Lavonte David Among NFL Elite
November 14th, 2012
In football, like in baseball, stats can be deceiving. One such stat in football is tackle assists. Shoot, even Joe could get an assist just by piling on top of a mound of players on the ground.
Now getting a solo tackle, which often means getting a tackle in the open field, is another ball of wax. Those tackles are very much legitimate and take a great deal of skill and effort to rack up.
That’s why Joe is of the mind Lavonte David should be a Pro Bowl linebacker this year. If one is to monitor just solo tackles, not total tackles, David, the Bucs rookie outside linebacker, has the second-most solo tackles in the NFL. He is one behind James Laurinaitis of the Rams; Laurinaitis has 68, David 67.
(Cool trivia: Of the eight linebackers listed with the five-most solo tackles, four are from the Big Ten, none from the SEC. GASP!)
David is just one of many examples of how this Bucs franchise has turned around under Greg Schiano and how Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik actually knows how to draft players. Dominik only needed a coach to develop talent.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Bucs can grab another excellent Linebacker in the late 2nd Rd or early 3rd Rd…in the 2013 NFL Draft…..then we are Ballin’…some good OLB’s in this draft
November 14th, 2012 at 10:17 am
This kid is a stud . He is always around the ball and makes great reads on the running back . Definitely should be a Pro Bowler this year but you’ll probaly see alot of the old guys getting in on name alone .
November 14th, 2012 at 10:21 am
He has been amazing, I think he has been the best rookie on the Bucs this year…. Yes that includes Martin b/c David has been consistent all year, Martin has been hot the past month! Great rookie class so far, GO BUCS!!!
November 14th, 2012 at 10:49 am
Personally I think Schiano had at least as much to do with who our first 3 picks were this year. Dominic followed his lead.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:52 am
Joe
It has always amazed me on how the players are deemed to be the correct size rather than their desire and ability to play. Would you want a bigger LB than Brooks or a bigger DB like Rhone over the years that they played? What about Rogers the Greenbay QB?
Flash is fast and he is bigger than the RBs, plus his instincts can’t be taught, he wants it and is doing it. Results always top should be’s.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I don’t think Schiano made any of the trades that got those picks. I would say that at the very most it was a team effort, but I’m leaning more on Dominic having more to do with it.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:59 am
@big rob
Schiano said this is my guy, Dominick said i can trade down and get him, even if Dominick did not trade down from the 1st overall pick, there all kind of ways to trade back to the first to get a guy that you target. There is an obvious difference in the front office structure.
November 14th, 2012 at 11:08 am
“four are from the Big Ten, none from the SEC. GASP!)”
..which is weird because the Big Ten doesnt even have any division 1 football teams outside of Ohio state right?…weird
November 14th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Pbmbuc,
To think that dom followed schiano’s lead is silly. Schiano obviously had a voice, but we do have a full scouting dep’t. Not to mention butch davis. Everyone had a say. But dom had final word.
Do you really think they gave complete control to a rookie coach?
November 14th, 2012 at 11:23 am
All that Luke Kuechly talk sure has gone away…. except wait a minute he is pretty elite in his own right..
Since taking over at MLB for the Puddy Tats… he has 62 combined tackles, 38 solo and 1 int in 5 games. If you take his average numbers he would be close to Laurinaitis and David if he had been playing his natural position all eight games at about 61 solo tackles.
I am loving that we got David, he is a special player and in my mind more valuable to us then Kuechly would have been. My point here is that it is going to be awesome to see all the key match ups this Sunday. David against Cam and their backs, Kuechly against Martin and so on and so forth very much a preview of the division battle we will be seeing for years to come. Sunday never comes fast enough.
November 14th, 2012 at 11:24 am
LaVonte David- Calls the plays pre-snap, makes the plays after the snap.
This guy is a keeper.
November 14th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Lavonte and Kuechly are both impressing the entire league with there play. Both straight up beasts at tackling.
November 14th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
It will take just a couple more years for the Kuechly nut huggers to realize he is Ruud 2.0, another former BEAST at tackling…down the field.
November 14th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Don’t get me wrong but #54 that jersey has been making all the tackles for the last 3yrs.. Geno is riding the bench because of name brand LB’s. The Bucs let a tackling machine go. I think Hayes & David would make a better combination. Dom get our boy back he was a good kid no on or off the field issues. He’s wasting away on Chicago bench. We need our Dline coach back too. Go get our special teams coach in San Diego mix them in the soup poof Playoffs. Geno played in the weak ass tampa 2.0 and produced. Remarkable!
I hope Hayes don’t hate his former team. Geno made so many tackles for it to just go unnoticed. He got a one year contract with the bears when he desevred a long term with us. Rah benched him last years to hender his confidence when he the only buc that I seen playing all season. The only buc I seen tackling anybody.
Don’t forget where you came from when you leave because forgetting Geno is like forgetting HOME.
November 14th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
@SacBucs
Geno Hayes isn’t coming back. Coach saw what he can do on tape and didn’t see the point of resigning him. He showed flashes but disappear most of the game. He is a weakside linebacker that made plays, but never dominated at the point of attack. Maybe it was bad coaching, but he would only be another backup here behind David. He is too small to play strong side, plus they will still do no know what they have with Dekota Watson.