutti’s stats up against Sapps then come halla at me. Give me a fckn break.
Brooks did not blitz. David does. Brooks said multiple times that David was on a faster and better career track then he was a few years ago. You don’t hear that from Brooks any longer. –Joe
January 26th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
Call me a homer, but I think he played at a high level. Granted sacks were not there but he did almost single handedly create turnovers at a very high rate. You made good point “Joe” that cant be denied about int’s and sacks no being there. Actually, Joe was talking about “passes defensed” an official NFL stats.– Joe But IMO on a down right terrible defense Im willing to say with utmost confidence LVD is someone I would hate to see on another team. Him, GMC, Kwon, Grimes, and Evans are only defenders who seemed worth anything , oh and Mcdonald also. Plenty of others to throw under the bus but Lavonte is a keeper brother Joe lol. And yes you did clarify you are not sugesting dumping David
January 26th, 2018 at 1:32 pm
I may get called crazy for this, but I wouldn’t mind trading Lavonte for a high draft choice. I do think David is a very good LB, but I think Kwon and Beckwith leave us with a decent group to add on to. What we need is 2 good DE’s, another quality CB, a good Center, and a bell cow RB…and trading Lavonte for a low 1 or high 2 pick would give the Bucs the ammo they need to get there faster. Just something to consider.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:35 pm
@DB55, not sure if that was directed at me but we appear to be in total agreement about LVD’s value\impact.
On the GMC front, everybody needs to get over the fact that there is only one warren sapp and he aint putting the pads back on. His pay is his pay, this team has not had an inkling of cap trouble since his extension so it should be irrelevant to fans and has never been a strain on management
January 26th, 2018 at 1:35 pm
Trade all our established players for unproven draft picks. Sounds like a great idea to me……………..
January 26th, 2018 at 1:43 pm
@DanBucsFan i’m with you on the silliness of it all. hey, going all in for draft picks and letting veteran pro bowlers leave the building has worked out awesomely for the browns. in fact it got them into the history books this year and almost did the same last year. that’s the model people are clamoring for because they somehow think good players (and not the bad ones that outnumber them) are to blame for bad results. you get what you deserve if you go down that road.
that’s the line of thinking that has buried the post-gruden bucs since the day of the big purge and it’s the line of thinking that has led the Browns to 1-31. At least in the case of the browns some of those talented players were malcontents who wanted out, not at all the case with our buccaneers. and i have never once seen browns fans blame Joe Thomas for being the centerpiece of a losing culture even though he has been there through it all
January 26th, 2018 at 1:46 pm
i cant disagree more david was the best player on defense all year in my opinion
January 26th, 2018 at 1:49 pm
I don’t watch the cut-ups or even the all-22s, but to my eye David played well. It’s very hard for the uninformed to judge safeties and linebackers, because we don’t know about all those plays where a player was supposed to be there, but wasn’t. And there’s a lot times when they do end up in the screen even when it was other guys’ primary responsibility.
January 26th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
@pick6
EXACTLY. that is why im not even a big fan of trading down. Id rather roll the dice on a blue chipper at #7 (Nelson) than trade back if Chubb don’t falk to us. Even if we pick up another 3rd , I would rather pick where we stand than somewhere in late teens or early 20s. But I am just a fan I sure as hell don’t knw all. But if we add a solid starter on either line O or D im happy happy
January 26th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
I don’t care what you say, there MUST be a case of Ben and Jerry’s showing up to JBF headquarters every month. No other logical explanation!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Pick6
Nah I wasn’t addressing you. I just don’t understand how each and every player gets critiques except for McIceCream. It’s beyond me really.
If there’s anyone on the team that this town should worship it’s LVD but nooooooooooooo they’d rather bend the knee for the softest DT to ever play the game!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 2:06 pm
Do any of the Joe’s or other fans know enough about how many blitzes were called during the regular season where Lavonte’s or Kwon’s number was called to get there? Even if the answer is a low number he still should have one measly sack.
Lavonte didn’t have an interception either.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
DB55
I agree with you 100% and why is McIcecream in the Pro Bowl???I don’t get it!
