How many more years will LD54 suit up for Tampa Bay?

The Tampa Bay Bucs have had the great luxury of a Hall of Fame caliber player start in the middle of their defense since ‘Gangnam Style’ was a viral sensation. Heading into year 14, that luxury is running near its end.

Lavonte David has been one of the greatest Bucs in the franchise’s history and if not for the absurd greatness of Derrick Brooks, David may be the no-doubt best linebacker in the team’s lore. The Bucs re-signing David to a one-year contract has become an annual tradition over the past few years. By all accounts, Lavonte David will play for the Bucs until he decides to spend Sundays at home with his family.

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

The Bucs, in preparation for Lavonte David’s pending retirement, spent their 2019 first-round pick on an understudy— Talented enough to be the next great Tampa Bay Bucs’ linebacker. In 2020, that draft pick looked pristine. Devin White, along with the Bucs, went on a playoff run for the ages. Through three games (White did not play in Washington), Devin White tallied 38 tackles, two fumble recoveries, and two in two interceptions— Making him one Tampa’s most prolific postseason performers. Unfortunately, that height was never recaptured. In the years to follow, White slowly became less and less of that player —Who could have genuinely been Super Bowl MVP— and more of a frustration for the fan base.

Post his benching late in 2023, White and the Bucs parted ways before last season. While many were fine with the decision at the time, the Bucs were quickly proven to have no capable replacement prepared as the linebacker position next to Lavonte David quickly became a massive weakness for Todd Bowles’ defense. Will linebacker be a position Tampa Bay looks to address early in this year’s draft?

College Career

Jihaad Campbell is a junior coming out of the University of Alabama. Campbell joined the tide in 2022 but didn’t see any significant playing time until the following year. In 2023, Campbell provided Alabama 66 tackles, a half-sack, two fumble recoveries, and an interception.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Campbell’s junior season was an explosion— Increasing his tackle output from 66 the year prior to 119, while also upping his sacks from 0.5 to 5. He also tacked on two forced fumbles, another recovery, and added a second career interception— Earning him First-team All-SEC honors.

NFL Draft Pre-game

Coming into the NFL Draft, the official Combine measurements on Campbell are—

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 235 lbs

Hands: 10 1/2’’

Arms: 32 1/2’’

40-yard dash: 4.52

Broad Jump: 10’ 7’’

Campbell has very interesting flexibility as a prospect for scouts coming into this year’s draft. While he is listed as an off-ball linebacker, he has been scouted as a potential edge player as well.

Lance Zierlein, via NFL.com, has Campbell listed as a linebacker and goes on to say,

Zierlein lists some of Campbell’s strengths as having prototypical height and weight, as well as his ability to use those prototypes to produce at a high-level— Compiling impressive statistics at Alabama.

Campbell did, however, take a hit for some of his instincts.

“[Campbell] Lacks instincts and plays through a straw… Gets caught behind blocks and will lose contain.”

Jihaad Campbell, as a fit for the Bucs

Campbell is a prospect who would essentially fit on any defense in the NFL. For the Tampa Bay Bucs, his projection has the potential to be varied.

The Bucs have the ability to re-do what they attempted to in 2019. They can transition from one great linebacker to another by drafting a young, highly touted prospect and giving him the opportunity to come in and learn from a true legend at the position. Lavonte David may only have one season left in a Bucs’ uniform and that season, in part, can be spent mentoring a key piece of the next generation.

Due to his immense versatility, while Campbell is under David’s tutelage he can fill in and find other places to contribute on the field. His ability to plug and play elsewhere on the defense gives him a chance to ease his way into more playing time and allows Todd Bowles to slow-play his development while still adding a playmaker.

The strategy of drafting a stud to learn from a star is one that fans have seen Jason Licht deploy at other positions through his Tenure in Tampa— Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, Gerald McCoy and Vita Vea, as well as the aforementioned 2019 NFL Draft that saw Tampa draft Devin White as an original protégé for Lavonte David. The method has been successful for Tampa Bay in the past and may be one they look to use again.

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