Surprise.
When prickly Pete Prisco of CBS came out with his annual Top-100 Players list, as he does each summer. There were a couple of Bucs surprises for Joe.
One was who was on the list. One was who wasn’t on the list.
Prisco does a solid job with this list. He does his homework and does his research. The Bucs player who Prisco did not have on his list was Lavonte David.
Prisco is a David fan, or seems to be since he’s been so high on David over the years. Some aren’t (see David’s criminally low lone Pro Bowl appearance back in the January 2015 Pro Bowl).
David, arguably the Bucs’ best defender, was not on the list. Joe knows David may not have been vintage David last year but he was 34. Who plays at 34 at linebacker the same way they did when they were 24?
Still, David’s omission raised an eyebrow on Joe’s noggin.
Another Bucs player who is on the list also raised an eyebrow. That would be safety Antoine Winfield. Prisco had [Winfield at No. 89](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/priscos-nfl-top-100-players-of-2025-saquon-barkley-cracks-top-5-four-other-rbs-make-top-50-4-qbs-in-top-10/).
> Injuries forced Winfield Jr. to miss eight games last season and he wasn’t the same player he had been in his first four seasons. But when healthy, he remains a player who can do a lot of things and a big part of the Tampa Bay defense. (Last season: No. 31)
Look, Joe is a big Winfield fan. What Prisco typed about Winfield not being the same player is an understatement. Winfield wasn’t remotely the same player we’ve become accustomed to in Tampa Bay.
Yes, yes, Winfield was beat up. Joe gets that. Never was healthy since he suffered his first injury late in the season opener against Washington. There were times last year where Winfield fell so far off, Joe wondered to himself if he was that hurt, then maybe he shouldn’t have been on the field.
It was jarring to see how badly his play diminished. Winfield had been one of the better safeties in the game the moment he stepped on the field for the Bucs his rookie season in 2020. Last year? Yikes.
Joe sure hopes that was just a really bad one-year hiccup for the former All-Pro.