The Bucs will not only use the 2024 offseason program to work on the players getting bigger and stronger in the weight room as well as getting faster, but also to improve in certain areas. While head coach Todd Bowles will be installing some new wrinkles on defense and new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and his new assistants will be installing a new playbook, each Bucs player will be tasked with honing their skills and working on some individual weaknesses.

With input from the Bucs coaches and front office members, as well as my own analysis and observations, I’ve come up with one specific area for each player to work on heading into training camp and the 2024 season. I’m only evaluating players who saw true playing time last year in Tampa Bay and leaving rookies and newly acquired free agents that played elsewhere out of the equation.

This is the sixth part of an eight-part series that will examine a position group or two of Bucs players. Today, it’s Tampa Bay’s inside linebackers. Next up will be the Bucs cornerbacks.

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: QB, RBs

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: WRs, TEs

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: O-Line

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: D-Line

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: OLBs

Where Each Bucs Player Can Improve: Inside Linebackers

ILB Lavonte David – Become A Turnover Machine One More Time

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

David is fighting Father Time and winning so far as he enters his 13th season in Tampa Bay at age 34. But the Bucs would love to see the legendary linebacker turn back the clock one more time and become a turnover machine in what could be his last season in red and pewter. Known for his blazing speed in his youth, David would fly around the field and rack up tackles in bunches. He averaged over 140 tackles in each of his first four seasons with the Bucs.

But what made David a special linebacker was his ability to create takeaways. In addition to notching 160 tackles for loss, 33.5 sacks for the Bucs throughout his career, David has forced 28 fumbles, recovered 18 fumbles and has picked off 12 passes, returning two for touchdowns, and also chipped in a safety. It was those splash plays that made David one of the most dynamic linebackers in his first decade in Tampa Bay.

David drank from the fountain of youth a bit last year, recording a team-high 134 tackles – the most since 2015 – along with 17 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks – his best in both categories since 2016. But David only forced one fumble last year and didn’t have a recovery or an interception. In fact, David hasn’t recorded a pick over the past three seasons and has just two in the last seven years despite being one of the best coverage linebackers in the league. The Bucs would love to see David’s tackle total remain high, while he lends a hand in creating three or four takeaways in 2024.

ILB K.J. Britt – Become A Three-Down Linebacker

Bucs ILB KJ Britt and Packers TE Tucker Croft – Photo by: USA Today

The rise of Britt in Tampa Bay last year coincided with the fall of Devin White, a team captain and five-year starter, who wore out his welcome due to his ego and inconsistent play. Britt, who has been a core special teams player over his first three seasons with the Bucs, provided Todd Bowles with a steadying presence in the middle of his defense. The 6-foot, 235-pound Britt finished the 2023 season with 29 tackles while playing the majority of starter reps over the last four games of the regular season. Britt got even more playing time in the playoffs, notching 15 tackles, including a career-high 12 in the loss at Detroit.

Known as a downhill thumper, Britt is a more sure tackler than White was and does a better job of getting off blocks and filling his gap. But where Britt really needs to improve in 2024 is in pass coverage. Despite playing the majority of snaps at Mike linebacker at the end of the year, Bowles would platoon Britt and White, using Britt on early run downs and White in third-and-long situations as well as obvious passing downs.

Britt is entering a crucial contract year and he wants to prove that he can become a three-down linebacker capable of effectively dropping into pass coverage. The Auburn product dropped a pair of potential interceptions last year while in coverage and those are the kind of plays he’ll need to make in order to show Bowles he’s capable of staying on the field for every defensive play. Britt told Pewter Report he was going to dedicate himself to studying film and working on his pass drops this offseason and we’ll see the result of his effort come training camp and the preseason.

ILB SirVocea Dennis – Overcome The Stagefright

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Dennis, the team’s fifth-round pick last year, opened plenty of eyes in practice with a total of four pick-sixes between rookie mini-camp, OTAs, mandatory mini-camp and training camp. The Pitt product came to Tampa Bay as a blitzing inside linebacker, having notched 15 quarterback captures in college, including seven as a senior. But it was his coverage skills that stood out the most in practice and generated quite a bit of buzz about the rookie linebacker.

Yet when it came to game day, Dennis’ play didn’t translate from the practice field to the stadium. In his first preseason game against Pittsburgh he was hesitant and missed some tackles. He admitted to Pewter Report that his nerves got the best of him. Then when he was called upon to fill in for an injured Lavonte David in the fourth quarter of a loss at San Francisco he was pedestrian at best, notching three tackles. He got the start for David the next week against the Colts and was just okay, finishing with a career-high six tackles, but missing a few stops as well.

Dennis has all the ability in the world to be a very well-rounded linebacker in Todd Bowles’ defense. He can blitz, he can cover and he can tackles and stuff the run. He just needs to hit the ground running in his second year in Tampa Bay and inject himself with some self-confidence that will allow his splash plays in practice to translate to game days. If Dennis can overcome his nerves and unleash his ability he could contend with K.J. Britt for the starting Mike linebacker role this year next to David.

ILB J.J. Russell – Keep Splashing Around

Bucs LB J.J. Russell Photo by: USA Today

J.J. Russell had a very productive preseason in his second year in Tampa Bay in 2023. The practice squad mainstay had 15 tackles in three games and also recorded an interception in the preseason opener against Pittsburgh. Russell was buried on the depth chart last year behind Lavonte David, Devin White, K.J. Britt and rookie SirVocea Dennis, but he showed enough promise to stick around on the practice squad for another year.

Patience served the athletic linebacker well as injuries to White and David and Dennis’ illness forced the Bucs to start Russell next to Britt in a December home game against the Panthers. Britt lasted just one series before a back injury knocked him out of the game and moved Russell from Mo linebacker to Mike linebacker. The second-year linebacker from Memphis shined with seven tackles and a sack of Bryce Young, and showed the team he was more than ready to play.

Entering his third training camp with the Bucs, Russell needs to keep making splash plays like sacks and interceptions to show the coaches that he’s worthy of keeping on the 53-man roster rather than the practice squad this year. With White’s departure, there is an opportunity for him to make the team as ILB4 or perhaps even challenge Dennis for the primary backup job behind David and Britt. Because he’ll primarily be a special teams player as a reserve linebacker, making a splash play on teams, such as forcing a fumble in the preseason, would also help his cause.