Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Pre-preseason 53-man roster projection

Buccaneers Linebackers (9): Lavonte David, Devin White, Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Joe Tryon, Anthony Nelson, K.J. Britt, Kevin Minter, Cam Gill

The linebacker corp of the Buccaneers is not good. They are not even great. They are ELITE. One might even say they are the best in the entire NFL, and they’ve only gotten better.

Lavonte David, the heart and soul of the Buccaneers and defensive captain, may just be on his way to the Hall of Fame. He’s also on his way to the Mount Rushmore of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if his face isn’t being carved into the mountain already as we speak. Devin White is his heir apparent, and the best inside linebacking duo in the NFL complement each other to absolute perfection.

On the outside, the Buccaneers have a couple of ball players by the names of Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. All Barrett has done is become statistically the best pass rusher in the NFL since coming to Tampa Bay, and Pierre-Paul, yet another seasoned veteran of the defense, was amazingly the lone member of the Super Bowl champion 2020 Buccaneers to be voted to the Pro Bowl. He also intercepted two passes, which was good enough to tie him for third most on the team.

They will be joined by first round pick Joe Tryon out of the University of Washington, who despite taking a year off, has already been turning heads and looks to be the perfect heir to the pass-rushing throne, which spells doom for the rest of the league.

Elsewhere in the name of depth, Anthony Nelson is a favorite for the other reserve pass-rush spot due to his experience and production, but also Cam Gill performed well enough to earn a spot as well. On the inside, rookie K.J. Britt out of Auburn has been having a great camp, and Kevin Minter provides another veteran presence in the locker room, which you can’t have enough of.