Devin White has been given the job as Playcaller in practice.

We are now heading down the final stretch to having no more weeks without football. The Buccaneers will finally showcase their new defensive play during their first game of the preseason this Friday night at 7:30 PM EST in Pittsburg against the Steelers.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemingly drafted their new franchise linebacker in Devin White. He was recently given the job as play-caller in practice, and it did not just impress defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, but also head coach Bruce Arians. Although he was given the job, mainly due to Lavonte David sitting out with a swollen knee, but he also got the job given to him due to his maturity.

The Bucs had not had this level of excitement surrounding a rookie linebacker since Derrick Brooks was drafted back in 1995. White has been highly productive throughout OTA’s and so far in training camp and has easily earned his spot on the first-team defense. Now, I know you don’t normally draft a player in the top 10 and not already plan on starting him. But you never know whether or not you’re picking a lemon until you see them in action. So far, he is cherry.

Having Lavonte David to learn from is more than any rookie linebacker can ask for and we are lucky to have such a high-caliber veteran linebacker to teach White the ropes. Also, Todd Bowles can mentor White much like Tony Dungy did Derrick Brooks. Devin White is a lucky rookie indeed.

Devin White accomplished a lot at LSU and learned a lot from one of the greatest defensive coordinators in college football, Dave Arranda. Having great mentors throughout high school and college football will stay with you for life.

The Bucs travel to Heinz Field this Friday and we will finally get to see exactly how much improved our defense is now. Hopefully, we will see a glimpse of something we haven’t seen here in a long time.