January 26th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Stop disrespecting LaVonte or imma reach through this screen and choke a mother.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
It seems like all of these players has “declined” since they fired Lovie.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:27 pm
Hahahhahaahahaahhahahha
LVD and GMC are the problems .?
January 26th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
I hear you Joe on the passes defended. I wasn’t disagreeing with you on the stats, as the numbers are about the only thing that is black and white no grey area , either put up the numbers or they don’t. I was just stating my opinion as to other stats he provided besides passes defended , I for one love a backer who forces and recovers fumbles. I totally without a doubt love both of the “Joes” for the great debate articles posted on her daily. As well as the insight from you both on stuff yall see that I am clueless to
January 26th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Lake
You misspelled Schiano.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:32 pm
DB55
Most of these players never played for Schiano
January 26th, 2018 at 2:37 pm
LVD did and he had best years under Schiano. I think Schiano also had a top 5 run defense if I recall correctly but he was a meanie so he had to go. Smh.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:40 pm
DB55
I’m going beyond Lavonte.
I’m talking,
Mike Evans
Jameis Winston
Ali Marpet
Donovan Smith
Kwon Alexander
Charles Sims
Doug Martin
Those are the main guys
January 26th, 2018 at 2:46 pm
As per another poster’s comment – this comes down to how much he blitzed moreso than how effective he was at it I’m guessing.
He’s not an OLB in a 3-4 that rushes the passer every down lol. Expecting 5-7 sacks only makes sense if he’s in on a ton of blitzes. I’m not sure that he was.
Our LBs in general could be doing better in coverage it seems. 1 PD vs typically 4-10 historically a season isn’t a good thing for Lavonte; but I have no problem with his overall play in 2017
January 26th, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Do Bucs fans watch or pay attention to football, they wanna trade every decent player we have. How many trades occur in the NFL, this is not the MLB or NBA. Trades are usually for picks, low picks at that and you rather have what you don’t know rather than what you know you have. Good players that make impact plays, causing turnovers, those were not by mistake. According to many fans, trade, ME, trade Djax, trade JW, trade GMC, trade Kwon, trade LVD… if Godwin, Justin Evans or another player doesn’t perform to perfection, my guess is they will want to trade them too.
January 26th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
LVD is a good player. BUT, we had the WORST defense in the NFL. That’s not a ringing endorsement! To say that LVD is “underrated” is a stretch considering how awful this defense was.
Who do you give a pass to on the 32nd rated defense in the league? For me, NOBODY!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
Not sure why my comment got removed I said nothing offensive. Anyways I stated that without a good dline and having corners playing so far off is the reason for this
January 26th, 2018 at 3:05 pm
My thought is that if the defensive line is fixed, it will free up our LBs, Safeties and CBs to get better at their own jobs.
So focus on the dline.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:05 pm
Every player gets called out but GMC??? Why is this??
Our linebackers are a tad bit overrated because of fans. Kown played with Vasoline on jersey most of the year and Glanton was good and dropped off the map. Bond? Why is he on the team. Non factor but lvd is our team MVP performance wise. And he was either hot or cold. Agree Joe
January 26th, 2018 at 3:06 pm
David had a great year this year – one of his best seasons. Because the box score doesn’t show it doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. Without him the Bucs defense wouldn’t only be the worst defense in terms of yards, but would have been the worst defense in terms of points given up. You need to rewatch the film if you think David wasn’t his normal spectacular self this year.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
2013 was Lavonte David, Gerald McCoy best season. But you can argue that they also had more talent around them also. And i’m sure they had a better coaching staff that they have now.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:08 pm
LakeLand Says
“It seems like all of these players has “declined” since they fired Lovie.”
They were not great under Lovie either. That’s why he was fired.
It all comes down to the defensive line. Fix that so the rest don’t have to make up for the lack of pass rush, and they’ll be able to excel at their own jobs.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
It has been tough sledding for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in 2017. After a surprisingly successful 2016 season, their defense has significantly backslid. The pass rush is nonexistent, while the secondary appears to be a shell of itself.
