BSPN: Lions Will Go After SirVocea Dennis
October 19th, 2025
Marked man?
Joe is pretty confident if Bucs fans were polled about next year’s draft, the overwhelming position for fans would be for AC/DC-loving general manager to select an inside linebacker.
We all know Bucs icon Lavonte David is 35. And at times, we can see Father Time tapping on his shoulder. He is making plays, sure, no doubt. But he’s also making some non-plays he never before has.
Father Time is an undefeated SOB.
But it’s not David’s graceful aging that has Bucs fans nervous and uncomfortable. Again, aside from last week’s game against the 49ers, SirVocea Dennis has been a major disappointment.
Dennis seems to be making plays in the second half of games but it takes him a while to get warmed up and in the flows. Early in games, he is getting roasted.
Joe will never shake that run from Jalen Hurts up the right side out of Joe’s head. It looked like Hurts was chasing Dennis, who had no idea Hurts was taking off to run as the Eagles quarterback ran up the right side for 29 yards while Dennis was chasing a receiver.
Talk about zero ball awareness. #Lawd
Apparently, Seth Walder of BSPN, a man who never met a number he didn’t like, thinks the Lions are salivating at the chance for some payback on Dennis. Last year, Dennis played a strong ballgame as the Bucs stole a win from the Lions in Ford Field. Dennis may have had his best game with 11 tackles as the Bucs won 20-16.
Why is Walder confident the Lions will go after Dennis? Because the Lions love attacking the middle of an opponent’s defense. And given how Dennis has played erratically, Walder thinks Dennis is walking into Ford Field tomorrow night with a giant bulls-eye on his back.
Will the Lions be able to exploit Buccaneers LB SirVocea Dennis in coverage?
I very much expect they will on Monday night. Dennis has allowed 1.9 yards per coverage snap this season, which is the worst among all linebackers with at least 100 coverage snaps. Sometimes coverage metrics can be fluky or misleading, but after watching every target against Dennis, that is not the case here. Dennis has struggled in coverage, and those plays are riddled with missed tackles in space, too.
That’s absolutely perfect for the Lions, who already attack linebackers plenty. This season, 34% of Detroit’s targets have been directed at linebackers, the third-highest in the league per NFL Next Gen Stats. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta could have big receiving days.
Well, what the Bucs have to hope for is that Dennis has turned the corner. Last week he clearly had his best game of the season spying none other than Christian McCaffrey. This guy kills teams with YAC (yards after catch. Dennis was told not to allow McCaffrey any YAC that can hurt the Bucs.
Dennis (and the Bucs) held McCaffrey to an average of 8.1 yards per catch.
But yeah, Joe thinks Walder is onto something here, certainly in the early going. Make Dennis prove the has turned the corner. Smarter to target Dennis than a wily veteran like David.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:02 pm
Devin White seems to be doing good for the Raiders. Sure wish he would have worked out here.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:04 pm
Why wouldn’t you? He’s clearly been the weak link in coverage
October 19th, 2025 at 12:09 pm
Coaching matters. So does lack of coaching.
Everybody in the world knows that Dennis has played poorly, and even an average coach would help him, and substitute Deion Jones on 2nd or 3rd and medium +.
What will Todd do?
October 19th, 2025 at 12:12 pm
Joe what game were you watching last week? Actually SVD started out the 49ers game very well as he had 4.5 tackles and one of those was a TFL for -3 yards on McCaffrey.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
Those are 1st half stats.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:22 pm
Coen the traitor Is bein destroyed by the Rams. Tuff match up for Bucs ,later in the season.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:22 pm
Costa Rica John…No and Raiders are still a bad team. He had a good game against the Titans. Watch him get worked against KC today.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
Joe is pretty sure that more than once in the post he typed “aside from last week.”
Last week was the 49ers game.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
Dennis is still a rookie in terms of playing time, but I do think if all for CBs(Dean, Zyon, Morrison, and Parish) are healthy. We could see Tykee Smith play Dennis spot in some situations. Tykee is tough and can make tackles rarely makes mistakes. All the Bucs cbs are tough so the only issue is coverage so if you replace Dennis with Tykee it can only be better for that.
