Anthony Nelson Admits He Learns From Chris Braswell
August 20th, 2024
Absorbing rookie knowledge.
In years gone by in the NFL — hell, maybe still with some teams — rookies were to be seen and not heard, unless they were singing their school fight song at lunch as ordered by the veterans.
Bucs veteran outside linebacker Anthony Nelson is not a subscriber to this philosophy at all.
Earlier in training camp Bucs rookie edge rusher Chris Braswell told Joe that the veteran he is leaning on and who has helped him most Nelson. So yesterday when Joe spoke with Nelson about this, Nelson said he learns from Braswell.
Nelson said he “bounces things off [Braswell].” This took Joe aback. What can Nelson, who has a Super Bowl ring, and who played with Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and Lavonte David, among others, learn from a rookie in his first NFL training camp?
A lot, Nelson told Joe.
“Just things he is seeing and moves he is throwing,” Nelson said. “He’s got a different perspective. He’s a rookie. Sometimes they see [the game] a little bit different.”
Nelson also said that perhaps Braswell was taught a move or a tendency in college at Alabama that is foreign in the NFL but still works. If so, Nelson said he wants to learn that.
“[Braswell] may do something that I’ve never done before, I’ve never thought about or never executed,” Nelson said. “So I will ask him about that specifically.
“I love to [learn] why guys are doing [a certain move] and see if I can apply it to my game.”
One thing that has impressed Nelson about Braswell is his appetite for information.
“He is just a guy that any information you can give him, he’s asking questions and a lot of questions,” Nelson said. “We got a ton of reps together in this training camp and we’ve got that bond going.
“He’s asking me questions, I’m bouncing things off of him. [Braswell has] the hunger to get better and the hunger to improve every day and that is going to treat him well. I’m excited for him this year.”
Nelson added Braswell is a key reason the Bucs will improve their edge rush.
“We have a lot of guys we can rely on and a lot of guys who can make really awesome plays as you saw on Saturday,” Nelson said, referencing Jose Ramirez’s three sacks at Jacksonville. “Just like [Todd] Bowles has talked about. We have depth. We have a lot of guys that can go from the edge.
“We can throw a lot of different things at you. We have a lot of different [types of rushers], lot of different skillsets.”
And Nelson predicted this will be the best Bucs defense he has played on since he was drafted in 2019.
“I think we have been great in the past,” Nelson said. “It’s just a competitor’s mentality. I think we are going to be better this year than we ever have. … Maybe that’s my competitive mindset?
“I think we are going to be the best since I’ve been here.”
If Nelson’s prediction comes true, the Bucs ought to have a helluva run in the playoffs come January.
August 20th, 2024 at 7:16 am
Nelly has always been praised by Bowles for knowing the defense and doing his job. That showed up when he was in position to sack Hurts for the safety in the playoff game. Nelly’s not the most athletic guy but he’s smart enough, and motivated enough, to learn from anybody. Brass had some good coaching at Bama so he might have a few valuable insights…
August 20th, 2024 at 7:35 am
Future coach.
August 20th, 2024 at 7:39 am
😈
August 20th, 2024 at 8:10 am
Great reporting! I already am stoked at our mix of veterans and youth. He said the best defense since he’s been here. Hmm. Do I take that comment with a grain of salt? Nope. I’m betting this team is a beast just waiting for the cage door to open. Appreciate everyone on this sight. I’ve never been on something like this before. Probably have too much time on my hands since retiring. Life’s taking me away for the next couple of months. But I’ll be back by mid October. I just hope that everyone here does some getting while the gettings good. I’ve been lucky in life a few times trusting my intuition. Been told “ sh..” for brains will do when you have luck “. We will see but 6 or 8 weeks from now we will see the writing on the wall-by then it’ll be too late for some of us. I hate that. Enjoy our team guys and LFG!Bucs.
August 20th, 2024 at 8:15 am
Whithead playing next to Winfield Jr and Smith in nickel. McCollum 4.3 speed opposite of Dean.
Up front you have Diaby playing next to a slimmed down Vea. LVD and Britt behind them. And then you have a rotation of young edge rushers in Braswell, Diaby, JTS, Nelson, Ramirez and Watts.
Yeah this has the the potential to be a defensive unit that sneaks up on people throughout the season.
August 20th, 2024 at 8:40 am
— OHBucFan
“Future coach.”
Great comment.
Agreed.
August 20th, 2024 at 9:06 am
I keep thinking 2025 we can get back to the Super Bowl. If the development of our young guys continues while avoiding major injuries to key players, we might just will ourselves to the Super Bowl this season.
LFG!!!!
August 20th, 2024 at 9:19 am
Nelson has been a solid late round pick.
Saban was different man. He coach them cats up mentally as much as anything.
August 20th, 2024 at 9:37 am
Really love what I’m hearing.
It seems this group really has that “Winning Mentality” that this franchise lacked for most of it’s history.
Can’t wait to see the product on the field this season!
August 20th, 2024 at 9:37 am
It’s always better to have smart football players.
August 20th, 2024 at 9:46 am
@Baking with Evans,
I 100% agree with what you wrote! Given the new offense and some rookies that will be contributing, it could take most of the season for this team to be playing anywhere near it’s potential. But when it does, this is a team with the talent that should be able to compete with anyone. My biggest concern is to have serious injuries at positions where we lack depth. If we can stay healthy going into playoffs it will get interesting.
August 20th, 2024 at 10:08 am
Nelly’s always been a good depth piece. Gholston too. Where I worry is inside linebacker. Britt is vulnerable in coverage. SVD hasn’t shown me anything. Has he even practiced at all this year? Russel looks ok, I guess. DeLoach looks like he might be good eventually. As far as any other position I’m not too worried…yet.
August 20th, 2024 at 10:11 am
Oh, yeah, Vi Jones looks like he will be pretty good eventually too.
August 20th, 2024 at 10:59 am
I definitely think we can have a Top-10 Offense and Top-10 defense this year, which will obviously have us in contention come January.
But what if we end up having a Top-5 Offense and Top-5 Defense??!?
Idk what the statistics are for that, but I think we’ll be Superbowl bound if we can accomplish that.
And I think we can accomplish that.
Top-5 O and Top-5 D, here we come…. LFG
August 20th, 2024 at 11:16 am
Plus Bras squats over 700 at 255lbs….
August 20th, 2024 at 11:18 am
How could you not love this dude? Like Todd says, all he does is make plays. Clutch plays at that. He needs more snaps, and he shall get them .
Adios to the men’s’ cosmetics salesman, JTS.
August 20th, 2024 at 12:27 pm
Braswell “the curse of the 2nd round pick” has shown absolutely nothing to this point so hopefully we can rely on him some when he’s going against starters this season.
August 20th, 2024 at 11:25 pm
All da Way—- Great take. I agree with your analysis, and think we have really good depth at almost every position.
August 21st, 2024 at 7:05 am
Nelson has always kinda reminded me of the Mad Stork Ted Hendricks. You younger Buc fans may have to look him up and watch some hihglights to understand fully. He is not the most athletic but he manages to get the job done and has all the effort you could ask for. Kind of like Hendricks.
Go Bucs!