Throughout the sudden downfall, only a few Buccaneers players have remained consistent threats. Linebacker Lavonte David falls in that group.
In fact, David may be having one of his best seasons yet.
The collapse of the defense around him has forced David to make an impact on nearly every play. While it doesn’t always show up in the box score, he has done just that.
David predicates his game on a quick trigger and blazing speed. He is the type of linebacker who can gash through an offensive line if given the slightest crease. With a mediocre defensive line in front of him, David has had no choice this season other than to constantly shoot gaps and hope he is right. When he gets it right, as he so often does, he disrupts the normal path of a running play and forces the play to stall or bounce. The slight moment of hesitation or redirection can be enough for fellow Bucs defenders to flow over the top of David and shut plays down.
Without David constantly wrecking plays the way he does, the Bucs defense would be in the running for worst in the league. That he can perform at his current level in a substandard defense is exceptional, especially for a position like linebacker that tends to require adequate defensive line play. Hopefully the Buccaneers will have the foresight to retool the defense around David heading into this offseason.
—NFL1000 LB Scout, Derrik Klassen
January 26th, 2018 at 3:12 pm
Lake
I think Dougie played for Schiano and had 1400 yards rushing almost 2k yards from scrimmage and a pro bowl birth. Hmmm I’m sensing a pattern here.
Lovie ruined this roster and henceforth the team. We were building something but you know The TB pen and mic club know best with their noses squarely up the but of softy McSofty so Schiano HAD to go.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:14 pm
@Bonzai
Agree 100%. Football is a TEAM sport!!! When you have the worst DL in the league your back seven look bad as well. With no rush it’s harder to play press coverage because you have to cover your guy for five seconds or more.
Put any back seven in this league behind our DL and it would be ugly.
Fix the trenches!!! The entire D will improve and if we get Nelson we might even be able to run the ball.
January 26th, 2018 at 3:15 pm
What I find hilarious is that Morris and Schiano were better head coaches than smith and koetter. But of course anyone in the TB pen and mic club would laugh you out of town if you ever said that to them. Hmmmm
January 26th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
LakeLand Says:
January 26th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
It seems like all of these players has “declined” since they fired Lovie.
^^BINGO^^
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 3:40 pm
@JOE…
you should know why LVD’s play has declined….its because of:
HK
IRMA
SOS
lack of talent
that’s why his play has declined….LVD doesn’t have the talent to compete in the NFL….he would be a back up on most teams…..how did he make all pro and the pro bowl…he has no talent…..GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 3:42 pm
813
Please take this virtual high 5 to the face. Are you drunk?
January 26th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
DB55
lovie ruined the roster…..LOL….GTFOH….
lovie was building something…and it aint this crap we have now…..
doug made all pro and pro bowl in 2015…under lovie….
GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 3:48 pm
DB55
sarcasm……duh…..
people love to say “we have no talent” but we have players that played at a higher level in previous years but somehow this staff has managed to turn players into a shell of themselves…..
LVD has regressed…and he’s not the only player that has done so under this staff….GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
The young guys was progressing under Lovie Smith.
The Bucs started 6 rookies in 2015
And another 4 got playing time
The rookies played well
It’s call developing the players
And no one can tell me that the rookies wasn’t developing in 2015
And they all have “reclined” since then
January 26th, 2018 at 3:55 pm
***declined***
January 26th, 2018 at 3:58 pm
I have never seen an organization give a coaching staff one year with 6 rookies starting for them.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:18 pm
If Lovie didn’t take over the defense from Frasier he might still be here. The only point anything or anyone was improving under his tenure; was the defense to end the 2014 season. Lovie then took over control for some reason; and we saw what Tennessee-Ready looked like. The defense regressed big time his 2nd year and didn’t have nearly the same amount of injuries that the 2017 bucs defense had in terms of quality starting players that missed time.
Frasier is now continuing to have success in the NFL; while Lovie Smith is 5-19 at Illinois. Lovie sucks man lol there is no defense for him especially when he’s failing so hard at the college level as well.