October 19th, 2025 at 12:32 pm
Don’t understand why he has call the D, LD should be calling the D, let this kat focus on his assignments, let him grow into the roll. Damn!!!🤣
October 19th, 2025 at 12:50 pm
the bucs are not going to just beat detroit they are going to beat them good! i’m confident… detroit is over rated and we are getting healthy!!
October 19th, 2025 at 12:58 pm
Hoping for big games out of SVD, Izien and Parrish. I’ve been wondering why LVD isn’t calling the Defense, too. Even if he’s getting set to retire, he’s got a tremendous amount of knowledge in his (future HOF) head. 6-1, Tampa Bay!!
October 19th, 2025 at 1:37 pm
El serpentine took a solid beating. Nice offense. lol. Lawrence is no Mayfield!!
Go Bucs! I believe Bowles will be able to be aggressive with all starting CBs and Safety’s ready to roll. Let’s go!!
October 19th, 2025 at 1:47 pm
SVD will be fine.
Speaking of coaching….
How bout them Jags and their COTY candidate 🤣🤣🤣
Anybody (aside from aquagirl) still think we should have given Todd’s job to Coen ?
October 19th, 2025 at 1:48 pm
LVD probably does not technically call the defense because they would like Dennis to make the verbal calls. LVD can probably help coach him on the field if he misses a word or does not audible. The team has not had any major busted coverages due to communication. The big plays have just been slipping or gambling.
October 19th, 2025 at 2:07 pm
And SVD was playing his man in the play everyone wants to keep referencing.
Remember how everyone screamed for more man to man coverage? That’s what can happen in man.
Of course Detroit will target our ILBs. They’ll also try to establish the run. And take play action shots. No news here.
October 19th, 2025 at 2:07 pm
La Porta is a potential Buc killer in this game.
Hopefully we figure out how to contain him, and rest of the Detroit offense.
October 19th, 2025 at 2:20 pm
I’ve decided that I’m a throwback. Middle linebacker has always been my favorite position on defense, and some guys have played that position to the extent that we all recognize their name & the ferocity with which they played.
The Bears’ Dick ‘The Animal’ Butkus is recognized by all. Having him patrolling the middle of your defense was most likely a good reason to avoid that part of the field.
The Ravens’ Ray Lewis was another MLB familiar to everyone because of his dominating play. So was the Steelers’ Jack Lambert (his ‘Dracula in Cleats’ nickname is actually quite appropriate), as well as the Packers’ Ray Nitschke. All of those guys were strong, tough players who really seemed to enjoy hitting other players. More like enjoyed running through other players.
I don’t get that same sense in today’s middle linebackers. They’re more ‘technicians’ than they are ‘beasts’. How many today could earn the nickname ‘Animal’ or ‘Dracula’? The Bucs have never had anyone with that kind of reputation that I know of, but IMO Hardy Nickerson was probably our best MLB. I really enjoyed watching Hardy play while he was here for those 7 years. SVD has a ways to go before he ‘owns’ the middle of the field.
October 19th, 2025 at 2:38 pm
Again! Thanks captain obvious!
October 19th, 2025 at 2:39 pm
Need to have 45 ready to play right away. Wish he could play damn close to his hay day with the Falcons. Dude was a monster then! Tampa has need to find a new LB since White crapped the bed. That and a real DE would make this team extremely scary
October 19th, 2025 at 3:04 pm
Coen smoked by the Rams this morning.
Love it
Go Bucs
October 19th, 2025 at 3:13 pm
As they should but
He is smarter than Devin White and is coach able and will recognize when he is being set up to bite when he should not
October 19th, 2025 at 3:29 pm
Shame we couldn’t have found a way to get Schwesinger, dude is a machine.
October 19th, 2025 at 4:10 pm
Dennis will be prepared and he’ll execute at a high level vs the lions
6-1!!!!
GO BUCS
October 19th, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Viking’s clock management was pathetically horrible in their loss to the Eagles. They wasted 5 minutes doing nothing when they should have kicked a field goal when 2 scores down immediately when in range. They still most likely would have blown the game, but certainly would have had a much better chance.
