Calijah Kancey “Finally Trending To Be 100 Percent”
October 5th, 2023
It sure sounds like the fury and speed that is first-round pick defensive tackle Calijah Kancey will be unleashed on the Detroit Lions when the Bucs next take the field on Oct. 15.
Kancey pulled a calf muscle in early August but got back on the field for opening day against Minnesota. He looked fantastic, including an early hit on Vikings QB Kirk Cousins that set a physical tone for the Bucs defense. But after 11 plays, Kancey’s calf had a setback and he’s been shelved ever since.
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht told SiriusXM NFL Radio yesterday that Kancey is super close to full strength.
“Hopefully very soon we’ll get Calijah out there …. he’s finally trending to be 100 percent now very quickly,” Licht said.
What a boon to the Bucs’ pass rush it would be to have Kancey return. Yes, that’s Joe speculating. Kancey only played 11 snaps but he looked so damn good.
Tampa Bay is tied for 11th in the NFL with 12 sacks.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:09 am
Definitely excited to see CK paired with VV. Bye week came at the right time early in the season after all – maybe CD, Dean & Evans can all get to 100% too. If the whole squad is healthy, anything is possible next Sunday.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:13 am
I am excited to see him play. Looks like the Bucs did what the Bengals should of done.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:15 am
Itching to see this kid play!
October 5th, 2023 at 8:18 am
He’s been hyped a lot. Hope he lives up to it. If so, watch out.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:25 am
“…100 percent now very quickly,”. That part of JL’s comments really jump out to me.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:41 am
If he plays and he truly is healthy he could be a game changer in the middle! No one has the explosiveness/speed he has on the line. Could give the Bucs pass rush the dimension it needs to go over the top… Yaya Diaby is also going to be starting here soon the way he plays the run and puts pressure on the QB.
Can’t wait to see them both in action at the same time. Go Bucs!
October 5th, 2023 at 8:49 am
So being that dude has missed every practice and game snaps since JULY 30th minus the 11 plays in week one what should we expect from him?
He won’t be in game shape that’s a given. He’ll be put on snap counts for sure. I’m of the mindset that just don’t get hurt again. I expect nothing from him contribution wise so if he does show up and do well it’s a bonus. Just don’t get hurt again.
I’d love to never have to use the Kancey =Russell Gage line again.
October 5th, 2023 at 8:55 am
Let’s bite some mfing kneecaps baby
October 5th, 2023 at 9:03 am
This should get very scary when Kancey gets going in that rotation.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:18 am
Even if he only plays 20-25 snaps, he’s going to have an impact (especially on those outside to inside looping stunts).
October 5th, 2023 at 9:18 am
How close to 100% does he have to be, no one plays at 100% as the season wears on anyway. Get that dude out there, you’ll need him for Detroit
October 5th, 2023 at 9:23 am
Very excited to see him, Hall, VEA, Shaq, & JTS
October 5th, 2023 at 9:24 am
Looking forward to seeing/hearing why this young man was a #1 draft pick. Bucs are slowly building quality depth, too. Thank you, Mr. Licht. Now, declaw the kittehs!
October 5th, 2023 at 9:25 am
No better compliment to Vita Vea than Kancey. Hope he’s healthy and going to absolutely wreak havoc.
I agree with Joe’s assessment, though only 11 plays, he popped off the screen against the Vikings. Vita will be a menace and a huge force and then we can stunt Kancey and let his quickness destroy OL. Cheers Licht, build those trenches.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Can’t wait. I want to see him in the backfield razing havoc.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Can’t wait to see this young man destroy fools soon. Excited, very excited.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:42 am
We need all hands on deck to deal with the Lions. They’re the real deal and I respect them because they built that team from the studs!
October 5th, 2023 at 10:31 am
I hope Joe can keep track of his practices. I hope he’s well enough for limited practices before the Lions. He’s going to be rusty.
We definitely need him for a pass rush. We don’t seem to get much of a pass rush from our front 4-5, and we have to blitz to get pressure. Even White is having trouble getting sacks or even pressures. It seems like other offenses have figured out our blitz packages.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:47 am
They haven’t figured out our blitz packages calm down.
Nobody KNOWS what a team is gonna do unless a hard count shows it too early and even then some teams can’t stop it.
What I’m excited about is the speed next to power element that the combination of Kancey and Vea will provide. If the double team keeps shifting either way it will get ugly for QBs. I can almost guarantee our sack total will be higher in quarter 2.
It might take a few games to really start showing but we are definitely a better team with Kancey even limited by a snap count.
Once he is FULL Go and in shape Look the F out.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:01 am
If he’s been out 8 weeks it was a tear not a pull. Bad injury but he can fully heal from it. Might actually take until the spring for 100% but let’s hope not that long.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:18 am
Jack Burton Mercer Says:
October 5th, 2023 at 11:01 am
If he’s been out 8 weeks it was a tear not a pull. Bad injury but he can fully heal from it. Might actually take until the spring for 100% but let’s hope not that long.