Schiano was a jack4ss clown of a coach that doesn’t belong in the NFL imo.
Morris was too green and inexperienced and over his head.
But the biggest reason this team has been in the cellar imo has been Mark Dominik. We will only have 2 players left from all his drafts going into 2018 once we cut Martin. One was the #3 overall pick and the other is a 2nd rounder. The dude didn’t build a team worth sh1t.
At least if Licht was sent packing; I’d expect 4 years from now we’d have more than 2 players from this list:
ME/Pamphile/Winston/D.Smith/Marpet/Kwon/Spence/VHIII/R.Smith/OJ Howard/J.Evans/C.Godwin/K.Beckwith
That’s 14 names. Even if 1/2 are gone in 4 years that’s 4X better than Dominic with 1 less draft to do it. I’d expect most will stick around. Maybe Pamphile and either VHIII/Smith don’t pan out but the rest seem like pretty safe bets.
And back to the coaches – as of now Koetter has the best 2 season mark of anyone since Gruden; and his defenses have been the best in terms of PPG allowed – even with how bad last year was. 2010 was that weird year we faced all bottom feeder offenses – so that was a 19.9 PPG mark and top 9 in the league..but if you look at the following season it shows how insanely flukey that year was.. since then – PPG given up per season:
2011 (Morris): 30.9 (my god) – 32nd ranked
2012 (Schiano): 24.6 – 23rd
2013 (Schiano): 24.3 – 21st
2014 (Lovie): 25.6 – 25th
2015 (Lovie): 26.1 – 26th
2016 (Koetter): 23.1 – 15th
2017 (Koetter): 23.9 – tied for 22nd
So as sad as last season was; Koetter’s defenses have actually been better than any other coaching regime – and it’s not due to tons of good talent investment on that side considering we’ve only spent 1 1st rounder on defense in the last 4 drafts and that guy may be a bust. The offense has also done much better under Koetter (primarily due to the talent additions imo and Winston).
This also is just depressing to look at in general lol. The past coaches + dominik set the bar low as f*ck.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:21 pm
He may have blitzed but not very often at all. And always from a predictable formation. How many times did david and kwon blitz the same play? Youre right this staff must maximize their talents. How many years is that gona take. My goodness wake me up when it happens.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:22 pm
813
Ohhh you sly devil you. I should have known. I’m rotfl rn.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:28 pm
“I have never seen an organization give a coaching staff one year with 6 rookies starting for them.”
Technically they had 2 years and it was the 2nd year in which a lot of rookies started. And the rookies were on the offensive side of the ball – which is where improvement actually occurred as the offense set some franchise records – hence retaining Koetter and letting Smith go – as the defense regressed despite Lovie getting 2 full offseasons of full personnel control to get the guys he wanted for his scheme.
Lovie dictated the cutting of Penn/Zutah and the jettising of Revis for all those failed FA picks. This was pretty obvious based on everyone covering the team at the time. Hell there are tons of Lovie quotes that back this up regarding both the O-line and the players brought in that he had familiarity with. He did exactly what he wanted and he failed massively and there was absolutely no sign of any improvement coming.
The only significant rookie on the 2015 squad on defense was Kwon. Considering Kwon had his best season in 2016 under Koetter it makes absolutely no sense to say he regressed once Lovie left.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:29 pm
I agree with one of the Joe’s on this. Great platitudes for the Buc LBs all the time because of their speed, athleticism etc…But what I see is our Linebackers almost always seem to be caught in space-throws going over their head, or getting caught in the wash on a play where they often over react to play fakes. Why when Schiano was here was David a force in the backfield? Is he aging or is he out of position? I see we often send blitzers but they seem to be too far off the line of scrimmage to make an impact. I expect more out of this bunch, by now David should be a multiple pro bowl player. Kwon flashes but is often out of his gap and being exposed by clever play callers. Think a lot is the scheme but great players overcome bad coaching and make plays. Our best players need to play better to compensate for our lack of depth.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
“David hits a crossroads, in a year in which he will gobble up $8.75 million of Team Glazer loot…if he’s going to stick around for big money, he’s got to deliver”
“Big money” -LOL – “this Joe” might want to check the list showing what top LBers get paid. $8.75M is quite the bargain. That makes LVD something like the 22nd highest paid LBer this year. Anyone want to try and make a case for LD54 NOT being a top 10 LBer in this league? Good luck.
