Repetition Was All YaYa Diaby Needed
May 28th, 2024
Bucs edge rusher YaYa Diaby.
So NFL folks like to say a good player often takes his biggest steps from his rookie season to his second year.
Does that mean YaYa Diaby might get double-digit sacks this fall?
Joe met with the Bucs’ second-year edge rusher after an OTA practice last week and it appeared he has bulked up his upper body. No, no, Diaby said. He didn’t bulk up, he tried to add muscle mass and drop body fat.
Diaby had 7.5 sacks last season which got Bucs fans excited to track his development. Last season it was all about snaps, Diaby said, and the sacks came once he got comfortable.
“My first year I needed the repetition,” Diaby told Joe. “I need to get more reps in order to get more comfortable. And as the year went on I got more comfortable and I was able to be productive.
“I started slow, I was thinking a lot. As I got more reps, it started to get easier and I started flowing.”
After putting Broke Purdy on the ground twice at San Francisco, Diaby was replaced Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as a starter for Week 12. Diaby started every game the rest of the season.
Now in OTAs, Diaby said two areas of his game have his attention.
“I’m just working on my flexibility, my bending and working my hands,” Diaby said. “Keep working and just keep getting better at my get-offs. I know that is one of my strengths.
“I’m trying to keep working on that and building on that and my hips. Little things.”
When minicamp breaks in a few weeks, Diaby says his offseason won’t be finished. Diaby said he knows three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby of the Raiders will host a pass rusher’s camp and he plans to attend.
Anything to help him become one of the rare drafted Bucs edge rushers to hit double-digit sacks. It’s the little things, Diaby said.
The last time a Bucs-drafted edge rusher reached 10 or more sacks in a season was the immortal Marcus Jones’ 13 sacks in 2000.
May 28th, 2024 at 5:28 am
If We get a Pass Rush we will get our Playoff entry again.
May 28th, 2024 at 6:10 am
HOPE is a four lettered word
May 28th, 2024 at 6:31 am
Do yall realize how rare it is for a rookie pass rusher to do much of anything in the NFL? Yes it happens but it is not common. 7.5 is a great if not fantastic start! Especially with limited (Bowles) snaps.
Go Bucs!
May 28th, 2024 at 6:39 am
Bucs need Logan Hall to step up ………. There were some above avg flashes his rookie season but not much flashy after .
May 28th, 2024 at 7:00 am
Be nice if YaYa, and Braswell turn into edge rushing monsters. I want Joe to be able to sleep at night!
May 28th, 2024 at 8:05 am
Thank you Jason Licht for drafting trench players on both sides of the ball. Some will hit, some won’t, but we are not at a place with lack of talent.
Hall, Tryon, Kancey, Vea, braswell, Anthony Nelson, love the home grown talent.
May 28th, 2024 at 8:22 am
What about Shaq Barrett’s 19 sacks?
May 28th, 2024 at 8:24 am
Sorry, I just noticed the word “drafted”. We definitely aren’t the best at drafting edge rushers. Are very best edge talent have all been free agency guys.
May 28th, 2024 at 8:25 am
The DL is completely reloaded from 2020. Only starter left is Vea. Crazy how fast the NFL turns over players.
I’m still concerned about MLB. Need a talent infusion next draft.
May 28th, 2024 at 8:37 am
Steve- You are right about drafting home grown talent (salt) but you also have to sprinkle in the right FA additions (pepper) as well in order to be truly competitive . JPP,Suh,Barrett,Gaines,and hopefully now Gregory will this trend going on this side.
Lastly you forgot Gholston on the homegrown talent list he is as homegrown as they come. Go Bucs!!
May 28th, 2024 at 8:52 am
Forget about Logan’s Hall, he’s an oaf whose best skill is blundering around causing severe injuries to teammates. He may not make the final roster.
May 28th, 2024 at 8:59 am
garro … ‘7.5 is a great if not fantastic start! Especially with limited (Bowles) snaps.’
