Both Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles and Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby want the four-man pass rush to become a consistent threat in 2025. The idea isn’t new: They successfully did it in Super Bowl LV, when Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea collapsed Mahomes without needing to blitz.
The arrival of veteran Haason Reddick could be the key piece. “We needed a pass rusher,” Bowles explained. “We want to pressure with four players and cover better. If we can do that, our defense will be much stronger.”
Diaby: “This year we’re going to work hard.”
Diaby led the Bucs in pressures and quarterback hits, but only recorded 4.5 sacks. His frustration was evident: he dropped in coverage 99 times, and his percentage of snaps in coverage rose from 9% to 18% in one year.
“It’s a matter of confidence,” Diaby explained via the Pewter Report Podcast. “If I don’t get sacks, I go back into coverage. This year we’re going to work really hard to improve at the line.” With Reddick on the other side, Bowles expects Diaby to become a true finisher: “Last year he was more strategic, but he lacked finishing. This year he’s going to get there.”
Larry Foote returns to the rescue as OLBs coach
One of the big stories of the offseason was the return of Larry Foote as outside linebackers coach. He’s had success in the past with Shaq Barrett and JPP, and now he’ll be tasked with developing young talents like Diaby, Chris Braswell, and Jose Ramirez.
Foote, who previously worked with Reddick in Arizona, is an energetic and direct coach: “He never shuts up,” joked Bowles. But his style works, and Diaby is delighted: “I love his energy. He puts on his pad and trains with us. That makes the difference.”
The right side, Diaby’s new home
Another key focus in Diaby’s development will be continuity at his position. In 2024, he alternated between the left and right sides, failing to find a rhythm. “It’s a matter of groove,” he said. “Great pass rushers have their fixed side. Mine is the right.”
The good news is that Reddick prefers the left side. “I play the right, he plays the left. We fit together perfectly,” Diaby said. Bowles and Foote’s new plan is to keep him there so he can convert pressures into sacks and establish himself as the pass-rusher the Bucs need.
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