Congrats to Barrett Ruud

Barrett Ruud was named the NFL defensive player of the week today for his performance against the Saints. Ruud had 16 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Ruud dominated the game on the defensive side of the ball and his forced fumble early in the first quarter set the tone for the game. He came out and had a nasty streak in him and it rubbed off on the rest of the defense. This performance came after another dominating performance in the first week of the season against the Seahawks. In the first game he had 12 tackles and was all over the place.

Ruud has calmed all the fears of losing Shelton Quarles in the middle and has relegated Jermiah Trotter, who fans were clamoring for the Bucs to sign, to the bench. Ruud has dominated in the run and the pass game. He has done a great job of calling the defense and setting a great tone for the rest of the team. In the Tampa 2 the middle linebacker should be the leading tackler, and that is what Ruud has been in the first two games. He has shown he was worthy of a top second round pick and has continued the line of great Buc middle linebackers. Congrats Barrett!!!!