Devin White’s Big-4 Linebackers
May 6th, 2019
Bucs rookie defensive savior linebacker Devin White isn’t a newbie to the game of football like Jason Pierre-Paul was when he played college ball.
White is a lifelong football guy.
And as a football fan and student of the game, White has his favorites.
Joe heard many weeks ago that White was a Patrick Willis fan, the seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker he watched often and a guy he compared a bit to himself.
But White went deeper than that on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast recently. White told the former Bucs QB that Luke Kuechly, Deion Jones and Kwon Alexander are on his A-list.
That’s awfully interesting considering Jones and Kuechly are in the NFC South, and Kwon is the guy White is replacing. Jones will see Kwon and Kuechly, who just turned 28, in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.
No, Joe didn’t want the Bucs to draft White, but Joe absolutely can’t wait to see him play. It’ll be so intriguing in the first two games to see how two creative and seasoned playcallers, Kyle Shanahan and Norv Turner, try to exploit a very aggressive rookie linebacker who is bound to be super hyped in the home opener and in the Thursday night game soon after.
May 6th, 2019 at 1:23 am
So who is the coach/ GM next year lol this is about to be a dumpster fire season.
May 6th, 2019 at 5:05 am
Nice setup Joe … you obviously can’t wait to see our brand-new ‘super hyped’ rookie get ‘exploited’ by Shanahan & Turner. And still with the ‘savior’ moniker I see. No pressure Devin; Joe will begrudgingly come around … in 2023 when Bucs can’t afford your next contract. And BTW Joe, some of us are excited to see our new defense in action for the first time … of which Devin White is ONE PIECE.
Everyone’s written a lot about how crummy it is to have SEVEN straight games away from RayJay, but that late-afternoon Sunday home opener followed by the Thursday night 2nd game AT CAROLINA is just as much of a bummer, and a lousy way to start a season. The team essentially has 3 days to recover physically from the 1st game AND to prepare for the 2nd game.
The NFL did the same thing to us in 2017 … we lost to the Pats 19-14 at RayJay & that started a 5-game losing streak. Lost in 2016 to the Falcons 43-25 at RayJay. Lost in 2015 at the Rams 31-23. Lost in 2014 at the Falcons 56-14 (Koetter was their OC BTW). Lost in 2013 to the Panthers 31-13 at RayJay. But in 2012 we won at the Vikings 36-17. Mercifully we didn’t play any Thurs night games in 2007-2011. Played 2 other Thurs games (2000 & 2006) … lost both.
So our record on Thurs night games this century is now 1-7. Prior to 2012 we only had 2 Thurs games since 2000. But since 2012 we’ve had 6 and have only won 1 of those. Glad that TV & the NFL are making money off our misfortune though. Far as I’m concerned, Thursday night games should only be allowed if the team didn’t play the weekend before and won’t be playing the weekend following. That’d give all teams a fair chance to recover from the previous game & prepare for the Thurs game, then recover after that game & prepare for the next one. And oh ya, international games should be banned too. They may fill the NFL owners’ coffers, but they don’t do the TEAM any favors.
May 6th, 2019 at 5:15 am
@DefenseRules
Pavlov has me by the short curlies whenever I see lots of words in one comment. I just want to take a pass and move on to the next.
Whose fault is that?
@louden. Absolutely the horrid commenter @louden. He’s ruining the engagement within JoeBucsFan.
But I read your post. What did I find? Substance. It was well-reasoned, succinct in your points, thought-provoking.
Just wanted to say thank you. And…I wholeheartedly agree with you. Cheers.
May 6th, 2019 at 5:51 am
What’s with the “savior” title?
May 6th, 2019 at 6:02 am
Defense Rules- Excellent points about the schedule. The Thurs night games should really only be played by teams coming off a bye week. I look at our schedule and think, “what parody?” I know we’re not the only team with a crap schedule but sheesh!
May 6th, 2019 at 6:41 am
If i recall he has only been playing LB for 3 years …let that sink in, it’s very impressive and his ceiling is extremely high.
May 6th, 2019 at 6:42 am
i thought America’s QB was our savior……have you given up on Jameis and chosen someone else? Would Josh Allen have been our savior?
At least with this Thursday night game we don’t have to travel far….and we should be somewhat healthy.
May 6th, 2019 at 7:03 am
I’m with ya Joe. I didnt want them to draft him either but he sure moves the needle. Looking forward to seeing what he brings.
May 6th, 2019 at 7:48 am
Todd … Appreciate the kind words. I really do try to be more succinct, but I’m a quasi-touch-typist and most of the time my fingers type a lot faster than my brain thinks it seems (unfortunately). I like statistics but primarily in the sense that they can SOMETIMES show ‘big trends’ shall we say.
The ‘big trend’ for the Bucs playing with only 3 days in-between games isn’t favorable, and I personally think the reasons are fairly obvious in our case in this past decade: insufficient ‘healing’ time, insufficient preparation time, inadequate depth, too many injuries among them. I’d also speculate that ‘getting your head to move on immediately to the next game’ after a hard-fought Sunday game is probably easier for veterans than it is for younger players (of whom we have a bunch?). But hey, ‘you are where you are’ so we’ll just have to make the best of it.
May 6th, 2019 at 7:48 am
Hope the young man isn’t Star-Struck. That rarely goes well. Also, thought DB55 might make his list. I expect him to be a game-changer!
May 6th, 2019 at 7:53 am
well lettingKwon go
instead of Donovan Smith..
now you have overpaid bad talent at LT
and createt theMLB need..
typicall Suckaneers move hahahaha
May 6th, 2019 at 7:58 am
Your opening sounds a bit like a backhanded compliment.
Would you have likewise begun a column with “Bucs rookie defensive savior Josh Allen,” had we selected him @ #5?
Come on Sporto, level with us.
May 6th, 2019 at 8:01 am
@defenserules
Yes, a three-day spread at at ANY point in the season seems unconscionable to me. That said, just like Ariana is running two practices, I bet he and his coaching staff are game planning both games simultaneously leading up to 3, 2, 1…GO!
BA is the old bull at the top of the hill.
We’ll get through those games 2-0 and the entire league will be on notice.
One man’s opinion NOT referred to as @louden!
May 6th, 2019 at 8:19 am
Why on earth would any knowledgeable football fan call any rookie a “savior?”
May 6th, 2019 at 9:06 am
@Cobraboy
It must be a dramatic setup so that if White fails Joe can regurgitate it and start writing about how White was thought to be our savior on defense.
Does it put a lot of pressure on a young player?
Sure.
But it gives the silly Joe the ability to put that community college creative writing class to good use.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:07 am
with a defense in dire need of an infusion of raw talent at more positions than just linebacker, what makes Joe think MLB will be the only place to exploit?
May 6th, 2019 at 10:13 am
Yup, once again the league totally screws us b/c we are the tram that the nfl always sh!ts on.
Thursday night game in week frickin 2
7 weeks without a home game
Forced to play in London
#ItsABucsLife
May 6th, 2019 at 11:30 am
we’ll see