October 19th, 2025 at 4:38 pm
Costa Rica John Says:
October 19th, 2025 at 12:02 pm
Devin White seems to be doing good for the Raiders. Sure wish he would have worked out here.
^^^^^^^^^^
White was so bad for the Bucs the last couple of years, it almost looked like he had money on the other team.
October 19th, 2025 at 4:47 pm
Unfortunately, Voss is the second-best ILB on this team and will continue to get snaps. Dion Jones has looked just as bad. I don’t know how good Bullock would play but he’s not getting snaps. I guess the good news is that Voss played a little better against the 49ers so maybe he is improving?
October 19th, 2025 at 5:07 pm
In related news, Jenna Lame will continue to ask silly questions at press conferences.
Of course they will target SVD…until he proves he can make more plays and not look a day late and several dollars short in coverage. If/when he makes a splash play or two, that might change.
October 19th, 2025 at 5:59 pm
Yeah. Devin White looks great for the Raiders. They lost 38-0 today
October 19th, 2025 at 7:03 pm
SVD played great in Detroit last season, hopefully he does it again.
October 19th, 2025 at 7:16 pm
Put AW31 at MLB lol. Move izen to safety.
October 19th, 2025 at 8:37 pm
Nice shoutout to Nickerson DR – I totally agree – Hardy was a beast!
Dungy gets most of the credit for turning this franchise around after 14 straight (mostly double digit) losing seasons – along with Sapp, Brooks and Lynch.
But if there was one primary reason the Buccaneers transitioned from perpetual losers to a winning organisation in the late 90s – it was largely because of the presence of Mr Hardy Nickerson.
October 19th, 2025 at 8:37 pm
Go get ’em Voss!
October 19th, 2025 at 9:17 pm
Dennis on Gibbs makes my anxiety creep up.
October 19th, 2025 at 9:49 pm
They need to add a legit talent at ILB to replace David, I don’t think he returns next season. That means since they neglected the ILB spot for years they are likely to be stuck with Dennis next year again. Hoping they add via FA if the right fit is there
October 19th, 2025 at 10:21 pm
I am glad that a few of the posters have mentioned Hardy Nickerson, when he came to Tampa as a free agent from Pittsburgh in 1993, he also was the catalyst which started the culture change in the Tampa locker room. Hardy was instrumental in starting to hold players accountable and helped set a standard which young players like Lynch, Sapp and Brooks followed as the Bucs turned the corner.
As far as SVD, well a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and Dennis appears to be that link. Hopefully Bowles does not simply allow the Lions to nickel and dime the D with LaPorta schooling Dennis. We shall see. Bucs are dangerous on offense, this could be a shootout.
Also, what Buc fan does not like seeing Coen struggle mightily as his London Jags have trouble scoring points 2 weeks in a row. Lawrence is simply not a very good QB and Coen will have to deal with criticism so it will be interesting to see how he handles that as dude is ultra thin skinned.
October 19th, 2025 at 10:26 pm
Joe in Michigan; Devin White certainly did not help the Raiders vs the Chiefs. Defensive players, just like quarterbacks, can pad their numbers in one sided games making lots of tackles and the like. Man, the Raiders are bad, almost Jet/Dolphin/Saint bad.
October 20th, 2025 at 5:34 am
It looked to me like the Bucs always tried to scheme help for Dennis in coverage against the 49ers game, bracketing McCaffrey with David or a DB pretty much all game. That is what I suspect they need todo against Detroit’s RBs, also. It’s probably what they need to do all year.
October 20th, 2025 at 7:20 am
“Devin White seems to be doing good for the Raiders. Sure wish he would have worked out here.”
10 missed tackles, 135th out of 140 in PFF (38) for lb’s. I don’t have the paid version, would guess it’s his pass coverage
October 20th, 2025 at 8:31 am
The Hurts thing shows how most fans don’t have a clue. Bucs were in man Voss was running with his guy thought for second to gi for hurts but realized he would just drop t he
ball over his head for walk in Td. He needs to improve to but right now he is solid specially in run
October 20th, 2025 at 8:52 am
That’s absolutely what a smart OC would do.