So far, newly acquired defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has lived up to his lofty expectations. He has played well in training camp and looked good against the offensive line of the Miami Dolphins in his first game as a Buccaneer. Tampa Bay gave up a third round pick in this year’s draft to trade for the Florida native, who played at Raymond James Stadium in his college days for the South Florida Bulls. As of now, it definitely looks like he might be the missing piece the Bucs defensive line has lacked for much too long now.
In his press conference on August 15th, Head Coach Dirk Koetter also talked about Pierre-Paul and how satisfied he is with his contributions in practice,
“Yeah, very pleasant surprise,” Koetter said of JPP turning into the leader of the defense. “I guess I wasn’t expecting JPP to be the practice player and the leader that he’s been so far. I’m really fired up about it. Sometimes a guy that’s got his pedigree comes in and is looking for ways out of drills, and that’s not him at all.”
The defensive end must have fared particularly well against the offensive line of the Tennessee Titans this week.
Nonetheless, it all means nothing if he cannot deliver this fall, when the games really matter. However, his unparalleled work ethic is definitely a good sign. Barring injuries, this Tampa Bay defensive line should be very scary in 2018 and it will significantly improve the defense as a whole.
