Buccaneers Rankings: How the linebackers in the NFC South stack up
Depth is always important, and the Buccaneers have admittedly been a little shallow in that department when it comes to linebackers.
There have been some changes entering 2017 though, and we’ll now take a look at what they mean for the regular season.
David Mayo, Carolina Panthers
When Luke Kuechly went down in 2016 it was next man up time, and with that player now playing at another location, David Mayo is in line to get his chance at being the All-Pro’s regular understudy.
In his third season coming out of Texas State, David Mayo isn’t all that established and certainly doesn’t have the backup role cemented by any means.
He looks to be the favorite coming into camp season though, and with Kuechly’s injury issues in the last two years, he may be a starter before he knows it.
16 tackles in 2016 were a career high, a number which will certainly see a boost if he’s called upon; which the Panthers hope he’s not.
Duke Riley, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons may have struck gold when they drafted Duke Riley out of LSU, and they may have done it in the same well they found it in before.
We’ve already talked about Deion Jones, and now his former teammate is once again playing alongside his fellow Bayou Bengal.
While he’s currently listed as a depth player, there’s no doubt Riley has the potential to take over starting duties as the team’s weakside linebacker before year’s end.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A trio of Jones, Riley and Vic Beasley would certainly be a formidable trio, even if they aren’t always on the field together.
The Buccaneers started the NFC South’s LSU linebacker run, but Atlanta may have perfected it.
Devante Bond, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In his rookie season for the Buccaneers, Devante Bond never made it to the regular season before injury took him down for the year.
Now, coming into his second try, he’s making some waves.
Currently, during OTAs Bond is running with the first team as third round draft pick Kendall Beckwith continues to heal from the ACL injury which dropped him to the last pick of day two in the first place.
According to reports, he’s doing the best he can to capitalize as well.
When asked how Bond has been performing, Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter simply said,
“Really good, really good”
With competition expected to be heavy for the third linebacker spot, the Bucs certainly look to have some good candidates, meaning the loser will become the best backup they can get.
Running with the starters early on gives Bond a boost.
A.J. Klein, New Orleans Saints
The man who came in for the injured Luke Kuechly was A.J. Klein, now of the New Orleans Saints.
What he brings to the table is 23 career starts and 146 career tackles along with four sacks and one interception.
As backups go, this 25-year old is pretty solid.
In fact, many believe Klein departed Charlotte for New Orleans in hopes of rallying for a starting job in 2017.
Whether he can pull it off is yet to be seen, but no matter what, whoever the backup is will give the team a good option to turn to if they need to.
So the Saints take the depth rankings with A.J. Klein beating out Buccaneers’ Devante Bond and the others.
Depth players can be the key to surviving a year-long struggle to stay healthy. The more confident a team is in their depth, the better they can rotate their players and keep the stars healthy.
Since we’ve taken the dive, let’s sort out the results and see who comes in on top.