Droy?

[papipapsmanny]

kind of an underwhelming group

[Austeezy]

Tampa Bay had the 32nd rush defense last year, and the number 1 rush defense this year. Lavonte David has been a huge part of that, his impact on this team is what should make him DROY.

He is currently 3rd in the league in TFL with 17, behind only J.J. Watt and Von Miller. Those guys have 17.5 and 16.0 sacks respectively. Lavonte David has the most non-sacks TFLs in the NFL.

Kuechly and Wagner have put up big tackling numbers as well but I think Lavonte stands out in one key area.

Player...............Total Tackles...Solo....Assist
Luke Kuechly...... 130 79 51
Lavonte David.... 117 94 23
Bobby Wagner.... 109 67 42

Lavonte is a little shy of Luke's total tackles number, but when you take a closer look you see David has 15 more solo tackles(which IMO are more meaninful and impressive) than assisted tackles. If they were to be weighted as they are in sacks(1.0 for solo, 0.5 for assist) Lavonte would slightly edge out Kuechly and both have better numbers than Wagner. This plus the TFLs and non-sack TFLs along with his impact on the defense itself I believe make Lavonte David deserving of DROY

Well said

[bwallstreet]

Just for ***** and giggles, I would love for someone to show how Harrison Smith would win DROY over Bobby Wagner if they were the top 2.

[MinnesotaFtw]

Harrison Smith: 81 Tackles, 52 Solo, 29 Assists, 1 FR, 3 INT, 2 TD's,

[TearsOfPurple]

kind of an underwhelming group

Underwhelming? Harrison Smith will be a top 5 safety in a few years. He alone basically changed our whole tempo on defense. He's been a god send of a pick for our defense.

[MinnesotaFtw]

Underwhelming? Harrison Smith will be a top 5 safety in a few years. He alone basically changed our whole tempo on defense. He's been a god send of a pick for our defense.

x2

[NormSizedMidget]

I haven't seen TB play once yet, just like ends of games. I want to see him too.

[KingsnQueens7]

Don't want to see Jones win it, thats only because i'm a jet fan.

[penuch]

I think Jones could of won it, but with the injury he missed a couple games, and therefor he missed a chance to make his numbers look better.

I honestly don't know enough about the other guys.

[Wrench]

I'm thinking Harrison Smith will win. Not my choice but his two TDs scored will look good for him.

[Auseranami]

I've seen Harrison smith the most so I'm going with him. Doesn't he have 2 pick 6's? He's going to be a bigger version of Ed reed

[NormSizedMidget]

I've seen Harrison smith the most so I'm going with him. Doesn't he have 2 pick 6's? He's going to be a bigger version of Ed reed

Hardly.

[85BearsDefense]

My vote goes to Lavonte David... the dudes possessed.

[j11430]

Harrison Smith has played really well from what I've seen of him (like four games). Kuechly has pretty much been a stud too hasn't he?

There really hasn't been a "stand out" defensive rookie of the year

[bwallstreet]

Thanks 85bears, I think if they had really seen him they would understand, unless they have a horse in the race.

I believe Harrison Smith cannot win the award because he doesn't beat out Bobby Wagner(who I don't believe will win it either)

Harrison Smith: 81 Tackles 52 Solo 29 Ast 1 FR 3 INT 2 TD
Bobby Wagner: 109 Tackles 67 Solo 42 Ast 0 FR 3 INT 0 TD

You can make the case for either. I think it comes down to Kuechly, David and Jones personally but.....I think Wagner's numbers are more impressive than Smith's.

Here's some other stats for you guys.
8 of the last 9 winners have been LBs and 10 of the last 12
Only 2 safeties have ever won the award
Last DB was Charles Woodson in 1998 last safety was Mark Carrier in 1990