Kyle Riddle’s Rundown: 3 Bold Predictions For The Upcoming Season
2 min read
The Draft is long over, and camp has begun. Soon the new season will be upon us. Here are 3 bold predictions heading into it.
1. Lavonte David will win defensive player of the year: Since 2012 David has been solid at OLB year in and year out and is definitely one of the most underrated defensive players in the league. Now, this is Todd Bowles’ defense, and Bowles is gonna turn David loose on opposing offenses. David will switch to MLB in the new scheme alongside rookie Devon White and Bowles will surely let David do what he does best. He will use his sideline to sideline speed to make plays in the running game, and Bowles will surely blitz David up the A gap, a staple of Bowle’s defense. You can look for David to top 100 tackles over 5 sacks, several INTs, and will definitely be mentioned in defensive player of the year talks at season’s end.
2. Ronald Jones will surpass 1,000 all-purpose yards: Last season was a disaster for Ronald Jones. Drafted in the second round out of USC big things were expected from the rookie RB, but those expectations fell flat. He spent most of the season in former head coach Dirk Koetter’s dog house. In all, he had 23 carries for 44 yards with 1 TD and caught 7 passes for 33 yards. Now that’s all in the past, and Jones has shown up to camp looking to open some eyes and Arians has begun to take notice. So far this camp Arians has raved about the young RBs work ethic and Jones also has shown improvement with his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. If Jones can stay healthy all season, look for him to produce 1,000 all-purpose yards in Arians offense.
3. Shaq Barrett will surpass 10 sacks: The Bucs signed Barrett as an FA pass rushing OLB out of Denver this offseason. Barrett has been stuck playing behind Von Miller most of his career and last season Bradley Chubb as well. In limited playing time, Barrett has shown he can rush the passer effectively and had also shown the ability to leap and get his hands on the ball in camp so far.
