Nobody replaces Lavonte David. The Buccaneers aren’t pretending otherwise — what they did instead was sign the most David-shaped veteran on the market, and with camp report dates a week out, Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams published a case Sunday that Alex Anzalone may give this defense more than the position gave it in David’s final seasons.
The frame deserves respect on both ends. David retired this offseason after 14 years, every one of them in Tampa, leaving the middle of Todd Bowles’ defense open for the first time since 2011. Anzalone, signed to a two-year, $17 million deal in March after five seasons in Detroit, turns 32 the week of the home opener. This is a veteran hired to run a defense, not a long-term answer, and the Bucs priced him accordingly.
The coverage numbers explain the bet. Per the Pro Football Focus grades Adams cites, Anzalone has graded above 65 in coverage in each of the last three seasons. David’s coverage grade slid to 56.9 in 2024 and 45.1 last year, and the other linebacker spot graded in the 30s and 40s over the same stretch — a weakness opposing offenses attacked with screens, flat routes, and wheels down the sideline. The tackling gap runs the same direction: Anzalone has missed seven tackles in each of the past two seasons; David missed 19 last year alone.
There’s also a role change coming. Bowles blitzes his inside linebackers more than any coach Anzalone has played for — David averaged roughly 95 pass-rush snaps a season under Bowles, well above Anzalone’s career average of 76. Anzalone’s career high is 3.0 sacks, set in 2023, and he has told reporters the free runs at the quarterback are what excite him most about this scheme. With rookie Josiah Trotter projected for the other spot, Bowles has one linebacker who has seen everything and one who has seen nothing, which is a workable division of labor.
Tampa Bay’s rookies report July 27 and veterans follow July 28. The evaluation that matters starts then: whether a 32-year-old who has never played in this scheme can call it, cover in it, and blitz in it at the level the contract assumes. The resume says yes. The position’s recent history in Tampa says the bar is lower than the name on the old locker suggests.
