It's not quite as pronounced as the Athens-to-Philadelphia pipeline, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have spent half of their first four picks in the 2023 NFL Draft on players who starred for a very good University of Pittsburgh defense last year.
After kicking things off with the first-round selection off Panthers defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, the Bucs went back to that Pitt well in Round Five to nab off-ball linebacker SirVocea Dennis. It marks the first time since 1995 that Tampa Bay has drafted two players from the same college defense in the same year. That one went well, as the duo began with future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks, who was later joined by Florida State teammate cornerback Clifton Abraham in the fifth round.
"It just happens sometimes that way," said Buccaneers Director of Player Personnel Mike Biehl. "Look at the Eagles taking all those Georgia guys. If you find good players on the same team we're not afraid to pull the trigger on more than one of them."
The Buccaneers have an excellent starting duo of inside linebackers in Lavonte David and Devin White. However, both David and White are currently under contract for just one more season, and David will be going into his 12th campaign. The Buccaneers weren't going to force a pick at that position to plan for the future, but they were more than happy to snag Dennis with the 153rd-overall selection.
"If you go into the draft and just say, 'We're going to take good football players,' and do that, you just follow the board," said Biehl. "At the same time there are positions of need that come up here and there, and when you match up the need with a good football player it works well, and I think we did that."
In Dennis, they found a middle-level defender with some of the same traits that have made David one of the most accomplished players in franchise history, including outstanding instincts and the range to make an impact all over the field.
"As a player, he's super-instinctive, has good athletic ability and he just flies around the field and makes a lot of plays," said Biehl. "He's a little bit like Lavonte, I would say. Lavonte's maybe a little bit bigger but he has the same traits as far as the instincts and the athletic ability and the ability to get sideline to sideline. And if he's a backup initially he should be really good on special teams, which is exciting for us."
The Panthers let Dennis roam in their defense but they also used him to attack the backfield at times. He produced 94 tackles and 7.0 sacks as a senior to earn first-team All-ACC honors, and over his last three seasons has racked up 15.0 sacks and 36.0 tackles for loss. That meshes well with how David and White have been used in Todd Bowles' defense. Those two combined for 8.5 sacks, 10 passes defensed and three forced fumbles to go with their usual high tackle totals last season.
"They used him in some unique ways," said Biehl of the Pitt coaching staff. "They brought him off the edge, they brought him up the middle. They used him in a lot of the same ways that Todd uses our linebackers so it should be a good fit and an easy transition for him, I would think. He's really high on football intelligence. Him and Kancey shouldn't have any issues making the transition to our league."
The Buccaneers didn't bring Kancey or Dennis in for a private meeting and their only contact with Dennis before the draft was over a Zoom call, which allowed them to asses his football IQ and get to know him a bit more as a person. Biehl said the Buccaneers already felt very comfortable with Dennis's character, as was also the case with his teammate, Kancey.
"First of all, he's a great player and he's a great person, too," said Biehl. "He's a great teammate, a team captain, just a high-intangible guy that fits in with the other guys we've taken in this draft."
View pictures of SirVocea Dennis, who Tampa Bay selected in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Massachusetts during the second half of an NCAA college football game , Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 51-7.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Massachusetts during the second half of an NCAA college football game , Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 51-7.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Massachusetts during the second half of an NCAA college football game , Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 51-7.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Massachusetts during the second half of an NCAA college football game , Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 51-7.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Tennessee during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Western Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Western Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Western Michigan during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Western Michigan during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Western Michigan during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) and defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre (5) play against Western Michigan during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates with head coach Pat Narduzzi after returning an interception for a touchdown against Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates with defensive lineman David Green (2) after returning an interception for a touchdown against Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates with defensive back Brandon Hill (9) after returning an interception for a touchdown against Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates with defensive lineman David Green (2) after returning an interception for a touchdown against Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates with head coach Pat Narduzzi after returning an interception for a touchdown against Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates by leading the band and students singing the Pitt Fight song after defeating Clemson in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates by leading the band and students singing the Pitt Fight song after defeating Clemson in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 27-17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Miami during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Miami during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against Miami during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) readies for the play during an NCAA college football game against Duke Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Durham, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis celebrates after sacking Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman during the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) celebrates after defeating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) laughs during their annual NCAA football intrasquad Blue-Gold scrimmage game, Saturday, April 9, 2022, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Philip G. Pavely)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis answers a question at the NCAA college football Atlantic Coast Conference Media Days in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against West Virginia during an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) plays against West Virginia during an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi directs Pittsburgh linebacker SirVocea Dennis (7) during the second half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
American linebacker SirVocea Dennis of Pittsburgh (7) runs through drills during practice for the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Mobile, Ala.. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
American linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. of Jackson State (45) and American linebacker SirVocea Dennis of Pittsburgh (7) get instruction from a coach during practice for the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Mobile, Ala.. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
