Go Get Sonny Styles
February 6th, 2026
Manna from heaven for Bucs.
The Bucs may need three new inside linebackers for 2026.
It’s unclear if Bucs icon Lavonte David will return next year or retire. But the way David has talked since the Bucs’ season ended and the goodbye (farewell?) speech he gave teammates after the win over the Stinking Panthers last month make it seem like he’s done.
Joe doesn’t care how Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht does it; trade for two or three, draft two or three; sign two or three. However it adds up. Get three linebackers.
(Joe is done with SirVocea Dennis as an NFL starting inside linebacker. His first two years he was injury-prone. Last year he was lack-of-talent prone. Move on.)
Over at the PFF tribe, Ryan Smith thinks if the Bucs are serious about fixing their inside linebacker issues, then the answer is Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles.
… Tampa Bay’s linebacker unit finished the year [with awful inside linebacker play], so the issues at the position go well beyond David. Possessing a rare combination of size, speed and physicality, Styles would provide an immediate boost to the unit. He is one of the best pure tacklers in this year’s draft, missing just two of his attempts in 2025.
An Ohio State linebacker missing two tackles all season!? That brings a tear to Joe’s eye. Who’s slicing onions?
The Bucs were borderline woeful in tackling too often last year. Way too often the Bucs defense proved Antonio Cromartie isn’t the only guy who doesn’t wrap up.
Styles is a machine and Joe would love him on the Bucs roster. Joe just doesn’t know how Styles gets past Dallas at No. 12 unless someone sends Jerry Jones a video of Styles using a bong mask.
Sonny Styles run defense. Block destruction, lateral movement, instincts, and elite tackling form pic.twitter.com/kzQ322fsBW
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) February 5, 2026