The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are excited about the new edition to the defensive line, but building chemistry is key.
For Lavonte David and Jason Pierre-Paul, it was the reunion they never expected. The two were teammates at Fort Scott Community College before David moved on to Nebraska while JPP headed for South Florida. Now, they are back on the same side of the field, battling to win a Super Bowl.
For a team that only won five games last season and had a top ten pick in the draft, the Buccaneers are looking for improvement and to build chemistry. Too many times there was miscommunications and blown opportunities due to missed assignments. Now, in the early phases of the off-season, the bonding of the team – especially the defense – has been a huge focus.
David spoke to the media about how JPP is adapting and how the team is growing together;
"“Jason, we had that same kind of chemistry back in junior college. I played behind him a lot so there had to be a lot of communication going on. So, it just turned over into now. Nothing really changed. Throughout the process, he asks me about a play or whatever and I just told him, ‘Look man, just let me know before you do it and it will all work out for the both of us.’ So, that just goes to show that the chemistry is already there. So, that’s probably one person I can scratch off of my chemistry list.”"
We expect to see a massive improvement, all around. We expect to see the Buccaneers rise to the occasion unlike the shipwrecked crew of last season. We expect to see Lavonte David continuing at the elite tier level of play he’s displayed throughout his career while JPP rejuvenates and invigorates a dormant pass rush. We expect this team to finally live up to the expectations of not only the fans, but the team itself.
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Chemistry can not be understated. You can have all the talent in the world but if the team doesn’t work in unison, talent alone can not get you to where you want to go. From the sounds of things coming out of One Buc Place, it’s beginning to appear as though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally have the chemistry to match the talent.