Very little needs to be said about this snub. Lavonte David is the heart and soul of this roster, and the added attention from Tom Brady and a playoff team was supposed to bring the best player on the Buccaneers over the past ten years the recognition that he deserves.
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David has never been able to remain in the spotlight on numerous horrible Buccaneer teams, but this year was supposed to be different. Unfortunately, the Pro Bowl is still miles away from growing into what it needs to be, and David is impacted by this more than most.
David and Devin White are practically one and the same for this snub based on great seasons on paper, but White is young and is already a recognizable face at the position, so he will likely get a chance down the road.
While numbers aren’t everything, here are the two players who made it to represent the NFC compared to White and David:
Bobby Wagner: 126 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery
Fred Warner: 101 tackles, four tackles for loss, 0 sacks, two interceptions, 0 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery
Lavonte David: 104 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries
Devin White: 130 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery
We took the liberty of putting the stats in bold for the leader in each category in the position for this group. Do you see what we do?
Stats aren’t everything, and while White does lead in the majority, his growing pains in the passing game should have placed David at the top of the available options.
This has always been a popularity contest, and players like Wagner will make the team until they retire, regardless of their play on the field, but this is still one of the worst snubs for the Buccaneers in recent memory.