——————–
STFU A torn calf doesn’t heal in eight weeks. Nothing torn heals in eight weeks except a torn brachioradialus.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:39 am
Can’t wait to see him line up next to the big guy, but hope he is truly 100 %. This guy has the skill set and speed to be the next Sapp.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:50 am
I watched Kancey in all the televised Pitt games the last years he played. with Pickett and Abanacanda at RB. Pitt had a decent team then but Pickett looks subpar now playing for the woeful Steelers. Somebody get Tomlin outta there, how he keeps hanging with the Steelers is unexplainable.
October 5th, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Deff not holding my breath but would love to see him play the short glimpse we got was awesome seriously tho need to temper back expectations tho. He’s a rookie and JOE has wrote numerous times about rookie Dlineman not making a huge impact in there 1st year also he missed most of training camp but that isn’t going to stop the haters from calling him a bust if he doesn’t get 10 plus sacks in his 1st year. Kancey wreck havoc bro go get em.
October 5th, 2023 at 12:54 pm
76 DAYS TO BE TRENDING
The medical staff will have had 76 days to get a strained calf feeling good enough to play. 2.5 months seems like a long time. Now he’s “Trending towards 100%.”
What does “trending” mean? What does “100%” mean? Is trending practice next week? Is 100% fully healed or 100% can play in a game? This is worthless information.
Like I’ve said, I’ll talk about guys that play. I do find the medical staff a little amateurish.
October 5th, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Look forward to him on the field
October 5th, 2023 at 2:04 pm
The Lions are no Joke. They’re on par with the 49ers. The only reason Philly has the edge on those teams is because they have a more consistent dynamic Qb. Detroit DL is pretty impressive. Hutchinson is about as good as the Bosa brothers in their prime. At times unblockable. I trust Bowels and Canales to scheme up a plan to keep it close.
October 5th, 2023 at 2:12 pm
I agree that Detroit is a very good team right now! If the Bucs beat them to go 4-1 there will still be “doubters” who say…well the Lions were overrated or lets see how he does against the 49ers.
October 5th, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Just the thought of him possibly being unleashed in a creamsickle has me going from 6 to midnight wink wink!
knock goff on his arse a couple of times and he will start to make costly mistakes.
October 5th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
@bucsfan951…me too 🙂
October 5th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
Building the offensive and defensive lines up and adding depth is the recipe for success. You have the big boys pushing folks around and you don’t need the most talented skill players in the world. I know it’s sexy to pick a burner wideout and a flashy back but the real gems are the athletic linemen we have drafted. The O line may develop into another stellar lineup brought to you buy JL.
October 5th, 2023 at 6:52 pm
That would be huge if he can come back — or at least I think it will be based on the extremely limited sample size of 11 snaps.
Still, he’s a rookie DT, and they rarely do much, so people shouldn’t get their hopes too high. But, the glimpse of what he can do, he looked special in those limited snaps.
October 5th, 2023 at 7:09 pm
If he gets healthy and produces big time this years rookie class is da bomb!
October 5th, 2023 at 7:15 pm
Can’t wait to see him in action again. He only had 11 snaps against the Vikings but he looked very quick, fast and got a nice hit on the QB after operating a stunt perfectly…
I believe Kancey will be used all over the front four on defense. The Swiss Army knife of the defensive line.
October 5th, 2023 at 7:57 pm
This would be awesome.
Kancey and Vea both going against Detroits oline in the Creamsickles.
The defense is clicking and Kancey will be wound up like a spring.
Be careful big guy! Stay healthy
October 5th, 2023 at 8:46 pm
Good time to get him into the mix. You want him to be right when he plays because his athletic ability gives him the edge to play inside. Looking forward to it.
October 5th, 2023 at 9:50 pm
I would temper my expectations with Kancey. Seldom do DL rookies shine plus he missed all training camp.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:17 pm
Excited to see this kid play.
October 5th, 2023 at 11:53 pm
Calijah Kancey id going to be a star. He will elevate this defense this season to one of the tops in the NFL. Get ready to see alot of number 94 jerseys in Ray J for years to come.
October 6th, 2023 at 2:06 am
I just looked up Kancey and his numbers are simply unreal.
He broke the record for the fastest 40 yard dash by a DT at 4.67.
Aaron Donald held the previous record at 4.68.
He didn’t run the 3 Cone Drill in Indy but he ran a 6.82 at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex during his Pro Day. That would have smashed the record in Indy by over .25 seconds as well.
His short shuttle time of 4.33 would rank 5th all time for a DT in the history of the NFL.
Simply put, he is a rare breed and those measurements cannot be coached.
Aaron Donald had 9.5 sacks his rookie season, so not every DT takes time to excel. Based on his insane numbers, I don’t think he will be RUSTY.
October 6th, 2023 at 4:20 am
Go Calijah! Lets get our D up to the top!
Go Bucs!
October 6th, 2023 at 7:54 am
One thing that is to his advantage is fresh legs, will be speedy off the ball and anxious to contribute to rotation.