LB David not making splash plays needed to join elite ‘55 Club’
Lavonte David (54) has been in position to make several so-called splash plays this year, but more often than not came up short. ASSOCIATED PRESS By Roy Cummings | Tribune Staff Published: November 14, 2015 at 09:10 PMTAMPA — Lavonte David’s signature was still drying on the five-year, $50.5 million contract extension he signed in August when Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith issued the linebacker a challenge commensurate with his new salary.Noting that David was about to make the type of money reserved for the game’s elite, Smith raised the performance bar a few notches, saying he now should expect David to record at least five sacks and five interceptions each season.“It’s about becoming a member of the ‘55 Club,’ ” Smith said.Three months later, David has a long way to go to earn his membership card.With half a season in the books, David enters Sunday’s game against the Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium needing four sacks and all five of the interceptions necessary to meet Smith’s expectations and earn a place in that exclusive society.“It just hasn’t happened for him this season,’’ Smith said. “And sometimes that’s just how it goes. Things just don’t happen for you, for whatever reason. That’s been the case with Lavonte so far.’’David’s struggles have gone far beyond his failure to record the requisite number of sacks and interceptions for membership in the “55 Club.” He’s also struggled to make the type of signature plays that earned him that hefty contract extension in the first place.Though David leads the Bucs with 69 tackles, only three were for losses. And he has yet to record a takeaway of any kind, all while piling up 13 missed tackles, the most in the league among outside linebackers, according to ProFootballFocus.com.“There are definitely some plays that I’ve left out there on the field that I can make,’’ said David, a second-round draft pick out of Nebraska who averaged 19 tackles for loss, three sacks and two interceptions through his first three NFL seasons.David is not the only Bucs defender who’s left a few too many plays on the field, of course. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy admitted this week that he’s playing well below expectations, and the secondary continues to be a major source of frustration for Smith and his staff.That’s why the Bucs rank 29th in the 32-team league in points allowed per game (28.9) and opponents are converting 44.4 percent of their third downs and scoring touchdowns on 66 percent of their trips into the red zone.But McCoy is on pace to at least match his output from seasons past, and expectations for the secondary were never as high as for David, who just a year ago was considered by many to be among the game’s most dynamic linebackers.And rightfully so. A first-team All-Pro in 2013, David still leads all defenders in tackles the past three years and is the only player in the league to have 10 or more sacks and six or more interceptions since the start of the 2012 season.That’s why some, including David’s mentor, former Buccaneers star linebacker and 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Derrick Brooks, think David is still playing at a high level, even while the statistics suggest he might be struggling.“He has to make some adjustments to his game now that he’s playing in (Smith’s) system versus the system he was in before, and that’s still a work in progress,’’ said Brooks, referring to the transition from former head coach Greg Schiano’s defense“He has to be a little more cerebral with his game now. So, a lot of times when we talk, I just tell him to be patient with his game and patient with the scheme and the plays will come. He has to continue to make the routine plays first, and the so-called splash plays will come as a result of making the simple plays.’’David has been in position to make several so-called splash plays this year, but more often than not came up short, either missing a tackle behind the line of scrimmage or dropping an interception opportunity. Those misses are fueling David’s desire to do better the second half of the season.“I just have to keep working on my craft,’’ he said. “And that means just finishing better and really focusing at the point of attack on tackling and getting the football. It’s stupid stuff (that I’m missing), but there’s easy fixes for it, stuff I can easily take care of.’’Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier doesn’t deny David has missed some plays, but claims his overall play hasn’t been as shoddy as some suggest.“Lavonte’s doing some good things,’’ Frazier said. “And what’s happening is, we have (rookie Kwon Alexander) at inside linebacker who’s making some plays there that, at least in my short period of time here, we haven’t always made.“Some of those are plays Lavonte would have been asked to make in the past, or has made in the past. So, he’s not making those plays now. But for the most part, the plays that are designed for Lavonte to make, he’s making. So, by and large, he has not been a disappointment.’’Smith hasn’t necessarily expressed disappointment in David’s play either. But he made clear this week that David and MCoy are two players whose performance will have to improve in the second half if the Bucs are going to avoid posting another losing season.“As far as Lavonte goes, he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing,” Smith said. “There’s no magic pill for it. Some of our stars, yes we expect them to play like stars each week. But none of us have done that yet. None of us have done our job as well as we can.“So what you do is you keep working, and that’s what Lavonte David does. Nobody works harder than him. Sometimes things just don’t happen for whatever reason, but you keeping coming, keep working hard and eventually they will come. That will be the case with Lavonte.’’
