The Bucs added to their linebacker room in free agency. But it wasn’t the type of move anyone expected. Anthony Walker is coming off of a down year in Miami and isn’t a clear-cut starter like many were expecting the team to add. Yet with Lavonte David deciding to come back for his 14th season, and the team obviously high on SirVocea Dennis, the priority in the linebacker room became improving depth rather than finding a veteran starter.
David’s legendary presence has long been documented in terms of what he brings to Tampa Bay’s defense, so let’s look at the rest of the room as it stands now.
SirVocea Dennis Is Penciled In To Start For The Bucs
Bucs Ilb Sirvocea Dennis
Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Jason Licht revealed how the team feels about SirVocea Dennis at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“The number one thing is just being healthy,” Licht said. “If we can get him healthy, he had a role on defense starting out the season, but he got injured right there. So coming back with surgery, hopefully he doesn’t have any more injuries. He’ll be right in the mix to play a lot of plays for us.”
In the mix to play a lot for us suggests the team sees Dennis as a starter. And next to David, the Bucs seem to have their starters for 2025. The offseason priority at linebacker should then be to improve athleticism. Dennis brings plenty of that into the fold.
SirVocea Dennis was drafted with pick 153 of round 5 in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 7.28 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 723 out of 2652 LB from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/Qtg6dLBpJu pic.twitter.com/J42zjk8NdH
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2023
And Dennis was playing well to start last season.
61 seconds left in the game in hostile territory with a 4-point lead. SirVocea Dennis has like 160 career snaps and triggers before the ball is released. Big play in a big moment from a young player. pic.twitter.com/CFU0FrrkQH
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 16, 2024
Tampa Bay allowed, on average, 86 yards passing in between the hashes from 0-10 yards off the line of scrimmage. That’s the area linebackers are primarily responsible for.
After Dennis was lost for the season that number went up by almost 34 yards per game.
Bucs Ilb Sirvocea Dennis And Lions Rb Jahmyr Gibbs
Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis and Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs – Photo by: USA Today
Next Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus each credit Dennis with a passing yards allowed per coverage snap of around 0.85. And if you subscribe to PFF grading as a measurement of skill, Dennis has graded out well in his limited playing time, posting a 72.6 coverage grade in 2023 and a 74.3 grade last year.
Dennis also pushes David back to a role he’s better at, dropping into coverage and reading out plays where his experience and instincts keep him at his best. Britt was not a great pass rusher and so last year Bowles was forced to use David as his add-on rusher 148 times. That nearly matched his career high from his rookie season.
Relying on him so heavily is not without risk. He has not been able to stay healthy for his first two professional seasons. And he has not been a reliable tackler, with a career missed tackle rate of 23.5%. Last year the Bucs tried to reduce his responsibilities by using him on primarily passing downs. It’s possible they are looking to time share him again this season. The team as a whole struggled to tackle consistently last year. It stands to reason Dennis would exacerbate those problems.
But Dennis fits the mold of someone they would want to play next to David. His speed and ability to trigger quickly make him a perfect fit for a mugged-up blitzer that can get downhill and affect the passer as a part of head coach Todd Bowles’ pressure-heavy defense. In his final season at Pitt Dennis recorded 32 pressures and seven sacks on just 119 pass rushes.
If he can remain healthy, Dennis immediately upgrades the upside of the linebacker room from last year’s combination of K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell.
Anthony Walker Brings Veteran Experience, Better Athleticism
Bucs Ilb Anthony Walker
Bucs ILB Anthony Walker – Photo by: USA Today
Anthony Walker is an eight-year vet with some pretty solid seasons on his resume. He is coming off of a down year in Miami where he battled through a concussion and a hamstring injury but still managed to hold off Tyrel Dodson as the starter when he was healthy. His best days are likely behind him, but he brings something the Bucs lacked beyond David last year. A veteran presence that can set the defense right and won’t be overwhelmed if he is pushed into action due to an injury to a starter.
I liken this move to Tampa Bay bringing in veteran Kevin Minter from 2018-2021. There’s no sizzle to the pickup, but a steady veteran hand that won’t kill you if he needs to play proved to be a huge miss on last year’s roster that relied on a young, inexperienced group of players that was headlined by Britt and Russell. And Walker adds some movement and coverage abilities that I would argue Minter lacked.
Passes off the clear and immediately turns to look for the dig. In position for the INT on the tipped pass. https://t.co/RNjGBjm2PA pic.twitter.com/pdDFAeCmY1
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) March 13, 2025
Looking at the yards allowed metric I cited earlier, the Dolphins allowed just 80 yards in between the hashes from 0-10 yards off the line of scrimmage in the games Walker started and played the whole game last year. That would have ranked 10th-best in the NFL.
He can play a role in coverage but isn’t great in the mugged-up ‘backer role at the line of scrimmage. If Dennis goes, down Walker won’t be able to fill all of the role-responsibilities, and the team may have to shuffle David back into a pressure assignment if they decide to match him with David as starters.
Walker’s veteran presence should also help with the communication issues the Bucs defense were victimized by last year. He has played the Mike ‘backer role for most of his career and can get a defense lined up properly and make sure everyone is ready to execute their assignment. Add in his sound tackling, with a career missed tackle rate of 11.8%, and you have a real upgrade at ILB3 for the Bucs.
Deion Jones Showed Promise Late Last Year
Bucs Ilb Deion Jones
Bucs ILB Deion Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Deion Jones is an interesting flyer. He is long past the days of being considered one of the most athletic and cerebral coverage ‘backers in the NFL. But there could still be some juice there. Out of sheer desperation, the Bucs pressed him into his first action of the season in their Wild Card loss to the Commanders. It was only 18 snaps, but Jones looked good. He even prevented a touchdown in coverage with a pass breakup.
Deion Jones passing off the slant/cross to sit on the OTB and get the pass break up. pic.twitter.com/xfeTTZSsUR
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) March 15, 2025
Between he and Anthony Walker, Jones most closely emulates the traits and role that SirVocea Dennis provides, while Walker would best be suited as Lavonte David’s primary backup. Both players represent an upgrade in coverage and as pass rushers to K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell. Neither is an especially strong run defender. But it looks like the Bucs are re-prioritizing what they want out of their linebackers, if even just slightly.
And the team is likely not done adding.
The 2025 NFL Draft is less than six weeks away. The team is doing its due diligence as far as the linebacker position goes, having formal interviews with six players and informal interviews with at least six others.
Oregon Ilb Jeffrey Bassa Bucs
Oregon ILB Jeffrey Bassa – Photo by: USA Today
The best linebacker rooms in recent memory have not been built with premium assets. The 49ers used Day 2 and 3 picks on Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. The Eagles picked up Zack Baun and Oren Burks for a song, spending less than $5 million combined on the two players. Jamien Sherwood, like Dennis, was a former fifth-round draft pick for the Jets.
Meanwhile the Bears spent over $90 million on Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards in 2023 and have been around league average on defense since. The investment hasn’t exactly matched the production.
Instead, it appears the Bucs are looking at raising the floor and depth by recruiting value options that can fit specific roles to build out a functional group with upside, similar to the Eagles, while sinking significant assets into retaining their top talent and taking swings on higher value positions.
The team could still look to add a premium player via the draft. They had a formal interview with Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell, a likely first-rounder. But I would not be surprised if the team sees a better path with targeting another player on Day 2 or Day 3 to continue to bolster depth with targeted upside shots.