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The 2017 season certainly had its lumps for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But, just because the collective didn’t have as much success as many hoped, there were still bright spots. Pro Football Focus highlighted that by rating linebacker Lavonte David and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy as Top 50 players from the 2017 season in their “Top 101 players from the 2017 NFL season” series.
Which players from your team made PFF's Top 101 players from the 2017 NFL season?https://t.co/phHq3bi6XL pic.twitter.com/J7JnuAhd0U
— PFF (@PFF) February 9, 2018
David came in as the No. 18 player in the NFL, according to PFF. Here’s what they had to say about the Bucs’ star linebacker.
“2017 was a season of renaissance performances from several star players, and another to come back to their best was Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David. The 94.2 overall PFF grade actually edges David’s 2013 season as the best year of his career, and he had the third-best run-stop percentage of all linebackers at 11.2 percent, just 0.2 percent behind the league leader (Reuben Foster). David notched 53 defensive stops and had a knack of making big plays, forcing five fumbles, the second-most in the league.”
McCoy came in at No. 42 on the list, which is his fifth time being rated one of the 101 best players in the NFL.
“As is always the case, Gerald McCoy was the most dominant force in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ defensive front. McCoy has freakish quickness for a defensive tackle and can consistently penetrate into the backfield. That lends itself obviously to pass-rushing, and McCoy notched 47 total pressures across the season, but it also makes him a nuisance in the run game, where his PFF grade of 85.0 was still good enough to rank 21st among all interior defenders.”
The details may still need to be worked out on the Bucs roster, but the cornerstones are clearly still producing.