Despite the nasty injury that kept him out for a # of consecutive games – LVD still showed that he is the best defender on this team in just about every game he played in last year.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
LVD is the best player on our defense. Better than the 2 guys in the pro bowl representing us.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
LC SAYS: The defense regressed big time his 2nd year and didn’t have nearly the same amount of injuries that the 2017 bucs defense had in terms of quality starting players that missed time.
didn’t have the talent either….no ayers…no grimes…no VHG…no spence…no j.evans….no beckwith
he had sackless Johnson(who would’ve fit right in with this group)….j.banks(is he even in the league)….hey jude(nuff said)….
I honestly cant see the difference between a defense that is 25th…26th…and 22nd in points allowed…..they all sucked….they are all in the bottom 3rd of the league….being ranked 22nd in points allowed is nothing to be proud of…its just like being ranked 25th in points allowed…..its still very bad…..GO BUCS!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 4:38 pm
@Joe … “David is a good player. Absolutely. But if this staff can’t maximize him, then there’s a huge problem.” Apparently your measure of a LB is sacks Joe. Lavonte isn’t a ‘good player’ … Lavonte is a GRRREAT player who’s playing within the scheme. In 14 seasons (playing all 16 games in each), Brooks averaged per season 1.8 INTs, 1.0 sacks, 1.7 forced fumbles, 122 tackles (solo & assisted). In 6 seasons (playing in 15 games average per season), David averaged per season 1.7 INTs, 3.0 sacks, 2.8 forced fumbles, 127 tackles (solo & assisted). Brooks was AWESOME IMO; David is just as good, and even better in a couple of ways. This is ludicrious, and your comments below are fabrication and, typical, ignore the stat number Joe focused on in this post.–Joe
Was last year a ‘down year’ for Lavonte? In some categories soooo important to Joe, yes it was (0 sacks & 0 INTs). In some other areas (5 forced fumbles) he did much better than his average. And that’s in a defensive scheme that ‘channels’ plays more towards the MLB. The LB who had a so-so year is Kwon, not Lavonte.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:43 pm
In 2015
6 rookies started for the Bucs, and Lovie was fired after the season. He had 1 year with those 6 rookies. He had 2 seasons with MIke Evans, Charles sims etc.
Again I say, I have NEVER seen a Head Coach fired after starting 6 rookies and playing 4 more rookies. And they went from 2-14 to 6-10.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:47 pm
How can Lovie Smith have rookies on the defense side of the ball, when he was TRICKED into agreeing to an all-offense draft. Then the next season only Kwon Alexander was drafted, in the 4th Round. Jude was the other defensive rookie and he was an UDFA. This is what don’t make sense, you fire the man before you can even draft him 1 single player before the 4th round.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:52 pm
“didn’t have the talent either….no ayers…no grimes…no VHG…no spence…no j.evans….no beckwith”
The only players I’d even count as “talent upgrades” on that list are Grimes and Beckwith.
Ayers sucked in 2017.
VHII sucked /missed much of 2017.
Spence missed all of 2017.
Justin Evans was a part time starting rookie S that still struggled a lot at times.
I’m not even sure objectively you can say which year had more talent on defense when you factor in injuries.
In 2015 Lovie had a healthy Jaquis Smith for 12 games for example- that’s a better pass rusher than anything the 2017 squad had on the line.
He had Sterling Moore at CB who looked better in 2015 than Ryan Smith in 2017. He had Bruce Carter at LB as well so it’s not like he had no one close to Beckwith’s ability as a 3rd LB.
But the big thing is we made tons of FA moves dictated by Lovie to make the defense better. Mike Jenkins/Ghost Johnson/Henry Melton/etc were all brought in while Revis / Dashon Gholston / others were let go. I can’t give Lovie a talent excuse when he was the one choosing the talent and it was obvious.
