Jason Licht Has Faith In Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
March 2nd, 2023
Waiting.
Not quite 24 hours after the Bucs’ embarrassing playoff loss to the Cowboys before a primetime audience on “Monday Night Football,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles held a season-ending press conference.
There, Joe asked if the team would add a pass rusher in the offseason. With Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett nearly 30 years old and coming off a gruesome injury, and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka yet to turn the corner, the Bucs may be flashing back to a period in team history like the Lost Decade, when a pass rush was only a figment of a fan’s imagination.
Bowles admitted the Bucs need more sacks from outside linebackers. And he did not dismiss the idea of adding a pass rusher soon.
His boss, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, has not lost faith in JTS. When Licht stood before the #NFLMedia Tuesday to face the music at the combine in Indianapolis, he said he expects JTS will rise to the occasion this fall.
“Yes, it is, but I do think that he will,” Licht said when asked if 2023 is a big year for JTS and if he can step up.
“I know that we are all excited about adding [defensive assistant] George Edwards to our staff. He did some great work in Dallas last year with their pass rushers. I do think that [JTS] has got it in him and I think he will rise to the occasion.”
Last offseason, Joe heard someone inside the organization sing the virtues of former outside linebackers coach Bob Sanders. He (ahem) retired this winter. The thinking was Sanders would unleash JTS.
Instead, JTS had similar results to those of his 2021 rookie season. Not special.
Look, Joe isn’t piling on JTS. He’s a good dude. Hard worker. But the NFL is about production, not how much you sweat. Right now, JTS has worse numbers after two seasons than Gaines Adams, and that’s not good.
If JTS doesn’t improve this fall, a lot of people justifiably will use the B-word on him.
Underperforming Gaines Adams is not the way to get a second contract. Or to help your team win.
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:09 am
LOL
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:11 am
Use D.Whiye like parsons is used. He can get there with his speed
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:15 am
Does he have a choice ?
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:38 am
I dont understand the loose connection between JTS & Gaines Adams that Joe keeps repeating, nor the relevance it has on evaluating JTS as a prosepct 16 years after Adams was drafted and 13 years after Adams has passed away. Adams was a 4-3 RDE while JTS is a 3-4 OLB, playing for different staffs, surrounded by different talent, and with job responsibilities that are different.
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:38 am
JTS is more Jacquies Smith than he is Gaines Adams
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:43 am
As far as I can remember JTS was Bill Curries boy, favourite pick…..If he doesn´t make something happen this year, I don´t see much of a future for this kid, he is a hell of an athlete but not enough….
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:50 am
“If he steps up.” Well duh.
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:51 am
Loose? Both were/are edge rushers drafted in the first round. Not only is that much more than “loose,” not sure why that would be difficult to grasp. 🤷♂️
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:59 am
JTS is a bum n bust. Clean our hands with him, smartest thing we could do. I’d cut him right now. Sucks in run support, no rush moves, he’s weak , bad angle taker(Devin Bum White does it too). And let’s never put JTS in coverage 🤦🏾♂️. He does nothing good nothing well. Dude is eating up a roster spot and stealing money. He will have no more than 6 sacks this season AGAIN. ….. why is it we can never as an organization draft a real deal Pass Rusher or QB?
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:05 am
My memory of last season is watching him flail away at offensive lineman, bouncing off over and over
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:06 am
Maybe a new coach can help….not necessarily a better coach but a new one…
There’s something about JTS that really makes you want to think he can excel….