Lots of things could’ve impacted YaYa’s supposedly ‘slow start’. He said in the article that initially he was ‘thinking a lot’. Got a hunch that didn’t just impact his pass rush, but also how he played the run (a priority in Bowles’ defense?). His position coach is George Edwards (who’s got an excellent reputation). Maybe he didn’t think he was quite ready for more snaps & opted to keep him on a slower pace for awhile.
Looked at his def snaps last year game-by-game, and it looks like YaYa still got a decent amount of def snaps in the first half of the season, but it jumped up a bunch after game 10 (the Colts game which was right after the 49ers game).
o First 8 games: 186 def snaps
o Next 8 games: 297 def snaps
o Last game: 32 def snaps
It wasn’t until Game 7 (against the Bills) that YaYa got his 1st sack (up until then he’d only had 4 solo tackles, 4 assists, 1 TFL). He kinda broke out in that game it looks like (1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 solo tackle), but then nothing in Game 8 (against Texans). So in his first 8 games he had 1 sack, 1 QB Hit & 1 TFL with several tackles in there.
But then the light came on? YaYa had a good Game 9 (against the Titans) where he had 1 sack, 2 QB hits, 2 TFLs & 2 solo tackles and followed that with a great game against the 49ers (2 sacks, 2 QB hits, 3 TFLs & 4 solo tackles). After that his def snaps increased considerably for obvious reasons. Interestingly he had as many solo tackles in Game 9 against the 49ers as he had in his first 8 games combined. Good chance that it took him that long to become a reasonably complete player especially against the run.
May 28th, 2024 at 9:21 am
“Be nice if YaYa, and Braswell turn into edge rushing monsters. I want Joe to be able to sleep at night!”
That would leave Joe more “Rachel” dreams time, doubt he would not lose sleep at night.
May 28th, 2024 at 9:33 am
Ready for the pepper.
I’d welcome another trade for a player of JPP’s ilk. Suh was beautiful on the line and set the tone. Made me love #93 again.
May 28th, 2024 at 10:00 am
I’d like to be the first to say that I won’t turn on Yaya like some other fans will if his sack production lags or if he doesn’t match his 7.5 sack from his rookie season.
May 28th, 2024 at 10:07 am
I personally see him at 12 sacks and Kancey getting 9.
Looking promising!
May 28th, 2024 at 10:26 am
Didn’t Adrian Clayborn get 7.5 his rookie season? Don’t get excited, folks.
May 28th, 2024 at 10:29 am
David … I can see YaYa getting 12 sacks this season, providing of course that he can stay healthy (he was on a pace for getting at least 12 over his last 8 games). Whether Kancey gets 9 sacks or not will depend on how Bowles uses him this year IMO. Also depend a lot I think on how well Vea & Gaines play this year.
The one who’s got me the most curious is Chris Braswell. He did really well playing the run I thought when at Bama. If he’s an asset in our run defense in the 1st half of the season, he’ll probably get on the field more than YaYa did in his 1st half of last season. I’m really excited to see what he & YaYa can do together in terms of enhancing our pass rush.
May 28th, 2024 at 10:50 am
Glad to hear Diaby is working on his “bend” and flexibility, he could be a monster if that works out.
May 28th, 2024 at 11:22 am
Get your Ya’Ya Out. He’s coming again this season.
May 28th, 2024 at 11:23 am
Going to Crosby’s pass-rush clinic impresses me. Shows hunger and desire to learn.
May 28th, 2024 at 11:43 am
I met Marcus Jones once he was a nice guy.
May 28th, 2024 at 11:58 am
Too bad Belonzo Chagranting chose Gaelic football instead of the nfl. He would have been a real sleeper
May 28th, 2024 at 1:14 pm
Put down the smelling salts Dave.
First, Logan Hall, going into his 3rd year, might not make the team, and now we have to suffer through these shenanigans?
You are a detriment to grown men everywhere.
May 28th, 2024 at 2:19 pm
Billy Buschlight – what about Logan’s Hall have you ever seen that would indicate anything other than he sucks? He’s good at falling down. Randomly once or twice there is a football where he falls. Otherwise he’s a defensive version of a matador.
Maybe you’re passed out by halftime of most games