“Freelancing” Devin White
October 4th, 2021
Four times in the history of Joe’s coverage of the Bucs has Joe been told by true insiders that defensive players were doing too much freelancing.
It’s not considered a positive thing.
The first offender was Albert Haynesworth, the former Pro Bowler who was brought in during the 2011 season to fill the gap left by Gerald McCoy’s injury. Hayenesworth’s freelancing dragged down the defense in a big way, Joe was told.
Next up was Jason Pierre-Paul. Joe was told there was some frustration brewing about JPP’s freelancing in 2018. Joe later brought this up to an insider for confirmation, and Joe was told, “Well, Gerald McCoy does his share of freelancing, too. But not as much as JPP.”
And now comes today’s “freelancing” comment from Bucco Bruce Arians.
This one was public.
Joe asked Arians the following: “Coach, through the first four games, where do you see Devin White’s game is when it comes to the very high bar and the standard for him?”
Arians’ reply: “I think Devin’s been really solid. He had a tendency sometimes to freelance a little bit because he’s got so much talent, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
It was an interesting answer by Arians. Joe’s going to refrain from reading too much between the lines.
Of course, the Bucs want more than “really solid” from White. It’s exciting to think what the defense can become if White elevates his game to what he delivered in the playoffs, in conjunction with the defense getting healthier and the newcomers like Richard Sherman and Pierre Desir getting past their learning curves.
October 4th, 2021 at 4:21 pm
US Fact … There are 50 million self-employed freelancers in the US today. That number is expected to grow to 80 million in five years!
You could say Devin is just on the frontend of a trend.
October 4th, 2021 at 4:22 pm
With teams not running, it’s harder for DW to rack up a bunch of tackles……he does harass the QB at times…….I still see him as a dominate force & know he hasn’t forgotten how to play at a high level.
It’s easy to criticize DW for his pass coverage….but when a rookie QB completes 20 in a row, there’s certainly more than one culprit.
It’s Bowles job to see to it that the freelancing either pays off or is curtailed.
October 4th, 2021 at 4:22 pm
No room for free lancing, I think I remember one of the plays when #45 was late into the frame.
It’s a fine line, as good as Devin is he is far from a grizzled veteran especially going up against Belicheck .
October 4th, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Thank the football gods, though, that the next three games are against weaker teams with average-to-bad O-lines. I can see us surviving this injury spate.
October 4th, 2021 at 4:31 pm
It should have been sunk in after a couple times the QB was going to step to the side and dodge him on the blitz. Not just stand there and let him blast him straight head on. How many times did he run right past him?
October 4th, 2021 at 4:39 pm
On the trick play by the Pats, Devin looked like he got suckered into being on the wrong side of the field. Not sure if he was supposed to stay home or not
October 4th, 2021 at 4:50 pm
To be fair to Devin, it often looks like our entire defense is “freelancing” out there.
October 4th, 2021 at 5:51 pm
Lacks instincts. Classic case of a guy being able to excel on pure athletic ability. He’ll make some big plays, but he’s going to find himself out of position too much if he doesn’t figure out how to harness himself a little bit. He came to LSU as a running back, so he’s still learning the position.
October 4th, 2021 at 5:52 pm
There was a play where LVD looked at DW which a WTF, mmmm,
October 4th, 2021 at 6:32 pm
The Bucs need this guy to produce. Plain and simple. If it’s pass coverage, he needs to put in the work. Be a student of the game. Anticipate the play. Be a disrupter.
October 4th, 2021 at 6:49 pm
Hey if Devin White was frelancing in Super Bowl 55 Im all for it.
He has started really slow but I saw some signs of life yesterday. Not sure what the hang up is but Im not gonna care if he peaking at playoff time.
October 4th, 2021 at 6:56 pm
Not too worried about LB player…Much more worried about a razor thin secondary depth chart, now led by “Old Man River” Richard Sherman.
October 4th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Troy polomalu freelanced all the time and we said what a great player. That was his claim to fame. Im sure his freelancing cost his team at times as the coaches said so but you lived with it. White is still developing. Only year 3. I’ll take it
October 4th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
It means he out there without a particular assignment….. not being a loaf like Hargreaves. Any MLB should be able to do if they call the plays
October 4th, 2021 at 7:29 pm
Most impressive player of the game for me was the rookie qb for Boston. He made Brady look over the hill. Brady over threw a lot of passes. The rookie made a lot of beautiful throws even under pressure. The kid is a star.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:02 pm
I hope LVD raises hell with White. No excuse for him stinking. Plus, with the secondary decimated, the DL and LBs have to go full bore with their ears pinned back.
October 4th, 2021 at 8:32 pm
White had two free runs at Jones, and whiffed both times. He does that to often, over running plays that should be bunnies. Jones needed only to take one step sideways, and watch the train fly past, twice! Tackling air doesn’t make you a pro bowler.
October 5th, 2021 at 9:32 am
A star? A check down star I mean Mac made some accurate easy check down passes against a injury riddle secondary didn’t even come into the same area code with the difficult throws Tom was making
October 7th, 2021 at 11:49 am
He’s not good enough to do that!! Not doing that is probably what propelled him last year!! It messes up the whole teams chemistry!! If you have a guy in a bubble zone thinking he’s dropping back 10 yards and you’re the strong safety and don’t think you have to cover that area and white cheats up because he gets fooled by the QB OVER AND OVER AND OVER then that’s where the QB will hit you!! Right between where you as a safety thought he would be and where the QB put him!!