January 26th, 2018 at 4:59 pm
LC
that’s debatable….imo kwon best year was 2015…his rookie year under lovie….
remember that ATL game…11tackles…1pick…1FF…1FR…nfc defensive player of the week….
PFWA all rookie team…..93 tackles while missing the last 4 games….2ints….3sacks….9PD…..
remember how the defense collapsed once he was out…..
since lovie left his technique has taken a step back…..this year he missed a ton of tackles….over ran plays….couldn’t get off blocks….beat badly in coverage….
he and LVD are still the best players on defense but they both have under this staff…and they aint the only players to do so….GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
In 2015 Doug Martin and Charles Sims combine for 2,763 yards from scrimmage. This season they combined for 834 yards from scrimmage. This is beyond decline or regression. This is Ridiculous, totally unacceptable. And this is what you fired your Head Coach for ?
January 26th, 2018 at 5:05 pm
lc says: The only players I’d even count as “talent upgrades” on that list are Grimes and Beckwith.
Ayers sucked in 2017.
VHII sucked /missed much of 2017.
Spence missed all of 2017.
I was talking about in 2016….dirks first year….which should’ve been lovies 3rd year….
the defense was trash until ayers came back from his ankle injury….he provided a spark….some leadership and production….spence provided a spark at DE….he was getting pressure on the QB….VHG held his own in 2016…..GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Loss of Kwon early in the season affected entire defense- including linebackers
January 26th, 2018 at 5:16 pm
I can’t give Lovie a talent excuse when he was the one choosing the talent and it was obvious.
and who’s choosing the players now?…lol….people are screaming we have “no talent” now….
id take grimes over moore…..id take beckwith over bruce carter….id take an healthy or injured spence over g.johnson…..
this regime has brought in baker…ward…sweezy….that’s on par with Mike Jenkins/Ghost Johnson/Henry Melton….
lovie was in the process of building a team and setting the foundation….dirk was handed a gift….no one was screaming lack of talent when we went 9-7….now that dirk has screwed things up folks want to blame HK and IRMA….lol….
luckily, if this regime doesn’t get us to the playoffs this year, they’ll be sent packing….nothing worse than being on the “HOT SEAT” during the draft, mini camp, TC and pre season….we just witnessed dirk piss his pants when faced with adversity…..the “HOT SEAT” pressure will be sure to bust his pipes….GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 5:19 pm
Kwon was suspended for 4 games when they fired Lovie. They didn’t let his suspension stand in the way of firing Lovie.
January 26th, 2018 at 6:40 pm
Schiano Dam sure knew how to use LVD!!!
January 26th, 2018 at 9:36 pm
Look, David is a good player. Absolutely. But if this staff can’t maximize him, then there’s a huge problem.
There you go!
January 26th, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Every person on the defense struggled this season, Terrible scheme no depth and lousy coaching, soft training camp’s. We don’t need to trade everybody, this year when we will hopefully be getting real coaches. after this next season. Although they might have ruined everybody.
January 27th, 2018 at 12:22 am
Did you even watch the games this year or are you just looking at the stat lines from year to year and doing the hardmathz? Real investigative stuff here Josies. Really drawing credibility to your ad space bloggo thing.
Sorry you don’t know how to read, or you prefer to make things up. Might want to move on to some other websites. –Joe
January 27th, 2018 at 1:42 am
He is completely under utilized in this sorry scheme – LVD should be blitzing 15 times a game – run orPass he blows up plays with his speed
The DC struggles at utilizing his talents
Sad that Schiano was the only coach that used him correctly in his entire career
January 27th, 2018 at 2:01 am
Dang Joe, comparing Lavonte’s impact to our 32nd ranked defense is like giving Doug Martin credit for our top 10 offense.
January 27th, 2018 at 2:07 am
At Lavonte’s position 1-3 sacks is about avg. He is so talented at reading plays and making tackles at the LOS or behind it that I am not worried about him being a few sacks short of a normal year.