The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made some moves to improve their edge rushing talent in 2024, but some aren’t convinced they will help the team.
The Bucs drafted rookie Chris Braswell out of Alabama in the second round and signed Randy Gregory in the offseason, but Gregory has yet to show his worth during the offseason work. And the volatility of that space was noted in a recent ESPN ranking that sorted all teams by position group — and placed the Buccaneers dead last in the edge rusher category.
Here’s what ESPN writer Mike Clay wrote about Tampa Bay’s pass rush:
“This position is changing after Shaquil Barrett (45.0 sacks in five seasons) left and replacement Randy Gregory left the team during the offseason. Tampa Bay will now rely on a combination of Yaya Diaby, second round rookie Chris Braswell, below-average first-round pick 2021 Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson as the core at that position. None of these veterans played more than half of their team’s snaps in 2023. This is a difficult situation for a team that ranked 17th in pass rush win rate (40.4%) last season.”
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It’s true that Gregory’s absence makes the team’s depth shakier, but it was never really a given that he would fit into Tampa Bay’s rotation. As a player who likely wouldn’t play on special teams, Gregory would have landed a little further down the order in terms of rushing depth — and he still hasn’t shown up, so he’ll likely be released.
Chris Braswell has benefited from playing in the first team in recent training sessions, as both Yaya Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka are struggling with injuries. The pair will not be out for too long, but while they recover, Braswell has gained good experience playing against strong opposition.
Finally, the Bucs want to see what they have in Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez. Both players are second-year prospects, Watts is a UDFA from Charlotte and Ramirez is a 2023 sixth-round pick from Eastern Michigan. They could see more action as they refine their pass rush skills.
It will be interesting to see how Tampa Bay approaches its pass rushing game this year, and both the team and fans will be hoping for improvement early in the regular season.
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