The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2022 season has gotten off to a fairly slow start. They have been plagued by injuries across the board, and their two losses on the season have come against formidable opponents in the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. But even in their wins over the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, they haven't looked to be at their best.

Again, a large part of that is due to injuries. On offense, Tom Brady has rarely had his full complement of playmakers at his disposal, and his offensive line has been undermanned from the get go. They still have a lot of time to figure things out, but it's safe to say it's been a pretty ugly start to the season for Tampa Bay.

Disappointing stars are often due to disappointing players, and the Buccaneers have had their fair share of those to start the season. But it's clear that one player who was expected to have a huge role on their defense simply hasn't been himself to start the season, and it's come back to bite them frequently early on in the season. Let's identify that player and see why his struggles for the Bucs have been so disappointing.

Buccaneers biggest disappointment in 2022: LB Lavonte David

Lavonte David has made a name for himself throughout his career for being one of the most versatile linebackers in the NFL. He can do a little bit of everything. He's become a tackling-machine (he has eight seasons where he's recorded 100+ tackles) he can rush the quarterback when he needs to, and he can hold his own in coverage as well.

Pairing David up with athletic freak Devin White at linebacker helped spur the Bucs Super Bowl run two seasons ago. They covered a ton of ground at the heart of Tampa Bay's defense, which helped the rest of the defense focus on doing their job. The Buccaneers deadly defense was spearheaded by David and White.

Four games into the season, White is the only one pulling his weight in this pairing. White has easily been Tampa's best defensive player to start the season, and seems well on his way to taking over David's spot as one of the best all-around linebackers in the game.

David, on the other hand, appears to be regressing right before our eyes. David didn't make his typical impact last season in just 12 games, and it was fair to assume he was just plagued by injuries. But the trend has continued four games into the 2022 season.

David has 29 tackles so far, which isn't a bad number, but still isn't what we've become used to seeing from him. Not only that, but the game-changing plays just haven't been there either. David has just one tackle for a loss, one sack, and two passes deflected. It's definitely becoming a concern after his struggles from last season.

Now, it goes without saying that David's play last season was still good; the problem is he's just set such a high standard for himself. That's a standard he didn't reach last season, and it's one he certainly hasn't reached this season.

David's biggest problem in the early going seems to be his coverage. David is allowing an outrageous 81.8 percent of passes where he is in coverage be completed. The opposing passer rating for him when he's targeted is also 110.8, which basically means opposing quarterbacks are MVP caliber players when they target David.

In the Bucs most recent contest against the Chiefs, David was run ragged by Kansas City all night long, particularly by star tight end Travis Kelce. David was the first level defender against Kelce on his lone touchdown on the night, and had he been better positioned on a few other passes, he probably could have had a multi-interception game.

That is a pretty accurate representation of David's start to the season. He's simply seemed to be a step too slow on defense for the Buccaneers to start the season, and it's weighing their defense down. It's not as noticeable considering how good White has been, but when he struggles like he did against Kansas City too, the pair stick our like a sore thumb at the center of Tampa's defense.

There's a chance David has hit a wall physically. He's already 32 and will be 33 by the time the season ends, and at linebacker, once you lose a step in your speed, you will quickly find yourself in trouble. There's still time for David to turn things around, but through four games, things aren't looking great for the Buccaneers veteran linebacker.