Haason Reddick And Elevating The Edge Rush
March 22nd, 2025
OLB Haason Reddick.
Can one guy raise an entire position group on a team? Joe thinks so and the Bucs have proof.
When Chris Godwin left last October with a season-ending dislocated ankle, Mike Evans demonstrated the Bucs were still dangerous in the passing game.
The Bucs’ inside linebackers but for one player were just not good. But Lavonte David is that good. His play covered up a lot of bad play in the interior of the defense.
This is what stud players do. They raise the level of those around them or at least cover up the warts.
Joe thinks newly signed free agent edge rusher Haason Reddick can be that guy, too.
Joe was reading a piece from Daniel Kelley of FTN Fantasy. No, “this Joe” is not a fantasy guy. But Joe knows guys who work for FTN, including Aaron Schatz, the father of DVOA. Joe respects the hell out of Schatz’s research.
(As always, Joe’s idea of fantasy has nothing to do with football but everything to do with a buxom brunette and an uninhabited Caribbean island.)
Kelley’s line that struck Joe is, “One player can make a team look good, but it takes a group failure to hit the bottom of the list.”
That brings Joe to the Bucs’ edge rush. For a good chunk of 2024, their best sacker was Anthony Nelson. And he was and is a backup!
YaYa Diaby got hot late and it was reassuring. But yeah, 7.5 sacks is about the floor that the Bucs need from Diaby in the future.
Joe really believes adding Reddick not only will help Diaby but also Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea, not that the Bucs’ stud tackles need help. But with fewer bodies to deal with now that teams have to account for Reddick, that should spring Kancey and Vea even more.
And yes, as part of the chain reaction, YaYa should face a lot more single blockers.
So if Reddick islike the guy from the Cardinals, Panthers and Eagles who terrorized quarterbacks, and much less like the virtual tackling dummy he was with the Jets, his signing could absolutely be a home run move.
March 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 am
A rising tide lifts all boats.
March 22nd, 2025 at 12:58 am
Hall is on his last year.
Imagine a DE/DT who can penetrate is there at #19?
A guy who can rotate with Hall this year, replace him next year.
Grab a DT/DE to replace Hall and rotate with Vea and Kancey
1st round is the for the trenches! Period!
March 22nd, 2025 at 1:08 am
This signing will certainly make the group better. Hopefully we will see growth from Braswell too.
March 22nd, 2025 at 1:23 am
teacherman … ‘1st round is the for the trenches! Period!’
While I’d love to see us grab a beastly DT/NT real early, most Rnd 1 picks seem to historically be QBs, WRs, OTs, Edges & CBs. The 2024 NFL draft was a fair representation:
o 6 QBs
o 7 WRs
o 7 OTs
o 5 Edge
o 3 CB
o 1 DT, 1 OG, 1 C, 1 TE
QBs get taken early, but mostly it seems to be WRs & OTs & Edges who dominate in 1st Rnd selections it seems. Probably because each team has 2 tackles, 2 receivers & 2 Edge starting but only 1 QB. Numbers win out every time, and the guys making the big bucks float to the top.
March 22nd, 2025 at 2:36 am
Agreed Joe but …
Question is can Reddick elevate the play of those around him? Ala Lee Roy, Brooks, Brady? Very few can do that Joe.
Go Bucs!
March 22nd, 2025 at 4:43 am
Teacherman and DR, you’re both right. They’re few linemen that warrant a Rd 1 pick but winning teams find their guys there. Look at the Eagles last few drafts. Better yet, look at the Bucs. Vea and Kancey are round one picks and Hall was the 33rd. If the Bucs see a lineman worthy of the pick, they’ll pick him without hesitation. Full faith.
Now I’m just waiting on everyone to start complaining about YaYa or Reddick dropping back in coverage. If the goal is to rush four then one of those guys becomes a QB spotter or covers a TE or RB in the flat. That’s the definition of the 34 defense. Now TB likes to mix it up a lot but the base 34 math is what it is. You can’t rush 2 OLBs along with 2 DTs and a NT if the goal is four.
