Bucs May Have Found Their Next Starting ILB

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Britt necessarily had a breakout year, but this season his was given the most playing time of his career on defense and proved he was up to the task. Filling in for an injured Devin White late in the season against Carolina and Green Bay, and then replacing him based on his performance, Britt wound up starting in four regular season games for the Bucs as well as their two playoff games.

He finished the season off with a career-high 12 tackles against the Lions, out-snapping White 59-14 in Sunday’s playoff loss.

By the end of the year the Bucs clearly drew a line in the sand that Britt was going to be their starter next to Lavonte David moving forward. In the playoff games against the Eagles and Lions, Britt played 56 and 81% of the defensive snaps respectively while White 44 and 19%. We can talk for days about the play of White, but Britt played well enough to gain the trust of Todd Bowles and the coaching staff.

Has K.J. Britt Earned The Right To Start?

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has become a big fan of K.J. Britt, who has served as a special teams star and Devin White’s understudy over the past three seasons.

“K.J.’s probably our best downhill thumper,” Bowles said after Tampa Bay’s Wild Card win over Philadelphia. “K.J.’s a good football player. We think we have three starting linebackers in there. He’s a big part of that. He’s earned his right to play. He’s a leader on our team and he did very well.”

The Bucs drafted SirVocea Dennis in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but he’s more of backup for Mo linebacker role that Lavonte David plays on the weakside. Britt is more of a Mike linebacker, which should put Bucs fans at ease with White’s looming departure in free agency. Britt is entering an important contract year in Tampa Bay in 2024 and could lock down the starting job in training camp and during the offseason.

Britt isn’t thinking that far ahead or even if he’s going to be the starter next year.

“I just take it one day at a time,” Britt said. “Whatever that day brung to me, just take it one day at a time. However I can soak into that day, however I can get better a little bit, just try to get better. However this team needed me, just try to be there for the team.”

Asked if he proved to himself that he can be a starter in the NFL, Britt said there’s more to it than just worrying about that accolade.

“One play at a time for me,” Britt said. I definitely think I had some good plays. I definitely think I have some plays I can learn from. I’m never going to be satisfied with trying to be a starting linebacker in this league no matter what I got to do. I’m always going to be satisfied with just making sure whenever my number is called, that I’m able to play to the best of my abilities. Whatever that may bring, starting linebacker, whatever it is, let it bring it. Just one play at a time.”

Bucs Shouldn’t Stop Adding At ILB

Having K.J. Britt, who finished with 29 tackles during the regular season and 15 stops in the playoffs, atop the Bucs depth chart at middle linebacker is a good place to start given his production in a small sample size. But it shouldn’t preclude Tampa Bay for bringing in another linebacker to compete for the starting role.

With free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft coming up, there are a number of ways the Bucs could go to replace Devin White on the roster. There is no reason to settle on Britt or even reserve J.J. Russell if there’s another player that may even be a better fit in Bowles’ defense. But for the moment, Britt is at least a solid option for the Bucs next season.

“I think he played well,” Bowles said on Monday.  “There’s definitely a place for him next year. We’ll probably get into that as we get into the spring, but we like him.”