TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie defensive end DaVonte Lambert has been full of surprises. During the bye week last week, he drove seven hours to his hometown of Keysville, Georgia to surprise his grandmother Margie Grant. And just days before that, on Monday Night Football and in his second career start, he forced a fumble -- not bad for an undrafted free agent who has been pressed into action due to a rash of injuries along the defensive line.
"It was crazy. I knew everyone was watching," said Lambert, who started 17 of 23 games in two seasons at Auburn after two years at Georgia Military College. "It's a nerve-wracking game, but at the same time, you have to keep your composure and play your assignment."
Lambert's assignment these last few weeks? Fill in for veteran defensive end Robert Ayers, who had 9 1/2 sacks last season and is one of the highest-paid players on the team. Ayers went down in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals. Lambert, who was inactive Week 1, stepped in and played 29 snaps. The next week, against the Los Angeles Rams, he played 51-of-68.
Against the Denver Broncos, a game in which Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy and Noah Spence, and later Clinton McDonald, went down with injury, he played the third-most snaps of any defensive lineman. When the Bucs were missing three of their four starting defensive linemen against Carolina, he played all but two snaps.
"I don't think he had a chance to let his nerves affect him," said William Gholston, a fourth-year veteran who started opposite Lambert. "He's been thrown into the fire. ... He hasn't had a chance to be a rookie and that's a really good quality to have."
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 14-14, Lambert hit a scrambling Derek Anderson and knocked the ball loose, with Gholston recovering it. "That shows the hustle and the grit that he has," Gholston said.
He may just be the biggest surprise on defense through five games this season.
"Yeah, a surprise in that no one knew his name," Koetter said, also pointing to Channing Ward, another undrafted free agent rookie who, as Koetter put it, was signed to fill out their 90-man training camp roster. "[They're] playing more than was ever expected and you couldn't be happier about the effort they're giving."
A big reason why Lambert has been so valuable is his ability to line up outside as a defensive end and inside at defensive tackle, something he's done since college. When injuries pile up and teams can only dress so many players on gameday, it's job security for a backup.
"I'd say he'd have to be right up there as one of the biggest surprises [and] maybe the biggest surprise," gushed defensive coordinator Mike Smith. "Really liked his attitude in training camp. He was very focused and he's learned how to be a defensive lineman in the NFL very, very quickly."
He's drawing praise from his teammates, not just for his level of play but his work ethic. That's how you earn respect. "He's a very hard-working young guy," said defensive tackle Akeem Spence. "He's always in his books. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He's a physical player, and as long as you're physical on the D-line, you know your assignments and you go hard, you can achieve anything."
McCoy noticed his explosiveness and his feet first. Then he saw his study habits and his preparedness. "When he got called upon, it was more of not being nervous, more just being ready," McCoy said. "He told me, 'I knew I was about to play in the game, but when I got out there, I was just like, ‘Man, I'm out here'.' Yeah, you are out there!' We can't have you thinking you're out here -- you've got to go. Once he got past that, he's just been doing his thing. I like what I see."
Lambert acknowledged that there's been no time to think, even as his cell phone has been flooded with text messages of support. He's just had to go, go, go. "I know I'm an undrafted rookie. Just being able to step in those shoes and fill the gap for them, making them happy and the coaches happy, that's what it's all about."
He's also trying to make his family back home proud, particularly his grandmother, a longtime Auburn Tigers fan and the person he calls his "biggest supporter."
"She's just a sweet lady. Just seeing her smile, and her being able to see my face…" Lambert said, smiling. During the bye week, he walked right on in through the front door and found her sitting on her bed. She had seen him since he'd made the team, but not since he'd lined up as a starter and made such an impactful play on national TV.
"Just me coming over to surprise her and not letting her know I was coming home -- I let my mom know but I didn't let my grandmother know -- she was just crying," Lambert said. "I just love seeing my grandmother because she means a lot to me."
He means a lot to the Bucs' defensive line right now too.
