4. Lavonte David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The offensive side of the football has generated the bulk of headlines in Tampa Bay over the past six months. First, quarterback Jameis Winston threw a whopping 30 interceptions, bringing new meaning to the idea of a “30/30” player in sports. Then this past offseason, Tom Brady took his talents to the Bay and then coaxed former running mate Rob Gronkowski out of retirement.
All of these storylines overshadowed the fact that Tampa Bay’s defense was quietly one of the better groups in the league. This was an almost-porous unit in 2018, when they turned opposing passers into Matt Ryan on a weekly basis. No seriously, in 2018 opposing passers had an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of 7.7, a mark which would have placed this generic opposing passer fifth in the league, ahead of Matt Ryan.
But last season, and in particular down the stretch, this was a much better defense. The Buccaneers finished 2019 with a Defensive DVOA of -11.5%, good for fifth-best in the league and a huge improvement over their 2018 finish, which was dead last. Perhaps more importantly, they finished with a Weighted Defensive DVOA of -20.4%, third-best in the league. (Weighted Defensive DVOA places an emphasis on recent performance).
Linebacker Lavonta David was a critical component of this turnaround. Last year was another great campaign for the veteran linebacker, as he notched 18 quarterback pressures, 85 tackles and an interception. He also tallied four passes defensed, tying his career high. David allowed an NFL passer rating of 95.6 when targeted, his best number since his 2013 season.
But the numbers do not tell the full story. Watch what he does on these successive plays against the Houston Texans. First he covers tight end Darren Fells in the flat on a misdirection design, making a sure tackle in space:
Then on third down, he gets to the sideline on a screen to DeAndre Hopkins, preventing a conversion:
The Buccaneers’ offense might continue to gather the headlines in 2020, but if David and the rest of this defense continue to play at this level, watch out.