Danny Lansanah Not A Lucky Man
October 10th, 2014
Bucs OLB Danny Lansanah dives over the goal line with his pick-six last week in New Orleans, his second in three games.
One of the few Bucs bright spots is the play of outside linebacker Danny Lansanah. The former reserve got a chance to play for injured starter Jonathan Casillas against Atlanta and had a pick-six.
Most Bucs fans didn’t see that because it came in the fourth quarter of one of the worst debacles in franchise history. By that time, Bucs fans had shut the game off and already were drinking heavily.
Lansanah’s play has been so good, he has replaced Casillas as a starter.
And Sunday he repaid Bucs coach Lovie Smith, one of Lansanah’s biggest fans, with another pick-six against the Saints. Some would suggest Lansanah has just been lucky, having two pick-sixes in three games, especially since he wasn’t supposed to be a starter to begin with.
Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, in his weekly press conference yesterday, all but said that notion is nonsense.
“Yeah, you have to put yourself in the right place at the right time and he’s been able to do that,” Frazier said of the former UFL player, Lansanah. “It’s more than just a lucky break here or there, otherwise, there’d be a few other guys getting those same type of lucky breaks. But he’s done a good job of anticipating where the ball is going to be and then he’s finishing. There have been other guys who have been in position to make interceptions or get a takeaway and they didn’t do it. But he’s been able to get it done. So credit to him being a guy who’s at the right spot at the right time, but some of that goes with his film study and how hard he’s working.
“He’s a guy who hasn’t given up, and you’re right: he’s bounced around a little bit, and he’s kind of found a home. Early on, he wasn’t one of those guys we were counting on – we didn’t have him in the starting lineup and he’s kind of worked his way there by making plays both in practice and in games to the point where it’s going to be hard for us to take him off the field. He’s the only guy in the league with two touchdowns on defense. He’s done some things for us to believe in his abilities and not given up and just continuing to work hard. And he does have some talent, he has some ability.”
Lansanah really has been a prize — a Schiano-Dominik pickup –and Joe wonders what this defense may look like when it gets back all of its parts healthy. Guys like Mason Foster and Michael Johnson (who is playing with a bum ankle) and Dashon Goldson.
There are few things for Bucs fans to be happy with when the team is 1-4; there are so, so many holes and areas that need improvement. Hopefully, Lansanah can continue his strong play.
To hear more from Frazier, click on the arrow below. Audio courtesy of Joe’s friends at WDAE-AM 620.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:07 am
He needs to miss less tackles.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:14 am
Yeah, he’s opportunistic and is miles ahead of Casillas. He’s also getting run over occasionally. But whatever it takes to keep Casillas off the field. Not sure why Smith resigned him in the first place and made him a starter?
October 10th, 2014 at 9:33 am
But wait! This defense was supposed to be much more simple!
How come Lansanah is one of the very few players to be in position and is making the most if his opportunities?
October 10th, 2014 at 9:46 am
I would like to see the players on the bucs wave their arms up in the air to get the crowd noise(12th man) going against the Baltimore dead birds offense. the players need to do this more often during the game than they have done in the past. why can’t our stadium( house) be as loud as the steelers or saints ?
go bucs!
October 10th, 2014 at 9:55 am
No Joe,
I’ll pass – your commentary was good enough. I don’t want to hear anything from Frazier until after week 3 of 2015.
What a letdown overall.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:11 am
port richey george, it’s not the players’ job to make sure the fans are involved. they have enough to worry about. quite frankly, i lose the motivation to make noise after the 4th or 5th time in a row the opponent converts a 3rd down. i’d rather they focus on making the stops, and the noise will come. the waving the arms bit is something players do at key moments to get a little more from the crowd, but it shouldn’t be on them to cheerlead down-to-down
October 10th, 2014 at 10:23 am
Its stories like this that happens all the time. It just has a james harrison story feel to me. I’m not saying he will win Defensive POY or nothing like that. I just see him being a starter after getting his shot in the latter part of his career. Its just shows that coaches should give guys more shots because some players don’t show you there full ability until the bright lights come on and vice versa
October 10th, 2014 at 10:43 am
Glad to see the linebacker corps is still strong. Now if we could get some good work out of the secondary and somebody up front who isn’t GMC making plays, that’d be great.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:45 am
Thank god for schiano or we’d have 0 playmakers on the field. Well I shouldn’t say zero, mclown made some big plays, for the defense. Boom! Pow!! I’ll be here all week folks.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:55 am
Now if Fletcher gets an int, then it’s luck. That guy is never in the right place.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:11 am
JJ Watt now has two TDs on D as well.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:18 am
Schiano was a personal genius who was unfairly
victimized by the POS national and local media.
# the media loves dumb scared naive people
October 10th, 2014 at 11:30 am
Lansanah, foster, David is our best bet for starting LBs. Casillas just doesn’t look good this year, and Fletcher straight up sucks.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:42 am
Port Richey, it is hard to get the crowd very loud when it is half full of the opponents fans because we can sell out ray jay.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
Lansanah is a liability in coverage. Check out his PFF grades for last week, very bad.
October 10th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Schiano was a terrible coach. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a terrible judge of Terrible coaches. Dominick had just as much responsibility for the personel on this team. Good, bad or otherwise. Besides, the whole 2 good players schiano and Dominick drafted together, is hardly a track record worth noting.
October 10th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Let’s not forget schiano was the Idiot who traded away aqib talib because he wasn’t worth he money. Traded away Blount because he didn’t know how to utilize his skill set. So take that into account and he really hasn’t improved anything. Not to mention the whole Revis trade. Wasted a first and fourth round pick for a 1 yr work out. Thanks schiano! You were such an amazing talent evaluator and amazing coach, all the players loved playing for you!
October 10th, 2014 at 7:44 pm
Ol Leslie must not b watching Texans stud JJ Watt play cuz he has 3 td’s . Actually Lansanah has been a pleasant surprise. Now all we need is a Mike LB cuz I don’t c one that fits our system on this team right now!
October 10th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
Joe, thanks for the insight on Lansanah. I didn’t know he came from the UFL. I hope he been keep up the playmaker persona and as Frazier alluded too, I hope it rubs off on the rest of the defense. I do agree with him needing to keep his had up and stop missing tackles.
October 11th, 2014 at 12:42 am
Sure. Welcome.
October 11th, 2014 at 6:20 am
Lansanah is a real Buc!
A fighter.an underdogg. An overachiever.
Go Bucs!!