Hopefully he blossoms.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:07 am
97 BucBaby … ‘JTS is a bum n bust. Clean our hands with him, smartest thing we could do. I’d cut him right now.’
And yet, the Bucs’ defense finished #5 in 2021 and #13 in 2022 with him in there, a lot. Being a 1st Rnd pick, he’s admittedly surrounded by high expectations & has a long ways to go to meet those expectations. But he did start VERY GREEN, and he’s only 2 years in. We all need to give George Edwards a chance to work with him this season THEN let’s see what we’ve got before we label him a ‘bum n bust’ and ‘cut him right now’.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:13 am
He gets beat physically too often. The Bucs need to use stunts to free him up. I don’t know what contingency plans are possible, but they need them.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:16 am
At present, his only method of getting to the quarterback is speed
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:19 am
I had high hopes for him, but I am not sure now because of one major thing… Watch Dwight Freeney, Micah Parsons, Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor or any elite pass rusher over the years.
Their goal is getting to the quarterback. The lineman is in the way. JTS, like most pass rushers in the league, are focused on the lineman and their move and as soon as they do their move or engage with the lineman, it’s over. They view that as the end result, instead of an obstacle to get to the end result.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:23 am
Again, Other Joe “edge rusher” wasn’t a thing when Gaines Adams was drafted in 2007, they were still traditionally being called defensive ends and again just loosely tossing that comparison out isn’t a comprehensive evaluation of the position JTS is asked to play since 2021. 4-3 ends in 2007 weren’t being tasked with what JTS is being asked to do in our defense, ever single rep he takes isn’t about containment or rushing the pocket. Some snaps JTS is aligned at MLB(saw it in Germany), some snaps he’s being asked to sink into coverage and we’ve seen him personally be asked to spy QBs. “Edge rusher” makes it sound like the all he has to do is get sacks, but here you are attempting to compare players that are playing 12 years apart, do you realize how much the game has changed in 12 years? I’m guessing not, and Idk why lazy analysis like this loose comparison bears any relevance to JTS moving forward.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:24 am
JTS can get to the QB – he just needs to learn how to sack the QB once he gets there…
Anthony Nelson is the opposite – he doesn’t get pressures very often but when he does he gets the sack.
JTS needs to focus his training in order to improve his ability to pursue the QB under control and finish the play.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:28 am
JTS relies on his speed too often. Instead of setting OL up with speed then use leverage to push them back, JTS wants to run around the OL. In doing so, the OL pushes JTS up the field pass the QB.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:32 am
JTS just needs to get better with his hands and much better beating blockers with a variety of moves/techniques instead of trying to out-athlete offensive tackles. Athletically he’s got everything he needs to be as good an all-around defender as anybody on the roster, some guys just take more time than others to put it and keep it all together.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:35 am
A chicken wing….thats his nickname to some of the O lines he’s went against, they easily eat him up.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:36 am
We couldve had Landon Dickerson….smdh!
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:39 am
He suffers from The Bowles Curse
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:51 am
David … Great observation. Reminds me of John Lynch & how he said something to the effect that he tackled by looking through the guy he was tackling. Maybe that’s why so many of his tackles were bone-crunching; you could hear them no matter where you sat in the stadium.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:17 am
I’m sure there’s been a Buc defender who got faked out easier than JTS, but none come to mind right now.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:23 am
@ MadMax
Does he solely rely on the Bull Rush, or does he have any other pass-rushing moves in his arsenal?”
Where’s The Counter Moves?
• He needs better hand placement, leverage, and lower body strength to better control and anchor against blockers.
• He struggles to consistently stack and shed blocks, and tends to play too high, which makes it easy for opponents to get under his pads.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:41 am
To me JTS looked like a chicken with it’s head cut off. He seems disorganized. I do believe he’ll do better this year if he just calms down and gets more deliberate.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:55 am
Get a chicken. Cut off its head. Turn it loose on the field. The results will be better than JTS.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:59 am
I thought 2022 was the big year for JTS? Now 2023…. Lol.
Can’t hold the edge, doesn’t have enough bend to get around Olinemen, gets held up by one blocker, can’t use his hands, can’t use leverage. He is fast but always a step slow to get to the QB.
Sorry Jason but 2023 is not going to be better.
March 2nd, 2023 at 11:06 am
Licht knows it ain’t gonna happen but here’s hoping.
