The 2018 rookie class was forced into action when a lot of veterans ended up on IR or underperformed.
With all that turmoil the rookies quietly were productive battling inexperience, injuries and the very competitive NFL.
Lets look at some of the defensive rookie players.
Whitehead, Davis, Stewart, Vea all finished in the top fifteen for total tackles. Vea (21) had more total tackles than McCoy (17) and tied McCoy for combined tackles (22). McCoy had 6 sacks versus Vea's 3. McCoy is still king of the hill as a DT force in the NFL but Vea quietly turned it up.
Whitehead finished #2 overall in total tackles (76) and combined tackles (61). Only veteran Pro Bowl LB L. David edged out Whitehead with 119 combined tackles and 94 total tackles. Whitehead has positioned himself to actually be a contributor for the Bucs if he can hold up with his very hard hitting physical style of play.
Shout out also to young players like J. Evans, A. Adams, J. Elliot, Nassib. This is because JPP alluded to this with the fire the Bucs defense played down the stretch which was missing the first half of the season.
Not only has JPP emerged as THE leader on defense but he was productive. JPP finished 5th overall in terms of combined tackles (58) and third overall for total tackles (48). Oh and JPP also had 12.5 sacks on the year.
