The Buccaneers will use their 2024 offseason program to have players work in the weight room to improve in specific areas, as well as add size, strength and speed. While head coach Todd Bowles adds a new twist to the defense and new offensive coordinator Liam Cohen and his new assistants implement a new playbook, each Buccaneer player will work to hone their skills and address individual weaknesses.
Based on input from members of the Buccaneers coaching staff and front office, as well as my own analysis and observations, I have come up with one specific area for each player to work on heading into training camp and the 2024 season. I am only evaluating players who actually played for Tampa Bay last year and am not taking into account rookies who played for other teams or newly acquired free agents.
This is part six of an eight-part series looking at one or two position groups of Buccaneers players. Today it’s Tampa Bay’s inside linebackers. Next up is the Buccaneers’ cornerbacks.
Areas each Bucks player can improve: QB, RB
Areas where each Buccaneers player can improve: WR, TE
Areas where each Buccaneers player can improve: O-line
Areas where each Buccaneers player can improve: D-line
Areas each Buccaneers player can improve on: OLB
Areas each Bucs player can improve on: Inside linebackers
ILB Lavonte David – Become a turnover machine once again
Buccaneers ILB Lavonte David – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
Now 34 and entering his 13th season with Tampa Bay, David has fought the clock and won so far. But the Buccaneers would love to see the legendary linebacker turn back the clock one more time and become a turnover machine in what may be his final season in a red and pewter uniform. As a youth, he was known for his blazing speed, flying all over the field and racking up tackles, averaging more than 140 tackles per year in his first four seasons with the Buccaneers.
But what made David a special linebacker was his ability to create turnovers. During his career with the Bucs, David recorded 160 tackles for loss and 33.5 sacks, along with 28 forced fumbles, 18 fumble recoveries, 12 interceptions, two touchdown returns and a safety. These flashy plays made David one of the most dynamic linebackers during his first decade with Tampa Bay.
David took a sip from the fountain of youth last year. Team-high 134 tackles David only had one forced fumble last year, no recoveries or interceptions. In fact, despite being one of the league’s best coverage linebackers, he hasn’t recorded an interception in the past three seasons and just two in the past seven. The Buccaneers will be hoping David can help create three or four turnovers in 2024 while still keeping his tackle numbers high.
ILB KJ Britt – Will be a three-down linebacker
Buccaneers ILB KJ Britt and Packers TE Tucker Kroft – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Britt’s emergence in Tampa Bay last year coincided with team captain and five-year starter Devin White wearing out his welcome due to his ego and inconsistent play. A core special teams player in his first three seasons with the Buccaneers, Britt provided Todd Bowles with a steady presence in the middle of the defense. The 6-foot, 235-pound Britt saw the majority of the starts in the final four games of the regular season and finished the 2023 season with 29 tackles. Britt saw more playing time in the playoffs, recording 15 tackles, including a career-high 12 tackles for loss in Detroit.
Known as a downhill thumper, Britt is a surer tackler than White and has a better ability to escape blocks and close gaps, but pass coverage is where Britt really needs to improve in 2024. Despite playing most of the snaps as a microphone linebacker at the end of the year, Bowles will likely platoon Britt and White together, using Britt on early rundowns and White on third-and-long situations and obvious pass downs.
Britt is in an important contract year and wants to prove he can be a three-down linebacker who can effectively drop in pass coverage. The Auburn alum dropped two plays last year that could have been intercepted while in coverage and will need to make those plays to show Bowles he has the ability to stay on the field every play of the defense. Britt told The Pewter Report he plans to focus on studying film and working on his pass drops in the offseason and said he expects to see the results of his efforts in training camp and the preseason.
ILB Servosia Dennis – Overcoming Stage Fright
Buccaneers ILB Servosia Dennis – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
Dennis, the team’s fifth-round pick last year, turned heads with four pick-sixes in practice across rookie minicamp, OTAs, mandatory minicamp and training camp. The Pittsburgh native recorded 15 quarterback captures in college, seven of which came as a senior. But it was his coverage skills that stood out the most in practice and generated quite a bit of buzz around the rookie linebacker.
But when it came to game day, Dennis’ play didn’t translate from the practice field to the stadium. In the preseason opener against Pittsburgh, he was hesitant and missed a few tackles; he admitted to Pewter Report that nerves got the better of him. He was then tasked with filling in for an injured Lavonte David in the fourth quarter of a loss at San Francisco, but his tackles were mediocre at best, with just three. He started in place of David the following week against the Colts and performed reasonably well, recording a career-high six tackles, but also missed a few stops.
Dennis has all the makings of being a very well-rounded linebacker in Todd Bowles’ defense. He can blitz, cover, tackle and stop the run. In his second year in Tampa Bay, he just needs to run hard and inject some confidence into himself to translate his flashy plays in practice on game day. If Dennis can overcome his nerves and perform to his potential, he could compete with KJ Britt for the starting linebacker spot at Mike’s this year next to David.
ILB JJ Russell – Continues to splash around
Buccaneers LB JJ Russell Photo credit: USA Today
JJ Russell had a very productive preseason in his second year with Tampa Bay in 2023. The practice squad mainstay recorded 15 tackles in three games and an interception in the preseason opener against Pittsburgh. Russell was thin on the depth chart last year behind Lavonte David, Devin White, KJ Britt and rookie Servosia Dennis, but showed enough promise to stay on the practice squad for another year.
Injuries to White and David and an illness for Dennis forced the Bucs to start Russell next to Britt in a December home game against the Panthers, but patience served the athletic linebacker well. With Britt limited to one series with a back injury, Russell moved from Mo’s to Mike’s linebacker. The second-year linebacker from Memphis showed the team he was good enough to play, shining with seven tackles and a sack on Bryce Young.
Heading into his third training camp with the Bucs, Russell needs to continue making flashy plays like sacks and interceptions to show the coaching staff he’s worthy of being on the 53-man roster this year instead of the practice squad. With White gone, he has a chance to make the team as the ILB4 or challenge Dennis for the primary backup spot behind David and Britt. He’ll primarily be a reserve linebacker and special teams player, so making some flashy plays for the team, like forcing a fumble in the preseason, would help him out.
