Kwon Alexander To Push Lansanah
May 2nd, 2015
Bucs OLB Danny Lansanah will have competition this summer.
A feel-good story of last season was the emergence of linebacker Danny Lansanah.
One of the last signees by former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik in 2013, Lansanah, a former UFL player, had a strong training camp and eventually unseated Jonathan Casillas at strongside linebacker.
Lansanah had a few strong games early, but seemed to slide a bit in the latter stages of the season.
Along comes the fourth round and LSU linebacker Kwon Alexander was still on the board. Bucs general manager Jason Licht hinted he and his staff had Alexander higher up the draft board, so they traded up and pulled the trigger on him.
“Ranked as one of the top outside linebackers in the draft,” Licht said. “We were surprised and obviously excited he was there for us. We moved up to ensure we could get him. Kwon Alexander is an explosive, fast player who will get a shot at playing outside linebacker for us.”
Licht quickly remarked that Alexander will not unseat weakside linebacker Lavonte David. S that only leaves Lansanah’s position.
Interestingly, moments after the Bucs selected Alexander, Lansanah, on his Twitter account, posted an ominous message stating, “Keep doubting me!” That Tweet later was deleted and Lansanah added it had nothing to do with the draft. He wrote he wasn’t paying attention to the draft.
To hear more of Licht’s wrap-up of the 2015 draft, click the button below. Audio courtesy of Joe’s friends at WDAE-AM 620.
May 2nd, 2015 at 7:12 pm
Kwon’s head is going to be spinning @ LB…Danny ain’t got nothing to worry about this year
May 2nd, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Real believable story there Lansanah.
May 2nd, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Competition is a good thing.
May 2nd, 2015 at 8:09 pm
Dude has to keep his mouth shut.
May 2nd, 2015 at 8:17 pm
lavonte who? — kwon alexander
May 2nd, 2015 at 8:40 pm
Laid back lol. Watch out Danny, Kwon is gunning for your job!
May 2nd, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Should be a good battle. we should sign the ufa DeAndrew White wr bama. he is really good if healthy. would be worth an invite to camp n could make the team as our #5
May 2nd, 2015 at 9:40 pm
Guess Danny Boy never heard of depth …because he has never seen any on this team! He shouldn’t be sweating the way Mr. Herron should be!
May 2nd, 2015 at 9:40 pm
So, NFL .com has us listed in the losers from the 2015 NFL draft. SMH.
May 2nd, 2015 at 9:45 pm
Worst case we have 4 capable linebackers who can play…
May 2nd, 2015 at 10:00 pm
I dont know what to say. I have two days to put out an article on the NFCS draft grades individually. Gonna be a diverse study I can tell you that
May 2nd, 2015 at 10:01 pm
After checking out some stats and videos I see Alexander as an LVD 2.0 which I find strange especially since LVD has not signed a new contract yet.
May 2nd, 2015 at 10:04 pm
Hey joe, whatever happened to our second 5th round pick??
May 2nd, 2015 at 10:17 pm
Nothing against you DB in ANY way but LVD gets signed long term. Nice to see that you believe we have a possible clone in the line up.
May 2nd, 2015 at 10:50 pm
Kwon Alexander
6′. 227. 4.55 40
90 tackles led team 2014. 4 games with 10+ tackles
156 tckls, 15 for loss, 1.5 sacks career
23 starts in 3 seasons for LSU
Saw his combine tape and highlights vs GA and I saw LVD.
May 2nd, 2015 at 11:33 pm
He’ll take some time to develop, so Danny shouldn’t be so worried (for now). This guy was rated more highly by several scouts…but his broken ankle last season, and lack of production due to the weird 3-3-5 base defense LSU ran…combined to make him a steal in the 4th round.
He’ll be a special teams contributor until he figures out the defense…then Danny Lansanah will be a quality back-up.
Good pick.
Any fans that think we could move him to mike ‘backer…he’s too light, and his frame won’t handle more weight. He’s a weakside backer, only.
May 2nd, 2015 at 11:40 pm
joe what happened to the second fifth round pick you promised, and then when questioned backed up and said was legit? jw. admit you were wrong?
May 3rd, 2015 at 1:15 am
Welcome to the Bucs Kwon!
We needed some help at LB so this is good. Nobody is giving up on you Danny, keep doing your thing man….depth and competition is a good thing.
May 3rd, 2015 at 1:51 am
Interestingly, moments after the Bucs selected Alexander, Lansanah, on his Twitter account, posted an ominous message stating, “Keep doubting me!” That Tweet later was deleted and Lansanah added it had nothing to do with the draft. He wrote he wasn’t paying attention to the draft.
Of course not. Who would have thought it had anything to do with the draft? Lansanah had a solid year coming in half way thru. I don’t think this is a slap in his face but the Bucs clearly had Kwon rated highest on the board. This could be a great pick. I’m really high on the Bell pick. Bell could end up being the WR2 on this team in 2k16 ongoing. For now, I want him to win the #3 job.
May 3rd, 2015 at 1:52 am
Now that the draft is over, its time to snap back to reality and realize that the majority of our draft picks are not going to make it, that’s just a fact. I know we can get caught up in the draft (myself included) and think well every draft is different so that means there’s a chance that we could hit on every draft pick when that’s just not reality. If we are lucky, 4 of them will stick around for at least three years, and even then I think that’s being generous. Just want to keep things in perspective.
Also Lansanah, you ain’t got nothing to worry about. This guys role will most likely be limited to special teams.
May 3rd, 2015 at 1:58 am
I feel that way about last year’s draft Andrew. After Evans, I wasnt excited. I liked the ASJ pick and hope he works out after his injury heals 100%, but Sims and the rest just didnt do anything for me.
I think 3 will work out well long term….Winston, Marpet, and Bell.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:07 am
@ MadMax
It’s that way for every draft and for every team. It’s crazy because none of us keep that in mind once draft season starts, but we see it every year lol. It’s like draft fever causes amnesia or something. I would also agree with your three long term guys, except maybe I would switch Marpet with Smith. But we’ll see.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:14 am
If there is an injury at weak side LB, we now have the perfect sub to insert and until then we have a great special team player. This illustrates a weakness in Licht’s mentality. We could have gotten RB Davis instead who would be tons better than our 7th round FB who is not an experienced blocker and may not even make our team. Last year he did the same thing picking Sims who we didn’t even need and who can’t make yards on his own, but Davis can. Experts are not going to rate this draft high! In the second round we could have picked Pitt’s LT who will be a lot more successful than Smith will ever be. In fact experts believe Smith will make a better Guard than a tackle. And the Clay pick was a homer choice influenced by Licht’s Dad. Clay is not strong enough to avoid a jam. You know there were many better slot candidates who were better and some were outstanding returners too. We should have taken Chickalo in the fourth to fortify our DE position.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:19 am
@Andre and Max. Im calling the same with Winston and Bell but I believe, mainly hope, that both Smith and Marpet pan out as well. Kwon and anyone else would be cherries on top. Bell was my favorite pick of the 3rd day. I feel like we stole him and I actually watched some of him in college.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:28 am
@cmurda
I feel the same way about Bell. I’ll even take it a step further and say that after the Winston pick, he is my favorite pick in this year’s draft.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:53 am
Trust me, barring injury, Marpet will be here for 5 years or more. I also wanted Chickillo, (local too).
Btw murda, you meant Bell, not clay.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:54 am
My bad, that last sentence was for Owlykat.
May 3rd, 2015 at 8:18 am
I don’t think so Tim…
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:09 pm
How can Danny be worried, when he is busy being laid back and not paying any attention to the draft??