March 22nd, 2025 at 6:19 am
I have no doubt Hassan will elevate the play of the rest of our defensive front, if he has a season like he did with the Eagles.
If nothing else, for the reason(s) stated in the article. Other teams will have to account for him, which means less coverage against the rest of our D-line.
I still think ILB, CB, Edge/DE, and D-line depth are our top priorities, and would put ILB and CB at the very top.
Shaq wants to play. We just need a team friendly deal that also tells him his contributions are needed and then ideally get his thinking aligned to the idea that playing in rotation will keep him on the field and healthy throughout the season, which makes him and the team look better. (And a better record).
We lucked out with NFL Elder Statesman LaVonte David deciding to come back. I don’t think he’s as concerned about breaking records as the fans and the media are. I think this will be his last season. My priority is drafting his replacement in the top rounds, who can then spend a year learning under him.
Jamel needs to be dropped back into rotation, at the very least. And his contract needs to be reworked to reflect that. I’m backing off on insisting we cut him. As others have said, it would just create another hole to fill and leave us thin at that position. Fair point. But, he can’t stay on the field, so bringing in another CB in the top rounds to give us a solid rotation is a priority for me. And it’ll help keep him on the field.
Vita is Vita. Nuff said. But he won’t play forever. Greg Gaines is a solid, serviceable back up, but I’m prioritizing D-Line in anticipation of keeping our entire D-Line fresh throughout the season and looking a year or two down the road.
Yes, we need to think about O-Line depth and a WR, especially the O-Line. We may find a gem at both positions in the later rounds of the draft. But Jason L. seems to do real well with FA pick ups for the O-Line. He hits more than he misses. I’d like to see a FA pick up which would leave our draft picks for our D.
We also need to think about how much longer Mike will be around. JMac showed promise last year. But we also have some depth in the WR room that really hasn’t been given a lot of chances to show what they might be able to do. We should consider maybe drafting a WR in the later rounds and maybe luck out like we did with JMac, but I won’t lose sleep over it if we don’t.
March 22nd, 2025 at 6:26 am
It would be nice life we a monster MLB and dlinemen…
Problem is most dline guys tame time to.develop..
It be cool to find a nice wr to push the room and play back up for Mike evans.
The draft could really fix our defense If we do this right.
If I was Jason I still be shopping to trade for a beast dline guy
March 22nd, 2025 at 8:09 am
@defense rules
Most GMs and teams are dumb.
They don’t build teams the right way.
Games are won and lost in the trenches.
The Eagles had a beastly offensive line and the deepest D-line I’ve ever seen in the NFL.
We have 4 draft picks from rounds 1-2 on our offensive line. And they’re doing well!
Our D-line is stacked with 1st and 2nd rounders.
Teams pass on guards and centers in the 1sr round. But according to statistics, offensive lineman taken in the first round have the highest success rate.
I say, draft bullies and large men in the 1st round.
March 22nd, 2025 at 9:31 am
Teacherman…
The eagles lost Sweat 622 snaps, Milton 501 snaps and Graham 311 snaps (but missed 6 games). They replaced in free agency with 2 guys that totaled about 600 snaps. So they lost over 800 snaps on their defensive line. I am guessing they will be looking at a DL/DE prospect with their 1st round pick.
I agree with you that they build the trenches better than most – I also agree that I want the Bucs to go that way as well.
If all things are equal — I would go with a DT prospect 1st. Make hopefully a threesome of Kancey, Vea and our 1st pick as the strength of our defense.
March 22nd, 2025 at 8:59 pm
What about the other DT from Mich Kenneth Grant I believe his name is he is big an can rush the passer a little a Vita Vea type who can come in when Vea is out I wouldn’t be surprised if Bucs shock is kinda like when they drafted Cancey at 19 I believe lol that pick has been Good to Bucs
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:49 am
Put the blame at the feet of Licht and Bowles. They’re the ones who stood pat thinking what we had in 2023 was good enough when even people who don’t watch the American Foosball knew it wasn’t. Last year we would’ve won more games and gone deeper into the playoffs if they had gotten just ONE premium person to replace JTS