BSPN: SirVocea Dennis Will Get Exposed (Again)
October 25th, 2025
Look out.
Sometimes, both football people and those who bury their heads in stats and think the game is played on a spreadsheet can agree. Just like the following.
Joe’s own eyes can see that SirVocea Dennis is a weak link when it comes to defending the pass. He gets lost in the wash at least once in the first half of every game and gives up a big play.
Once he settles down, he is fine. The problem is the time it takes him time to settle in. Dennis is second on the Bucs in tackles (52) but Joe is confident he leads the defense in getting fried on big plays.
Last week Jahmyr Gibbs got loose on Dennis. And as NFL coaches like to say, it is a copycat league. So tomorrow, BSPN’s Seth Walder, a man who never met a number he didn’t like, thinks slimy Saints running back Alvin Kamara gets his.
Short-term investors should take note, Walder suggests.
Bucs LB SirVocea Dennis is struggling in coverage, allowing 2.0 yards per coverage snap. It’s the most among LBs by a healthy margin and more than the double the positional average, which helped Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs have a big receiving day in Week 7. Now, it’s Kamara’s turn.
Joe likes Dennis, standup dude. And he clearly plays well against the run (unless Jalen Hurts is running the ball) otherwise he wouldn’t be racking all these tackles. But it is wild to Joe that Dennis gets flame-broiled by an offensive skill position player in the first halves of games. Every week. Once Dennis gets that out of his system, he’s fine.
It’s weird. It’s like a baseball pitcher who can’t calm down unless a batter blasts a pitch off the center field wall.
October 25th, 2025 at 8:25 am
Unfortunately he lacks the necessary experience to cover his opponents. He’s learning by trail and error.
As the playoffs approach later in the season we don’t know if it will be a crap shoot for him. I’m sure Bowles has a plan to adjust one way or another for LB Dennis performance.
Bowles knows this is essential for the Bucs if they want to get deep into the playoffs
October 25th, 2025 at 8:27 am
“Trail and error”
Man you got that right…
October 25th, 2025 at 8:30 am
Maybe we should look at the positive. While it seems he’s getting burned once every game, you say he then settles in and plays better for the rest of the game. That’s a hell of a lot better than being beaten like a drum all game long. He has the athleticism to turn that around I think. Also, he’s been beaten by the likes of Gibbs with Detroit and Robinson with Atlanta. 2 pretty good backs I would say. Plus he’s essentially a second year player. Stick with him and maybe he’ll iron things out.
October 25th, 2025 at 8:33 am
I’m feeling pretty good about Voss tomorrow. In one of Joe’s post yesterday, Voss admitted he’s still getting his feet under him in some situations and is working on correcting it. Also, Kamara ain’t no Gibbs. Hell, Kamara isn’t even Kamara anymore.
October 25th, 2025 at 8:33 am
Unlike Britt, he apparently HAS the physical ability to accomplish this. Hopefully he’ll get there
October 25th, 2025 at 8:36 am
And he is otherwise productive in terms of tackles, he can rush the passer also. Maybe they should have him rush the passer more. He’s only 10 lbs lighter than Reddick.
October 25th, 2025 at 8:49 am
MAYBE Dennis just isn’t the right LB for Bowles’ 3-4 defense. He might be perfectly fine in a 4-3, but the demands of the 3-4 might be too stringent for his skillset.
Kinda wondering IF that MIGHT also be the case a little with Lavonte. He’s obviously got the veteran’s ‘savvy’ to maximize his play in the ILB position, but we all give up speed as we get older, and our 2 ILBs have a LOT of territory to protect.
I keep seeing the Bucs primarily rushing 4 guys (when not blitzing), and very often dropping 1 of our OLBs into coverage. Not exactly sure what that’s accomplishing because our OLBs have a grand total of 1 PD this season. Maybe running a 4-3 defense might be a better use of the available talent?
October 25th, 2025 at 9:06 am
Have to correct it before the really meaningful games start can’t be playing in the playoffs spotting teams 7 to 14 points before we budge…may have to have Winfield cheat to his side of the field and play down to help him until he snaps put of his pregame funk
October 25th, 2025 at 9:07 am
Or either sneak tykee down and have Winfield play center like Ed Reed use to
October 25th, 2025 at 9:08 am
Joe, we need a middle linebacker that can cover. I don’t know how else it can be stated. It is the second year in a row we don’t have a player that can play the position.
October 25th, 2025 at 9:11 am
everyone makes misteks.
October 25th, 2025 at 9:19 am
He starts off too hyped and over pursues way too often. He’s trying to make up for his deficiency in coverage. He needs to maintain structure & channel the ball carrier back to the strong side. Back to basics SVD, stop trying to be the hero. You’re a cog in a wheel, not the whole car. Do your part and trust help is on the way.
