Bucs legend Lavonte David may not longer be on the Bucs following his retirement this offseason, but the team still has his full support. David obviously still has close ties to the organization after playing for 14 years and many of his teammates still on the roster. With his retirement, David can speak freely of his opinions about the team or anything football related, and he believes the Bucs will be back to a dominant group.
Lavonte David May Have Retired Too Early From Bucs With Bain Pick
Appearing on the “This Is Football” podcast with ESPN’s Kevin Clark, David has a lot confidence in Tampa Bay to find their footing again and be a successful team. He particularly is fond of Bucs’ rookie first round pick Rueben Bain Jr. out of Miami, who he already knew of with Bain also being from Miami like David is.
“They are going to be some animals,“ David said. “I knew Reuben Bain already, I reached out to him after he got drafted. And he told me, ‘Man, I wish you just waited one more year.” And in my mind I was like, ‘Maybe I should have.’ But the deal is done already. I told him. I’m definitely going to be there to be supporting him and stuff like that. I definitely have high hopes for those guys, man.”
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and ILB David Lavonte – Photo by: Matt Matera/PR
The defense will certainly look different without David after 14 seasons all in Tampa Bay. There’s a lot of new looks to the unit as the Bucs wanted to revamp that side. Replacing David is Alex Anzalone, while second round pick Josiah Trotter is hopefully the future at inside linebacker.
But it doesn’t stop there. The Bucs have a lot of new faces along the defensive line as A’Shawn Robinson was brought in via free agency at defensive tackle along with drafting DeMonte Capehart and bringing back Rakeem Nunez-Roches. It was a similar plan at outside linebacker with the drafting of Bain and signing Al-Quadin Muhammad to reshape the room.
Bucs OLB Rueben Bain Jr. and OLBs coach Larry Foote – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
It’s a good combination of young talent and veteran experience that should generate the mindset of attacking all the time against their opponents.
“You know my expectations. I expect them to go out there and be dogs,” David said.
Bucs Have “Amazing” Talent On Offense
David wasn’t the only big departure from the Bucs this offseason that will be seared into the minds of the Bucs’ fans. While it doesn’t hurt as much with David because he retired, Mike Evans also departed but is playing for the 49ers. Despite that, David has no worries about what the offense can accomplish this year with the players they have around them.
They just need to stay healthy because a full offensive line plus a reinvigorated Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving, who all had their injury woes a season ago, should be more than enough to put points on the board this season. That doesn’t even include Emeka Egbuka going into year two, the special talent that rookie third round receiver Ted Hurst could be, and running back Kenneth Gainwell coming to Tampa and playing an important role, too.
Bucs WRs Ted Hurst, Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“The roster is amazing,” David said. “Everything is set up offensively, even though we lost Mike [Evans]. “The roster is set up beautifully. I definitely think they’re going to do some great things.
Showing support for his former team doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise. But the nature in which he has given his stamp of approval proves he’s serious of how good this team can be. David might not be helping on the field, but he’ll still be supporting the Bucs from afar with many of the new pieces they have.