Lavonte David = Derrick Brooks?
November 5th, 2012
As Deion Sanders would say, “Slow your roll, Joe. Slow your roll.”
Joe agrees. It is almost heresy to suggest that Bucs rookie outside linebacker Lavonte David is the new Derrick Brooks. There may never been another Derrick Brooks, he was such a stud.
But, man, David is really putting on a show in his first NFL season. Consider David racked up 14 tackles Sunday — 14! Two of those were tackles behind the line of scrimmage, tackles for loss. Those came in the first half for David and the Bucs.
Davis leads the Bucs in tackles for loss with 11, an extraordinary number for a rookie through eight games.
David, as Joe wrote about last December, is the personification of a sideline-to-sideline player, just like old No. 55.
And consider what Ronde Barber said about David last week.
“I look at Lavonte David and I see a young Derrick Brooks, not necessarily how he plays, but just like his instincts and just his knack for football,” Barber said. “That was one thing Derrick really had, just kind of a knack for the game. Lavonte’s absolutely shown that in the first part of his career. ”
Is David the next Brooks? Probably not. But he may well be the best Bucs linebacker drafted since Brooks. That’s a fair statement in Joe’s eyes.
November 5th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Imagine how many tackles he would accumulate if he had a solid defensive backfield behind him and opposing QB’s weren’t throwing 60 passes a game?
November 5th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Was a little bit disappointed in the Thurs night TV crew where they highlighted Domink’s maneuvering in the draft to trade picks to get Barron & Martin, but didn’t mention the move to get back into the 2nd rnd to get David. He’s been phenomenal so far in his rookie year.
November 5th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
proof is in the pudding…I would say yes he is comparable to #55….the play on the field says so and I bet the stats do to..
November 5th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
derrick brooks stats as a rookie 60 tackles and 19 assist
lavonte david stats through 8 games 67 tackles and 13 assist…
way better than derrick brooks numbers…….I know it is against all laws but its the numbers…
November 5th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I LOVED Lavonte when he played for Nebraska, and I LOVE that he plays for our Bucs now. He is truly a special football player and a tackle machine. With solid coaching and a couple of years to get experience, theres a strong chance that his name will be mentioned among the best linebackers in the NFL in a couple years..
November 5th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
All I am going to say about this is I see a LOT of potential on the Bucs, and the coaching staff is developing them right. Love Sullivan and what he is doing with the offense, Love Schiano and the discipline he is instilling on the team. I think bright days are ahead for Bucs fans.
November 5th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Just goes to show all those Dominik haters….
Raheem was fired for a reason and Dominik was kept for a reason. Stop hating and give him a chance.
November 5th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
STUD!!! that is all.
November 5th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Love how this guy plays. He’s truly exciting and seems to be there on every play. Man, if we could just get our secondary straightened out and our line healthy, oooohhh. That would be sweet.
November 5th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
I think Bryan Cox needs a promotion or he could be going to a new team next year.
November 5th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
54 is just 55-1… I’ll say he’s close enough.
November 5th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
NO! Lavonte David = Lavonte David. Joe werent you the one who was upset that everyone was calling Doug Martin the next Ray Rice?
November 5th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
There’s never going to be another #55, but you can’t ignore the similarities. They were both considered too small, but they are just all over the place. Wherever the ball is, you can just about guarantee you will see #54 right there. The only thing he’s missing is some INT’s. Got a feeling those are coming too.
November 5th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
I do think it’s safe to say that he is better than Geno Hayes, lol.
November 5th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
after I seen his work against Dennard Robinson, I knew he was special. He’s a true difference maker