October 25th, 2025 at 9:29 am
What do you expect…trying to squeeze great play out of a 5th round pick….you get what you pay for.
October 25th, 2025 at 9:56 am
ROTFLMAO!! 🤣
October 25th, 2025 at 9:59 am
Its not the player , is the coach.
October 25th, 2025 at 10:16 am
When watching games, my focus is not always on Dennis, but when he misses a key tackle, that gets my attention. It seems like Dennis often overruns a play, which puts him out of balance when an offensive player, like Gibbs on Monday night, makes a side move that renders Dennis helpless to redirect. This might sound counter intuitive, but Dennis might need to play slower so he can mirror the offensive player in order to be in a better position to make a play.
October 25th, 2025 at 10:21 am
I admit I don’t watch games; I listen to them. But I’m always hearing that SVD is making tackles and now, he’s starting to get sacks. Licht knows he has to draft LBs in the off-season. LVD will retire. So, which is it? Our DBs are healthy, and Yaya is starting to produce. Sometimes, the info on here is confusing. Whatever. GO BUCS tomorrow!!
October 25th, 2025 at 11:26 am
My thoughts are like Joe has stated this is SVDs rook season. There’s a learning curve when it comes to inexperience right. Also like Joe said once he settles down he plays good. Most likely with more games played he will come into his own.
October 25th, 2025 at 11:39 am
Blitz Dennis. He is not a cover LB.
October 25th, 2025 at 12:22 pm
He’s garbage. You never see our LB’s knocking down passes never. He’s garbage.
October 25th, 2025 at 1:09 pm
He’s not fine, he misses all game long. He repeatedly loses the ball carrier by filling the wrong hole. I feel sorry for his girlfriend.
October 25th, 2025 at 1:52 pm
Yeah, he has no lateral, side-to-side movement. Uncoordinated as hell looking, out there. Just terrible ‘instincts’ out in the open-field. One of THE WORST I’ve ever seen before, at this level. I mean, he has NO CHANCE of making the tackle in space, when on an island. NO CHANCE whatsoever. You can ‘see-it’ coming from a mile away, too! And, so can he! ZERO CHANCE. It’s obvious that opponents are attacking him. They’ve seen-it, too. He NEVER knows where the ball is. EVER. Always, anticipates wrong. He needs to get lower. Like, a basketball player. He has no peripheral vision, either. Obviously, he’s surely had proper ‘coaching’ by now, you’d think… But, his footwork is just bad. When he’s dropped in zone coverage… He needs to get down in much more of an ‘athletic’ stance and be up on his toes, kind of like a Shortstop. And, with the ‘peripheral vision’ of a basketball player, when he’s playing ‘off the ball’ in a man-to-man defense. Same type of principles. You have to know WHERE the ball is, or you have no chance. Especially, with the ‘skills’ he is lacking. Seriously, you can literally see-it coming from a mile-away, and those feet start to get all happy, and he’s just way too high… And, then he just has that ‘look’ to him of “OMG, Here We Go Again” – like in an all-out panic mode. Just ZERO CHANCE.
October 25th, 2025 at 2:12 pm
Not high on Dennis. He misses a lot of tackles and gets beats like a drum.
October 25th, 2025 at 2:13 pm
To his defense tho… Bijan & Gibbs are gonna make MOST guys look stupid. But, he’s got to work on his footwork, and get low and up on his toes. And, know where the ball is while also seeing the field.
October 25th, 2025 at 3:27 pm
Dennis has certainly done some things well.
But, I typed all along before the draft, sending my little electrons out into the world wide web, to beg the Bucs to draft a coverage ILB. Dennis does not have the speed to bail him out as a coverage ILB. Not his fault. With experience, his anticipation and understanding should improve, and maybe he can compensate. Hopefully.
Campbell in the first round was and is my preference and might have saved the Bucs from giving up as much as Egbuka has given them – maybe.
But, there were coverage ILBs still available on Day 3. I like the players the Bucs took.
And, it would have been insane to trade the future draft picks needed to get both Campbell and Egbuka.
But, trading late round future draft picks to pick up a Day 3 coverage ILB with 4.4 or low 4.5 speed is looking mighty good in my hindsight.
Meanwhile, the Bucs are going to have to scheme to cover for Dennis like they did against McCaffrey, and the DBs will have to try to cover man up to fill the gaps covering for Dennis creates.
October 25th, 2025 at 3:42 pm
I’m rooting for SVD.
He hasn’t been as bad as he’s made out to be. LVD isn’t exactly killing it either.
I think SVD might just be due a pick or forced fumble this week 🤞🏼
I’ve been wondering when Deion Jones or Bullock might get some snaps. Somebody was saying Jones was one of the fastest players on the team earlier this year…. Might have been Todd