IDP Spotlight: Making Sense of the NFL’s Muddiest LB Situation

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There are scores of articles throughout the offseason and in-season that cover every possible base, whether it's position primers or sleeper plays. IDP legend John Norton recently started his "Eyes of the Guru" series, where he examines the IDP landscape for all 32 NFL teams.

There isn't a more valuable series of articles for IDP managers. Anywhere. It's a must-read for me every year.

But every now and again, something slips through the cracks. Doesn't get the run it deserves. Maybe it's an under-the-radar player who doesn't make the "sleepers" cut. Or a situation that the IDP community just isn't talking about as much as it should.

We're only human.

Good luck getting that song out of your head. Could be worse. Could be "Gangnam Style."

So, every so often this summer, this imbecile is going to do an IDP Spotlight. Take a look at something that isn't front-page news but could still be important information for IDP managers to know. Maybe it's a training camp battle. Or some injuries that could impact the fantasy landscape more than some believe. Or just me railing about how a linebacker as bad as Barrett Carter can be a starter in the NFL.

Damn, he is terrible.

This time out, it is the muddiest linebacker situation in the NFL—and a position battle that has inspired about as much enthusiasm from IDP managers as a Brazilian wax job followed by a dip in a pool filled with rubbing alcohol.

Welcome to Tampa

For years, the linebacker situation for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers consisted of the great Lavonte David and the other guy. Sometimes that other guy was good—Devin White had 140 tackles and nine sacks with the Bucs in 2020. Sometimes they weren't. But David was the constant—and a perennial IDP stalwart.

After 14 years, though, David called it a career in the offseason. From all indications, it is a full-on four-man free-for-all to fill the starting spots between holdover SirVocea Dennis, free-agent acquisitions Alex Anzalone and Christian Rozeboom, and second-round rookie Josiah Trotter. It's a position battle that has generated a collective "meh" from most IDP managers—the highest-ranked Tampa linebacker in our current redraft rankings is ranked outside the top-35.

Granted, that's partly because of the swirling uncertainty around the linebacker room in Tampa. And the reality that no one in this quartet of question marks is anywhere close to the player that David was. But someone will have to make tackles for the Buccaneers in 2026. David and Dennis both hit triple-digits in total stops in 2025.

At their current (modest) asking price, the Buccaneers' starting linebackers will be value picks in 2026. And the top-one could be a league-winning bargain.

The Contestants

Alex Anzalone

If there's one thing it appears we do know, it's that after 95 total tackles in 16 starts for the Lions in 2025, Anzalone has the inside track to not only start for the Buccaneers but to wear the "green dot" helmet communicator—Anzalone assumed David's role in OTAs, telling reporters that he's becoming more comfortable in Todd Bowles' defense.

"He has a more complex system than what I am used to, but it has been pretty easy to pick up and communicate and understand what he is trying to accomplish," said Anzalone. "I think the biggest thing for me as a linebacker is trying to see what he likes to call in certain situations and understanding him as a play-caller as opposed to the actual playbook."

Anzalone is the linebacker IDP managers and fans alike love to hate—the average talent who somehow remains a three-down starter year after year who has better hair than they do. But for all the things he can't do, Anzalone is easily the best linebacker on the roster in coverage. Barring an injury, he's locked in—like it or not.

SirVocea Dennis

Dennis started 16 games opposite David last year, posting 101 total tackles and three sacks and finishing as LB29 in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring. That seems like a good thing—the incumbent with an inside track of his own. But the problem is that while Dennis was solid for fantasy managers, from an NFL perspective it's another story altogether.

Dennis was, um, not great—especially in coverage. The 26-year-old allowed a whopping 85 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed. His passer rating against was over 120. Per NFL NextGen Stats, Dennis allowed 606 yards as the closest defender, the second-most allowed by a linebacker. Also, Dennis allowed 420 yards after the catch--second-worst in the league.

Um. Yikes.

To Dennis' credit, his level of play got better as his first season as a full-time starter went along. And the 26-year-old has one thing going for him the others do not—knowledge of and experience in a scheme that asks a lot of its linebackers. But given all the offseason moves the Buccaneers made at linebacker, Dennis needs a strong summer to keep his spot.

Josiah Trotter

More than a few eyebrows went skyward when Tampa drafted Trotter at No. 46 overall, not because the Buccaneers took an off-ball linebacker in Round 2 but because of who else was available at the position. But while speaking to reporters, Trotter said he intends to erase all doubt that he was the right pick.

"I feel like I have high upside, being that I'm 21 years old and coming to the NFL. Just more years ahead of me for a lot of ball," he said. "I'm just grateful to be where my feet are, learning how to be where my feet are, and taking it one day at a time, continuing to grow and enjoy the experience of where I'm at. Not looking too far ahead, and not worrying about the past."

The Bucs drafted Trotter to be the starter opposite whoever in 2026. But that's far from a given—the 6'2, 237-pounder is a downhill thumper making the jump to the NFL who has limited experience in coverage. Had Tampa taken CJ Allen here, he'd be the favorite to start and then some. But while the upside's high, Trotter will have to earn the job in camp.

Christian Rozeboom

Over the past two seasons, Rozeboom made 28 starts at the "green dot" linebacker for first the Los Angeles Rams and then the Carolina Panthers, logging 122 total tackles in 2025. But before the Buccaneers ever drafted Trotter, Bowles was already telling reporters that Rozeboom's addition was more depth than potential starter.

"I think he was a very good addition," Bowles said. "I think he's very tough. He can play inside, and he can play either 'backer spot, and he's a very good special teams player as well. From a depth standpoint, with Alex coming on and him coming on, we are a lot deeper at the 'backer position than we were with guys that have played in a bunch of ball games. So I'm really happy to have him and really glad he came."

There's a reason, despite being a productive player statistically, Rozeboom is on his third team in as many years — coverage isn't a specialty of his. It appears that from Day 1, Rozeboom was viewed as insurance against the 31-year-old Anzalone getting hurt.

Nothing that has happened since indicates Tampa has changed their minds.

How It Plays Out