Slim Pickings For An Edge Rush
April 3rd, 2024
Desperate days.
Ya gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
Right now the Bucs’ pass rush is a hope (YaYa Diaby) and a prayer (Joe Tryon-Shoyinka). That’s how bad it is.
Now maybe, just maybe, the Bucs can use a patch and have Calijah Kancey line up at edge. He did that a few times last year and got away with it because he is so damn quick. And Joe admits it worked well the few times the Bucs employed it.
But if you show your hand too much, teams will be looking for Kancey there. Then your element of surprise is shot.
The Bucs are just about in a desperation zone like they were before Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht stole Jason Pierre-Paul from the Giants.
Joe was looking through a list by former NFL general manager Randy Mueller of The Athletic who updated the best available free agents and near the top is edge rusher Bud Dupree.
The Macon, Ga., native enjoyed playing close to home and had his best season since 2020. Dupree can play outside linebacker or a more traditional defensive end spot (like he did for the Falcons), which might make him a good fit for more teams.
Yeah, signing DuPree, 31, who last had double-digit sacks was back in 2019 with the Steelers, smacks of desperation. Hint: The Bucs are desperate.
Maybe pairing DuPree, who had 6.5 sacks last year, with JTS, who had a career high 5.5 sacks, the Bucs could get 10 sacks between the two since they would split time.
Yeah, this is dumpster diving for an edge rush, just like The Lost Decade. It didn’t have to be this way.
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:18 am
Water under the bridge …. Joe
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:24 am
Seems like sometimes a player ‘fits’ in 1 defensive system much better than he does in others. I’d take a flyer on Bud Dupree without hesitation, as long as he’s healthy & the price is right.
Dupree’s had 53 sacks over his 9-year career (6 with Steelers, 2 with Titans and 1 with Falcons). That averages out to 6 sacks per year, the same (6.5 sacks) as he got with Atlanta last year. He’s got excellent size (6’4″ & 269 lbs) and was a 1st Rnd pick back in 2015. The year he blew up & got 11.5 sacks (2019) he was part of a beastly DLine … Cam Heyward (DT – 9 sacks), Javon Hargrave (NT – 4 sacks), and TJ Watt (OLB – 14.5 sacks). So just those 4 players produced 39 sacks in 16 games. Not too shabby. It pays to play with beasts.
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:28 am
Reddick could’ve been had for 3rd round. I’m sure cap numbers could’ve been worked somehow.
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:28 am
Joe … Just a comment. I don’t mind being put in the dungeon for my comments, but staying in there for hours & hours kinda makes any comments (from myself or others) superfluous. I always seem to get set free, but oftentimes not in a very timely manner. Any way you could get your staff to speed up the process?
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:29 am
BTW, I’m in favor of signing Bud Dupree.
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:31 am
We don’t draft them early we don’t sign any. Hopefully we can win the division again with 9 wins although I seriously doubt it
April 3rd, 2024 at 7:47 am
Bucs are going for youth! No need for a used car with high milage.
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:00 am
might as well sign mike danna or carl lawson before dupree.
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:11 am
Joe that picture is hilarious. One mans trash, is another mans treasure you know. Old jason better get searchin!
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:26 am
Dud Dupree, that was his nickname in Pittsburgh
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:33 am
i keep circling back to yannick ngakoue…
trade for him – shouldn’t take a king’s ransom…
he’s kinda washed, but a vet rusher nevertheless…
the yannick and yaya show ???
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:35 am
Let’s take a flyer on Chandler Jones!! He’s not playing with a full deck, but who cares!! he still has gas in the tank. Go Bucs!!
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:37 am
We see it coming, this team is going to get run over by Atlanta w/o a strong edge rush, but Jason is missing the opportunities. Ya Ya will be good but we need veteran talent on the edge this year and it isn’t JTS.
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:45 am
Desperate times, dumpster diving. Yikes!
There is still hope, the draft too. On the fence about Dupree. Jason may be wheeling and dealing in the background for one. Couldn’t read the Athletic article, pay wall to subscribe.
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:49 am
And posts that never show up at all.
April 3rd, 2024 at 8:52 am
Dupree is a marginally lesser version of shaq barrett. No net gain or loss, except in cost. Might as well mind the gap with a dumpster dive (great pic)
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:19 am
We get it..could of had Reddick..but what else has really been out there we want to give $15-20mil to Joe? It’s still April and the draft/trades atoll can provide talent. Licht and team have navigated post Tom quite well and kept us winning more than losing. They and all of us, KNOW we need a pass rush. Just ‘Let it go’ with the CONSTANT ‘it didn’t have to be this way’
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:20 am
No disrespect meant Joe. Just someone that is here constantly devouring the info your great site provides!! Lol
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:20 am
I think there’s a trigger for the dungeon that engages when the fog index limit is exceeded, combined with repeated over-use of CAPITAL letters.
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:25 am
Probably time to leave the poor horse alone there isn’t much left of it.
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:28 am
Joe, you freaked out hard last offseason re Wirfs move to LT. This year it’s the inaction of addressing edge. Last year I thought your fears were overblown. Your concern this year is more valid, but I’m going to cut JL a little slack on this. I have a sneaky suspicion he’s got a trick up his sleeve. And if “our guys are our guys” happens, I’m giving Jason the benefit of doubt (he’s earned it) he sees something with his guys we don’t.
