Todd Bowles Throws Down A Challenge At SirVocea Dennis
March 1st, 2026
Todd Bowles reacts.
There is no way Joe can sugarcoat the play of Bucs linebacker SirVocea Dennis.
In fact, Joe was so shook by Dennis’ subpar play, Joe will quote what screamin’ Stephen A. Smith once said about Baker Mayfield after a Stinking Panthers loss when Mayfield was Carolina’s starter.
SirVocea Dennis, “You. Looked. Awful. Just. Awful. Your career is in jeopardy because that’s how sorry you looked.”
Now Bucs coach Todd Bowles isn’t ready to toss Dennis off the pirate ship. But it was clear when Bowles spoke at the podium at the combine last week that Bowles isn’t waiting around to see if Dennis can handle being a starter in the NFL.
“He can be a starter if he cleans up his open field play,” Bowles said. “You know, he played well against the run. He gave up some things in the pass game that we didn’t like.
“It was his first full year starting. So we look for him to get better, but he’ll definitely have competition.”
The only competition Joe would give Dennis is competition against a first-round pick or a high-priced free agent like Quay Walker, Tremaine Edumnds or Alex Anzalone.
Unless Dennis has major improvement, he does not belong on an NFL field as a starter and certainly not for a team that thinks of itself as a playoff team.
Bowles saying Dennis was good against the run last year was high-level coachspeak. Dennis had such a horrible game against Philadelphia against the run, Joe thought the Bucs brought back Sabby the Goat and gave him a spin at linebacker.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:09 am
Total confidence in Todd to get Voss playing like a stud. He’s got the track record. Let’s go Bucs.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:17 am
@Joe, I agree SVD needs to start to show vast improvement or he may get a visit from the Turk. Which makes me want to ask you … what players currently in the 2 deep on both sides of the ball, do you project won’t be on the roster AT ALL next year and why? ( leave in FA, traded, flat out cut) ?? Interested in your opinion. I know this is a lot to ask , but it’s late and I can’t sleep !
QB
RB
WR
TE
OG
OT
Etc…
March 1st, 2026 at 12:20 am
Disagree completely. He gave up some big plays, mostly early in the year, although he did still give up some later as well, but showed plenty to me to keep playing. Not saying you don’t still draft multiple ILB’s – but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Dennis ends up starting. He’s another guy who would be helped by scheme – he was best when not in pass coverage, seemingly like every other ILB not named David that Bowles has had.
BTW, want to sign someone, go get this guy named Devin White. Outstanding speed, already knows the system, is a really good interior pass rusher, runs sideline and sideline, high effort guy. Not great in coverage, but not nearly as bad as most people claimed. Wouldn’t cost a ton.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:24 am
Sure. Bring back Devin White. Trade for Crosby. Why not?
March 1st, 2026 at 12:33 am
ModHairKen Says:
March 1st, 2026 at 12:24 am
Sure. Bring back Devin White. Trade for Crosby. Why not?
————-
I said last year they should have tried to trade for Crosby, White and Jakobi Meyers as a package.
In the end it doesn’t help you if Baker can’t complete a 4-yard pass with the game on the line, but at the time it seemed like an excellent idea. You get a guy who can step in and start at ILB. You get a starting WR at a time when you were starting Shepard. And obviously Crosby is the guy who you’re paying for. I’d have given up like a 1st and 3rd for that, maybe more.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:43 am
If this guy is a starter, we’re in trouble, plain and simple.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:53 am
@Munch … in other thread u said 4.7 as an ILB should put you out of the league that you needed to be much faster. SVD is 4.64 ( hardly a measurable difference from a 4.7) and you are touting him as a starter !!! 🤡 .
March 1st, 2026 at 1:23 am
Typical Licht hyping us fans about a player that should not be a starter in the NFL.
The Bucs have gaslighted us about SVD for a few years. The guy is never going to get much better.
March 1st, 2026 at 1:36 am
Things won’t get better on defense until Todd is shown the door.
March 1st, 2026 at 2:53 am
Bowles … “It was his (SVD’s) first full year starting. So we look for him to get better, but he’ll definitely have competition.”
Dennis should never have been allowed to start. MLB is the very center of our defense, and SVD has no business being at the center of anything. Field leaders MUST BE exemplary performers, and SVD has been anything but that.
Keep him as a backup MLB for 2026 only because right now he’s the ONLY experienced ILB we’ve got under contract. Then replace him in 2027.
March 1st, 2026 at 3:59 am
I liked Dennis a lot when the Bucs drafted him. He was a ball of energy almost as impressive to me as Kancy when I was watching their Pitt games. The only game he looked like that since he got to Tampa was a beastly game in Detroit. Most of the time he looks like KJ Britt and one play where he had no clue that Jalen Hurts was running down the sideline behind him really extinguished my hopes for him as a starter.
Anzalone in FA and a couple long, fluid, spatially aware mid round ILBs like Jake Golday, Kendall Daniels or Lander Barton would be great. Pairing one of those three with an ankle-biter like Rodriguez, Taurean York or Kyle Louis could work out too. This a great draft for teams who need LBs that cover thankfully.