Pro Football Network has once again released their Top-100 players currently playing in the NFL. Three players from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to make the list. Antoine Winfield Jr at 26, Tristan Wirfs at 30, and Mike Evans at 74.
Now, on paper, I don’t have that much wrong with this list. I think they have Antoine Winfield Jr correctly placed, and I do think he deserves to be one spot above Kyle Hamilton and is definitely better than Jessie Bates. I do like to imagine they only put him one spot above Hamilton just to piss off Ravens fans. I think Wirfs at 30 is fine, although I would argue he should be above Penei Sewell considering he has played both LT as well as RT at a pro-bowl caliber level.
But that is a small quibble. The only thing that I would say is Mike Evans is really low. I get that he is old, but he has been so consistent and he still posted 1255 yards and 13 tds (tied for first in league). I just don’t know how you can say with a straight face AJ Brown is better than Evans entering 2024.
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Despite some small flaws with the list, I really don’t think this list is all that egregious. I mean, it’s not like any major player on the Buccaneers is missing or anything. Right?
Well, if you’re observant, you may have noticed one name missing from the rest. Lavonte David has once again been looked over. At this point, I just don’t know how you can say he isn’t still one of the best LBs in the league. Yes, like Evans, he is older. But there is no proof that age has affected him at all. Especially when the list includes guys like Matt Milano and Demario Davis. I think those guys are talented, especially Milano, but they are not on David’s level.
Milano is coming off a leg fracture, so there’s no way of telling how that will affect him. And while Davis did have two more sacks than David, he had less tackles (134 to 121), less solo tackles (74 to 86), and played 2 more games than David. He also only had 4 passes defended compared to David’s five. Again, this is not to say Davis is bad, but he is not better than David at this point.
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At the end of the day, Lavonte David will prove all these people wrong when he gets a gold jacket and bust. David is one of the best players that people refuse to recognize. I don’t think there is a bigger crime then those early 2010s Bucs teams being so bad as making it seem like David was as bad. but it could be worse. At least they didn’t say Devin White was better than him.
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