In a season that has exposed a bevy of Tampa Bay stars to a brighter spotlight, inside linebacker Devin White is the latest Buccaneer to earn a prominent award from the NFL.
On Wednesday, the NFL named White the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week Seven, following the Buccaneers' 45-20 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. White recorded a career-high 3.0 sacks to go with 11 tackles, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits and a forced fumble. White is the first inside linebacker in Buccaneers history to record a three-sack game.
White is the third Buccaneer to win a Player of the Week award through the first seven weeks of the 2020 season. Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett was the choice on defense in Week Three after the Buccaneers' win in Denver and quarterback Tom Brady was the selection on offense the next week after Tampa Bay's comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers. In addition, inside linebacker Lavonte David was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month and safety Antoine Winfield was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in September.
White helped the Buccaneers pull away in a close game with 21 unanswered points. His three sacks were all instrumental in ending Las Vegas drives, including one on fourth down when he hit a scrambling Derek Carr near the sideline with five minutes left, forcing a fumble that went out of bounds with just over five minutes remaining.
White's three sacks were the most by any player in the NFL in Week Seven, and he also tied for the seventh-highest tackle total. He is one of only two players in the league to combine 10-plus tackles and three or more sacks in a single game this year, joining Los Angeles Rams linebacker Troy Reeder.
White is the first player in Tampa Bay's 45-season history to record 10 or more tackles and three or more sacks in the same game.
The Buccaneers have already earned as many conference Player of the Week awards in 2020 as they have in any season since 2008. They also had three such awards in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
This is the first NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for White, who was the fifth-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. However, White was also named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in both November and December of last year.
