Last year defensive tackles Vita Vea and Gerald McCoy held up enough double teams to give edge rushers like Jason Pierre-Paul and Carl Nassib time to wreak havoc in their one on one match-ups. In 2018, the two combined for 19.0 sacks..
Unfortunately, Nassib lost his teammate for a large portion of the season due to a freak car accident in which Pierre-Paul injured his neck. It will now be Nassib’s responsibility to step up in the shoes of a great player in Pierre-Paul. And he has all the tools and work ethic to make the jump.
Trajectory Arrow Pointing Up
The former third round pick goes into the 2019 season, presumably, as the starting edge rusher for Tampa Bay with Noah Spence and rookie Anthony Nelson looking up to him to lead the way with JPP out. Trajectory alone suggest a big season awaits for the former Nittany Lion. In his first season with the Cleveland Browns, Nassib notched 2.5 sacks in a very limited role on defense. He followed up that season in 2017 with 3.0 sacks, but also an increase in overall tackle production (20 total tackles to 32).
When Nassib was released and subsequently picked up by Tampa Bay shortly before the 2018 season, his impact was felt immediately. With a short amount of time to pick up Mike Smith’s defense, Nassib actually started 3 less games in 2018, but racked up 6.5 sacks along they way. Now he returns to a base 3-4 defense that suits his skill set better with an opportunity to start all 16 games. All signs point to a breakout year for the 26 year old OLB.
Prediction:
10.5 Sacks
41 Tackles
2 Forced Fumbles
Overview:
– Nassib will be the surprise man in Tampa Bay this year. Not because of his production, but because hes a quiet producer. No flash. No “rah-rah”. Just a non-stop motor and and unusual twitch off the line for a guy his size. With that being said, he will become just the second Buccaneer since 2005 to notch double digit sacks. Not bad production for a guy who’s scheduled to only make a hair over $2 million this year.
Source:
Buccaneers.com, Pro Football Reference
