Buccaneers: Last Five Selections Made with Second Round Choice, Number 50
2013: Jonathan Bostic
Ever the defensive coach, Bucs fan favorite Lovie Smith always wanted to bulk up his defense with the Bears. In 2012, he used his second round pick, number 50, to select linebacker Jonathan Bostic out of Florida. Let’s take a look at his college numbers, courtesy of Sports Reference:
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *2010 | Florida | SEC | SO | LB | 13 | 36 | 21 | 57 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 0 | |||||
| *2011 | Florida | SEC | JR | LB | 13 | 60 | 34 | 94 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| *2012 | Florida | SEC | SR | LB | 13 | 45 | 23 | 68 | 6.5 | 3.0 | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 1 | |||||
| Career | Florida | 141 | 78 | 219 | 19.0 | 7.5 | 5 | 40 | 8.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The level makes no difference. Posting 94 tackles, ten for a loss, and three sacks, is a big season. 68 tackles his senior year is not too shabby either. Bostic was drafted to be part of that great Bears linebacker tradition.
Bostic played the most historic position on that Bears defense his rookie year, middle linebacker. He started nine games, posting 57 tackles and two sacks. He recorded an interception, becoming the first rookie linebacker to do so for Chicago since Lance Briggs. He didn’t post a sack in 2014 but increased his tackles to a career best 83.
In 2015 his career bottomed out a bit. He was traded to the New England Patriots, but only managed to see the field enough to post .5 tackles. In 2016, he was traded to the Detroit Lions, but ended up on injured reserve in September, ending his season before posting a single statistic.