The Bucs have a precarious situation approaching in 2024 with both of their starting inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White scheduled to be free agents. Once White made his trade request over his contract dispute, spending draft capital on a linebacker to groom behind the duo became an even bigger importance. The team waited until Day 3 of the draft to make a selection at the position, but Tampa Bay feels like it got a good one with Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis.

Pewter Report recently caught up with Dennis’ linebackers coach at Pitt, Ryan Manalac, and he raved about his work ethic, character and leaderships skills. 

Bucs LB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: USA Today

“He’s disciplined, a workman-type mentality, but he also has a great personality,” Manalac said. “He connects well with the guys and builds great relationships, which is why he became such an effective leader. I think guys trust him – not only his actions, but his relationships. When he says something, it means something. He’s got, for us as a middle linebacker, a great command. He’s setting the front, setting our blitzes, making adjustments, and having the confidence to communicate to the other ten guys on the field and get us on the same page.

“I can’t speak any more about his character. Great guy, great integrity, passionate about the game of football, lives with high standards, always wants to be better. In the offseason he studied every NFL All-Pro, every Butkus award semi-finalist, every first-team ACC guy and studied those guys and made sure he was in position to be the best that he could be. He’s highly motivated, and so it was an awesome opportunity to go see him put his skills on display.”

Size Doesn’t Matter For SirVocea Dennis

At 6-foot-1, 226 pounds, SirVocea Dennis is considered undersized for his position, but don’t tell him that. After seeing action in just one game his freshman year, he burst onto the scene during his sophomore season. He needed a year to develop, but once he did, he accumulated 55 tackles, a whopping 14 tackles for loss and four sacks. Coach Ryan Manalac knew he was talented but needed time to mature physically and as a student of the game. Once he did, it all came together.

“I think he was a talented kid coming out of high school, but those skills that he developed, he became very efficient with his movement skills – no wasted movement,” Manalac said. “He’s got a long, 78-inch wingspan, so he’ll be able to develop some block-to-feet skills where he can use his hands to shock and get off a block, but also set a guy up to miss and use his speed or rip and fight pressure.

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis and Bucs RB Sean Tucker – Photo by: USA Today

“He’s a sure tackler. Eyes up, chin up, chest up, he wraps up and runs with speed, and knocks guys backwards, which was something he worked on a lot. The lower body strength was a big development for him the past year to move people backwards. He has a great burst as a blitzer, fine-tuned some pass rush skills which I think he and Calijah Kancey both had seven-ish sacks. So again, he’ll have that same dynamic going with the Bucs here in the future. He’s a ball player. He makes plays on the ball and coverage.”

Watching Dennis over his final two seasons at Pitt one could see his improvement and understanding of the game. He racked up 176 tackles, 22 for loss, 11 sacks, two interceptions including one for a score, three pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a recovery over his junior and senior seasons.

“He’s smart, puts himself in position, understands offensive tendencies,” Manalac said. “He studies the heck out of film and he was our field general. So I think it’s a lot of stuff he worked on, all those little details and studying the best to do it. He really equipped himself to have a great season this past year and the year before, and obviously gave him a chance here to launch into a professional career.”

SirVocea Dennis Possesses The Ability To Drop In Coverage

Much like the Bucs’ third-round pick YaYa Diaby, SirVocea Dennis was one of the team’s most valuable pass rushers and wasn’t asked to drop into coverage often. However that doesn’t mean Dennis is incapable of doing it. In fact, Coach Ryan Manalac said he expects the linebacker to surprise people with how good he can be in coverage.

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: USA Today

“I think for us on third down pass situations, him being one of our best players, we made the decision more often than not to use him as a rusher,” Manalac said. “I think he’s a great coverage guy, but we erred on the side of letting him rush the passer more often than not. So I think you’re going to see him surprise people with how good he becomes in coverage. He has great anticipation. He’s got great movement skills. He has all those skills and demonstrated that in practice. 

“But like I said, more often than not we erred on the side of using him as a rusher. So that will be something that I think surprises people is how good he does cover. The other thing you hear is just his size. I think he’s going to be fine. He has a great frame, he was big enough for us so more size wasn’t demanded. He’s coachable. He’s highly motivated. He’ll master that playbook and make plays.” 

Bucs co-defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach Larry Foote agrees with Coach Manalac and has seen enough on film to believe he’ll have no problem dropping into space when asked.

“The times he did do it he understood coverage and underneath,” Foote said. “He did blitz a lot [being the] fourth rusher, but he’s a smart guy – just being around him on Zoom and seeing him at the Combine. We were pleased.”

Dennis Is No Stranger To Special Teams

Bucs LB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: USA Today

With Lavonte David and Devin White are set to man the starting linebacker spots, SirVocea Dennis’ best way to see the field as a rookie for the Bucs will be on special teams. While linebackers coach Larry Foote hinted they may use Dennis’ pass rush prowess in certain packages, his play on special teams will be imperative to the rookie making the team and contributing right away.

And Dennis is no stranger to playing on multiple special teams units at Pittsburgh.

“He was our starting guy in punt,” Manalac said. “We say punt is the most important part of playing football. As a starter and a captain, he was on our punt team. Obviously with the Bucs, I’m sure he’ll be ready to be on all four bases.

“He ran down on kickoff last year. I’m sure he could do front line kickoff return – it’s something he did early in his career here at Pitt and punt return as well. He’s going to be fine with his length and his athleticism. He will thrive in all four of those bases and be a great asset.”

Bucs Are Getting A Relationship Builder And Leader With SirVocea Dennis

Bucs LB SirVocea Dennis – Photo By: USA Today

The Bucs aren’t just getting a potentially good linebacker in SirVocea Dennis, but also an outstanding leader and person. Over Ryan Manalac’s seven years as a coach, there have been very few players that have made the same type of impact that Dennis did at Pitt.

“When I first got hired, I sat down with all the linebackers just to get to know them, figure out the connections, and I was surprised by how much a younger guy, a non-starter that everybody spoke so highly about,” Manalac said. “And obviously he became a captain following that, and so it was like you knew that that was in the works.

“So his connection with everybody, it was just so powerful. He’d just talk to the other guys. And certainly he’s aware of that and it’s not something that happens by accident. He wants to build relationships and help people. He’s a family man, he’s an awesome teammate and was an awesome player to coach and made me a better coach.”