March 2nd, 2023 at 11:49 am
Luv, he’s weak and doesnt have the drive or heart…is what it is.
I hate seeing wasted 1st’s. Spence and this kid! They say we cant develop QB’s, we also cant even develop edge rushers….its ridiculous!
I hate calling Mr. Licht out on stuff like this, but come on man!
March 2nd, 2023 at 11:52 am
This guy is a waste! How many times have you all seen him rush with great energy and the OL just blocks him away from the QB in a big loop. The play ends with him behind the QB but nowhere near him. Zero pressure. Zero inside moves that are effective. Anybody watching the play can see it happen time and again. Coaches MUST have addressed it since it is so obvious- -to no apparent success. Another bust DL for the Bucs. Next!
March 2nd, 2023 at 11:53 am
He’s just one of MANY players who bitterly dissapointed last season.
March 2nd, 2023 at 11:54 am
@ MadMax
I wouldn’t say the the kid doesn’t have any heart.
He’s just very raw and needs more polish.
Hopefully he gets with right trainers & strength coaches this offseason.
March 2nd, 2023 at 12:09 pm
BUST…jason licht can get these major busts in back to back drafts
March 2nd, 2023 at 12:28 pm
@Luv, sorry, he does try, just not hard enough. He has to figure out what he needs to fix for himself…or maybe this is his ceiling…i dont know. Like you said, right coaches may fix some things but he better get on some stuff to power up and play harder.
March 2nd, 2023 at 12:31 pm
He has the tools. He plays hard. He just needs to be polished and keep getting stronger. So maybe Edwards can push the right buttons. Who knows? That said, given his production thus far, we can’t go into the season depending on him. I do believe we’ll be drafting 1 or 2 Edge players. I don’t see the point in bashing JTS.
March 2nd, 2023 at 1:03 pm
Sasquatch the point is he’s a first round draft pick. At best he was a guy who needed some development that could provide a team with decent depth down the line.
Licht falls in love with these value pick guys and over drafts them. He has a bad habit of finding these below the radar guys and then drafting them a round or two early. He’s a serial over-reacher.
Recognizing talent from unconventional places is good, but drafting them like blue chippers is bad.
March 2nd, 2023 at 1:08 pm
Someone commented on here saying to use DW45 like parsons. Honestly I think that is a great idea. How fast DW45 is and with the help of the new LB coach you prob played some kind of role in developing parsons is exciting idea. Someone else even mentions moved DW45 to OLB keep LVD n get Wagner for your ILB and man this defensive would be scary. Especially if JTS turns a corner and Shaq comes back to form. Man that would be amazing I know one can dream
March 2nd, 2023 at 2:03 pm
But he is OL friendly. He is perfect for The Bowzo Plan.
March 2nd, 2023 at 2:23 pm
I wonder if his lack of development is the reason Lori Locust was fired
March 2nd, 2023 at 2:24 pm
Licht might be the only one lol.
That said, I can see the potential… He just needs to bring it all together.
He’s got speed, but that’s not enough. He needs to keep building his strength so that he can actually drive through o-lineman improve his handwork, etc. Needs to be more violent at the LOS.
March 2nd, 2023 at 2:26 pm
He liked like a boy among men last season.
Jason believes, because he has too.
We are in for some bad years.
Even after we fire Bowles
March 2nd, 2023 at 2:37 pm
D Rules: Yes the numbers do not lie, the Bucs’ D was ranked #13 this past season but failed miserably against the top offensive teams, other than Dallas in the first game of the season, and against some of the not-so-good offensive teams too.
March 2nd, 2023 at 8:17 pm
JTS is soft. The only player left on this team with a nasty attitude is Jensen. All the rest are followers. Wirfs is pretty darn good also.
March 2nd, 2023 at 9:49 pm
Finesse yet not that coordinated. Played very little in college…fooled many with “measurables”. Here’s a comp…Kyle “Less Is” Moore.
March 2nd, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Cut bait already Jason