“A Knife In The Run Game”
October 4th, 2025
Linebacker SirVocea Denis is a complex player.
Bucs linebacker SirVocea Dennis in pass coverage has too often looked like a guy who missed a bus and is chasing it down the road.
But Dennis has been a beast against the run. He leads the team in tackles for loss and is tied for third in total tackles. Voss, as he’s known around One Buc Palace, is learning a lot of lessons in his first season as a starter. He’s also turning a few heads.
Two-time Super Bowl defensive lineman Chris Long brought up Dennis on his Green Light podcast without being prompted.
“That SirVocea Dennis cat, he’s a bit of a knife in the run game. Like he’s small, he’s unorthodox, sometimes he’s wrong-arm, wrong-shoulder stuff, but he’s slippery and he makes plays,” said Long, who thinks Seattle will have a tough time tomorrow with the Bucs defense, which is ranked No. 2 in yards allowed per carry.
“They’ve also done a really good job on the run game,” Long said of Tampa Bay. “Like I’ve watched them, only nine explosive [runs] on the year, five of them are quarterback runs and one of them you let Houston score, evidently. They really have shut down outside zone [runs]. So Seattle has to run into the teeth of this defense.”
Long sees the Bucs throwing a steady diet of blitzes at Seattle QB Sam Darnold.
“He has not been a great quarterback against the blitz,” Long said. “That’s been the one bugaboo for him. So you figure the Bucs are going to bring pressure.
Long added that the Seahawks’ offensive line has struggled with linebackers this year and, sadly, he said Lavonte David hasn’t been playing to his standard.
Joe is intrigued by Dennis. Will he improve in coverage? He was supposed to be good in coverage, and he certainly has the speed.
October 4th, 2025 at 5:44 pm
By complex you mean not good obviously.
October 4th, 2025 at 5:47 pm
Yeah I was kind of torn on him coming out. They should probably sit him & let him learn some more still. Yeah sure there’s really not that much of an answer with the LBs but maybe they could just let him sit a little longer. They need to draft at least one maybe two next year.
October 4th, 2025 at 5:53 pm
Surprise, LB play has been subpar.
David has looked a step behind at times and has missed a few tackles/would be sacks where the QB has evaded him. Not ideal.
Should be simple assignments this week, Darnold is not a Hurts or Tyrod or Stroud. Don’t let Walker beat you outta the backfield, don’t let TE Arroyo or whoever get deep down the seam on you.
October 4th, 2025 at 5:59 pm
In all fairness to Lavonte, he is 63 years old
October 4th, 2025 at 6:03 pm
He’s kind of a LB version of Zyon. Needs work, but there’s something to work with
October 4th, 2025 at 6:19 pm
In the pass game when he gets beat it’s really obvious! Those are the plays the fans remember! Stopping the run and blitzing he’s been pretty good! IMHO!
October 4th, 2025 at 6:37 pm
My favorite NFL podcast.
October 4th, 2025 at 6:38 pm
He will keep getting better throughout the season, hopefully. He still hasn’t played much.
October 4th, 2025 at 6:47 pm
the play last week where he is chasing his man down the field and jalen is chasing him using him as a blocker and he never turned around was benny hill type stuff. any offense that sees him dropping back knows where to go. i think he has vision problems i really do.
October 4th, 2025 at 8:03 pm
A 3-4 Inside LB has to be good in multiple areas
Blitzing the QB
Stopping the run
Covering RBs and TEs
You can’t be one dimensional (One trick pony)
October 4th, 2025 at 8:58 pm
I’ve been rooting for SVD since he came here. Bucs will have to go after LBs in the off-season cos LVD is going to retire soon. Here’s hoping both have big games tomorrow!
October 4th, 2025 at 9:09 pm
Yeah, he’s great.
October 4th, 2025 at 10:04 pm
Expected a lot more from SirV Dennis this year. Lasting image will be Bijon Robiinson faking Dennis out on a short pass leaving Dennis tackling an armful of air. Bucs management knew they had a lot to fix in the middle of the defense this year. Everyone is poetic about Ebuka who incidentally has had a few obvious drops this year. Will never denigrate the second best Ohio State receiver last year but there were defensive players available who could have really helped Bucs defense. The guy who would have really helped Bucs ( yes, it is hindsight but GM’s get paid to be forward thinking) is UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger. This guy is a candidate for DROY and has looked really good in early part of the season.
October 4th, 2025 at 10:50 pm
Dennis has been up and down. But the down is more positioning and taking the right angles at the right time. He has been in the right spot at times, but when he’s off, it’s been glaring. It kind of looks to me that he’s still thinking too much against the pass and needs the game to slow down for him. Will take some time. As Drunk Bucs alluded to, he looks a lot like Zyon did. Makes a few spectacular plays, then blows one big time. It took a couple of seasons for Zyon to get to where he’s become a lock-down guy. If we don’t see go progression by the middle of the season, then I think the Bucs need to seriously look at replacing him. For now, keep him in there and let him learn. It’s the only way to know.
October 4th, 2025 at 10:59 pm
A knife in the run game…
A whisp in the pass game.
Liability.
Special teams captain and maybe mop up duty.
Dude sucks.
October 5th, 2025 at 12:20 am
L.David has done more than his share over the years,Now that he is 68 he should
ease up a bit.
October 5th, 2025 at 1:04 am
Hard to think Dennis just went from a guy who was always considered a very smart player, to being the dumbest guy on the field, unless there’s stuff we don’t know about going on.
He was so good last year in limited snaps, and that included vs the pass, so I still have hope that he can improve, but we need to see some progressive immediately.
October 5th, 2025 at 1:53 am
At least Dennis has stayed healthy through 4 games. Something that more than 1/3 of the starters on the team haven’t been able to do….
He’ll get there…..
#growingpains
October 5th, 2025 at 6:46 am
Todd Bowles coached Darnold for a few years. You would think he knows his kryptonite