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:29 am
Maybe Shaq will be cut by the Dolphins and we can bring him back.
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:34 am
2 edge rushers minimum in this draft..
2 OL as well.
draft board should be easy considering the depth of holes we have at OL, Edge and LB
throw in a couple late round athletic freaks/projects late… maybe returner RB WR?
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:43 am
chandler jones is interesting because every team that’s successful has to have a crazy dude or two…
just not sure if he’s the good crazy (frothy dawg) or the bad crazy that momma said to steer clear of
April 3rd, 2024 at 9:49 am
ok mock city right here:
1- edge/c/g
2- wr
3- c/g
3- edge/ilb
4- ilb/rb
5- rb/cb…………………………or mike alstott makes a comeback
6- tommy b
7- purdy
April 3rd, 2024 at 10:23 am
Signing Dupree for $3-3.5M on a 1 yr deal makes too much sense…He’s a guy that I signaled should have been targeted (as a B level FA) after the 1st wave of FA Edge signings were off the board.
He may be 31, but has enough juice left to help the D for a season & to mentor the young Edge group already on the roster. While replacing Shaq’s lost production at a fraction of the price…It makes Football sense, even if Joe thinks it’s dumpster diving.
It also doesn’t stop the FO from targeting an OLB-Edge early in the draft.
April 3rd, 2024 at 10:31 am
If Latu,Verse,Turner, and Robinson are all gone by 26 we could get Peyton Wilson he can play edge, DE and linebacker.
April 3rd, 2024 at 10:31 am
Say His Name. Its MARKEES WATTS. That is who Wirfs said has the best pass rush he has faced. Licht mentioned him during the Combine PC.
April 3rd, 2024 at 10:38 am
And there is also Mike Greene, interior DL but he was balling early in the season before he got injured. #91
Go watch him – he’s a beast. Created a lot of havoc and it seems he’s been forgotten about.
April 3rd, 2024 at 11:06 am
Nothing on D is too concerning to me until after O line. We made a few moves for backups there, but it should def be addressed with the draft. We have another small window. We’re in win now mode.
After we get a C (Powers) and move Hainsey to LG and let him bu C, the depth on O line should be pretty good. Then we get Braswell and Trotter Jr. That should fix a lot of our issues. Still need that power RB though….Estime.
April 3rd, 2024 at 11:19 am
Talk about not playing with a full deck.
Mike Greene is a DT.
Might as well say don’t forget about Greg Gaines or O’Connor.
Im sure everyone ran out and watched his tape though.
April 3rd, 2024 at 11:40 am
Diaby will be a good #1 Edge, Jason found a gem. We need his compliment. Even without JTS, Watts and Nelson are good reserves. It’s not like we don’t have anyone and the Bucs hit on this position last year. So why overpay for a player past their prime or who would be no better than Nelson essentially. Why break the bank for the wrong past prime guy either. Why sign a dumpster dude. When we are 4 players away Why go to goodwill. We will draft a good Edge high at the smartest time. Don’t think the Bucs are looking for avg E in FA, nor will they draft one. And it’d be ridiculous to draft avg IOL. JL will sign a vet after more cuts are made by other teams
April 3rd, 2024 at 11:47 am
You don’t occupy a roster spot with an aging player with moderate production, when you have young guys with upside and a future with the team. I’d rather give reps and live game snaps to Ramirez and Watts and watch them grow and develop, at a cheaper salary as well, than kick them to the curb for a dude at the end of his career. J03’s approach to personnel would keep the team at 3-14 every year and put us in constant cap hell, never having the patience to develop young players, and trading away draft picks for every overpriced Reddick that becomes available.
J03 doesn’t like the term “hope”… but it’s better than “no hope” which is what you get with veteran dumpster diving.
Keep players on the rise, don’t invest in players that are fading.
April 3rd, 2024 at 3:53 pm
Billy Schmucko, you are obviously from the short bus. I noted he was interior DL. Interior means “Inside.” We don’t only need help at edge with pass rush we also need better internal push, depth behind Kancey. But thanks for drooling.
Mike Greene was a baller before he was injured, and no coincidence, the Bucs pass rush was better early when he was playing.
April 3rd, 2024 at 4:03 pm
No to Bud Dupree. The Bucs will draft an Edge rusher in the first or second round. Don’t panic. Chop Robinson is a possibility at 26. Second round possibilities are Chris Braswell, Adisa Isaac, and Marshawn Kneeland.
April 3rd, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Chop Robinson will not be a Buc. He’ll make JTS look like Simeon Rice.
April 3rd, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Randy Gregory signed?!
April 4th, 2024 at 1:42 am
Interesting prospect Conner.
The bucs were interested in a comparable Jack Cambell last draft, who is about 15 lbs heavier than WIlson.
Wilson has DW speed, sideline to sideline prowess; difference is Wilson has the football IQ/ instincts that DW lacks. He’ll be where he’s supposed to be and take better angles.
Wilson has injury red flags but would be a nice pick in the 2nd
^^mtn^^
Since ’76
April 4th, 2024 at 1:53 am
This aged well