Calijah Kancey’s Status
September 14th, 2023
Update.
So Calijah Kancey’s NFL debut wasn’t as flashy as Trey Palmer’s or even Christian Izien. But the Bucs rookie defensive tackle made an impression on Joe.
Dang is this guy fast!
Kancey was hurt very early in Bucs training camp with a non-contact calf injury during position drills. He was sidelined until last week and gave it a go Sunday in Minnesota.
Kancey logged 11 plays and on two he sure got Joe’s attention. Kirk Cousins’ attention, too.
The Bucs had Kancey line up wide left almost like a linebacker in the first quarter. He then looped in on a stunt and the Bucs defensive line created a nice lane for him; Cousins damn near gave up a pair of ribs as Kancey blasted him.
After 11 snaps, Kancey said his calf injury was barking. So the Bucs played it safe and pulled Kancey for the day.
Todd Bowles was asked about Kancey yesterday and it seems nothing is seriously wrong.
“No update,” Bowles said. “He’s not any worse than he was – he’s actually a little better.
“We’ll take it day by day with him. He just said he felt [the calf was] a little tight, so we kept him out.”
Bowles added that Kancey has also had an MRI to play it on the safe side and the results were “good.”
Kancey did not practice yesterday, per the Bucs’ Wednesday injury report. And he hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s home-opener against the Bears.
Joe could tell on Sunday that this guy is going to be a handful. After 11 plays he left the game with hit, a knockdown and a quarterback pressure.
September 14th, 2023 at 12:27 am
It sucks that Kancey is hurt . I think the Bucs got a good one. I was also very surprised how good Izien is.
September 14th, 2023 at 12:28 am
Let the young man heal. Give him 16 snaps next game. 24 game after. Work him back in.
September 14th, 2023 at 1:04 am
So I know this article has nothing to do with Tampa’s run game, and I am glad Kancey is a little better because we need him, but I am going to take a minute and vent about Rachaad White.
I just rewatched the game and I froze the screen before, during and at the point of contact for all 33 runs.
The one play I want to bring up is the 3rd and 1 run by White that was challenged late in the game and we lost the challenge. It was a gutsy call by Todd Bowles, to go for it in our territory on 4th and 1, but it never should have come to that.
1st, you will see Chris Godwin absolutely sell out on the block to seal the edge, so it is quite obvious which way the run was designed to go. It was actually still excellent blocking on the interior as well. For all the talk about Whites vision, I have no idea why he would cut this run back inside, except he was slow to every hole the entire game.
The cut inside didn’t even bother me much, it was the simple ONE ARM TACKLE by Johnathon Bullard that absolutely blows my mind.
I don’t know if he needs more leg presses, or simply will NEVER be a good back, but, there are at least 30 other backs in this league who can run through an arm tackle, when the guy is off balance to boot.
When Rachaad White gets touched at the waist or lower, he dives ALL THE TIME.
His contact balance is one of the worst I’ve seen actually.
I was a strong proponent of Whites before the season started, but after watching that replay and doing a deep dive, he was 8 yards deep quite a bit, which lead to tackles at the hole IMO.
If we don’t/can’t fix this issue ASAP, this team will be miserable in the run game AGAIN this year.
Watch the tape!!!
Sean Tucker needs more carries SOON.
If they can’t see he actually gets better as the game goes along, then there is way too much loyalty to Rachaad White.
He can improve by stepping up immediately, but the arm tackles and lack of interior balance is not good.
I’ll be surprised if he hits 850 yards rushing this season, with an effort lime that.
September 14th, 2023 at 1:13 am
Careful. Whenever Joe brings up White’s awful YAC, Joe is called a hater.
September 14th, 2023 at 1:31 am
“Dang is he fast”
Are you serious with this, Joe? He’s literally THE FASTEST DL in the history of the combine. Clocked speed. Wow, the fastest guy ever is surprisingly fast. Only you. We’ve been talking about this since before he was drafted. Watch his tape.
September 14th, 2023 at 2:15 am
I’m drinking your cool aid after watching that Joe.
September 14th, 2023 at 2:23 am
I was shocked that he was flashing that early / quickly.
Bodes well.
I’m okay with the Bucs playing it smart / safe with him. Better for him to miss some time as a rookie than to re-aggravate the injury / possibly make it worse, and have it become a long term issue.
September 14th, 2023 at 3:33 am
Get healthy dude!
Then… Let the games begin!
Go Bucs!
September 14th, 2023 at 3:41 am
1
September 14th, 2023 at 3:52 am
He’s like a RB playing DT.
In fact, he’s faster than some running backs!
September 14th, 2023 at 4:51 am
BillyBucco … Love the analysis. So many complain about WHAT is happening, but they never look deeper into WHY it’s happening like you did. There was a lot in what you saw in your deep dive that explains WHY Rachaad had only a 2.3 YPC average on his 17 carries Sunday.
Obviously 17 carries doesn’t a season make, but 39 yards on 17 carries isn’t a pretty look for your primary back to open the season. A big part of that is on White himself far as I’m concerned (he’s terrible at breaking tackles & his YAC/attempt of 1.2 Sunday & 1.4 last season was horrible). More than likely much of it was because Minnesota was often selling out with 8 in the box to bolster their run defense. And based on our recent history, our OLine probably needs to shoulder part of the blame too.
But maybe the bottom line is that Rachaad just isn’t a strong inside runner. He seems to do reasonably well as a receiver when we can get him in space more often. No sense in trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Bucs may need to find a better solution for those short yardage situations especially.
September 14th, 2023 at 5:18 am
Sneak is a better inside runner than White. Bring on Tucker.
September 14th, 2023 at 5:32 am
@slypirate
“ Are you serious with this, Joe? He’s literally THE FASTEST DL in the history of the combine. Clocked speed. Wow, the fastest guy ever is surprisingly fast. Only you. We’ve been talking about this since before he was drafted. Watch his tape.”
You might as well walk around with a sign on your back that says, “I’m a douche.”
You need to change your handle to @summerseve
September 14th, 2023 at 6:37 am
Should save him for Eagles game.
September 14th, 2023 at 6:39 am
Is this dude related to Russell Gage? Sure starting his Buc career just like Gage did.
September 14th, 2023 at 8:12 am
Kancey is our new porcelain doll. Taking over Russell Gage’s role now.
September 14th, 2023 at 8:28 am
It’s one thing to watch it on TV or read about it. It is quite another to see it in person with your own eyes. In a real game. Not sure why this triggered you.
September 14th, 2023 at 8:35 am
Thought this was about Kancey.
September 14th, 2023 at 9:06 am
Good post, BillyBucco… I didn’t rewind the proverbial tape, but I remember the play you analyzed. It is just one play, but that play made me question White’s vision, balance and strength. It’s just one snap, but it raised legit questions, and something we should be watching for in the games going forward.
September 14th, 2023 at 9:15 am
“porcelain doll”????
A little early to say that don’t you think? Dang.
September 14th, 2023 at 9:17 am
Rarely do Dlineman make an impact in their rookie seasons add that kancey missed pretty much all of TC and dude comes back with 1 1/2 legs and makes an impact in his first 11 snaps EVER. pretty sure this guy is a stud. Let the comparisons to Aaron Donald be tru and let him be even better.
September 14th, 2023 at 9:22 am
good news on Kancey – i hope he can get 100% though vs playing with any potential aggravation
Rashaad does need to step it up. I think Kareem Hunt is still a FA
September 15th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Billy Bucco….I have to agree with you.
I noticed that instead of hitting the hole he has a stutter or jump step before he commits.
By then the defense has adj a bit and filled the holes.