The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the better overall rosters in the NFC. Their pass catchers are excellent, the offensive line is very talented with high draft picks, and the front seven is great against the run and is consistently in the top ten for sacks. There is a lot to like overall.
However, many question if the Bucs will remain a formidable foe in terms of pass rush. The loss of Super Bowl 55 star edge rusher Shaq Barrett leaves some wondering how Todd Bowles will pressure the quarterback.
To those people I say, do you not know who Todd Bowles is? Set aside the fact that Barrett was on the decline and hadn’t led the Bucs in sacks since 2021. Bowles is a master of generating pressure, regardless of if he has an elite pass rusher or not.
For example, third round pick Yaya Diaby led the Buccaneers in sacks with 7.5 in 2023. The year before that it was nose tackle Vita Vea with 6.5 sacks. Both of these seasons were years that the Bucs finished in the top 10 in the NFL in total sacks.
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In fact, the Buccaneers have finished in the top 10 in sacks every year under Bowles since he came to Tampa in 2019. So how has this consistently happened, both with and without an established star pass rusher? It’s because Bowles is a master of generation pressure in other ways.
Of course, one of these ways is through blitzing. This has been done with linebackers like Devin White (who recorded 9.0 sacks in 2020 alone) and defensive backs such as Antione Winfield Jr (who had 6.0 last year). The Bucs have finished in the top 10 in blitz percentage every year under Bowles and in the top 5 in four of his five seasons.
The other way Bowles creates pressure is less talked about. This is his ability to dial up stunts along the front seven. This is essentially when two players switch defensive duties to keep the offensive line off balance.
This requires excellent athletes along the defensive line. It isn’t easy for a defensive tackle to move down the line and try to bring pressure off the edge in a matter of seconds. It also isn’t easy for an edge rusher to start outside of the offensive tackle and end up shooting the gap between the opposite side tackle and guard. These are things Bowles asks his defensive linemen to do regularly.
Luckily, the Bucs have drafted with this in mind. Guys like Yaya Diaby, Calijah Kancey, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Chris Braswell are all excellent athletes by NFL standards. Even 340+ lbs nose tackle Vita Vea will line up at off ball linebacker or drop into coverage to keep the offense guessing.
All these things put pressure on an offensive line to pick them up. Not only identify what is coming and where it’s coming from, but also be able to pick it up accordingly. This is an essential part of the Bucs ability to generate pressure under Bowles.
That will be no different this season. Even with what appears to be a transition into more zone coverage and less man to man, we should all expect the Bucs to be a team that blitzes a lot. We should also expect a ton of movement up front to confuse their opponents.
This has always been Bowles’ approach with the Bucs. Whether you have Shaq Barrett or Jason Pierre-Paul or you have a rookie and a relative unknown, Bowles is going to move his chess pieces around and get the job done. That should only get easier this year as his young team gains more experience.
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