Defensive Notes

June 24, 2024

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quietly one of the most consistent pass rushes

I'm noticing there's not much interest in the Tampa Bay defense in early drafts. In a 28-round best-ball draft I did a few weeks ago, they were the 23rd defense selected, in the 25th round. I just took them in the last round of another best-ball league as my 2nd defense.

We have the Bucs 16th in our defensive rankings, and it's mostly their pass rush that gets them that high. Todd Bowles has been overseeing this defense the last five years (as defensive coordinator, and currently head coach), and with different players on the field, they've always had a healthy pass rush.

In those five seasons, the Bucs have ranked 7th or better in sacks every year -- 45-48 sacks in each of them. Seems to be system-driven, which you can see by looking at last year. Nobody on the roster had 8 sacks, but seven different players had at least 4. Last year's third-rounder YaYa Diaby, pictured, led them with 7.5. They drafted Chris Braswell in the second round, and he had 8 sacks for Alabama last year, giving them another pass rusher to throw into the system.

Table shows team sacks the last five years. Only the Steelers have more than Tampa Bay across those seasons.

TEAM SACKS, 2019-2023
Defense	'19	'20	'21	'22	'23	Total
Pittsburgh	54	56	55	40	47	252
Tampa Bay	47	48	47	45	48	235
Philadelphia	43	49	29	70	43	234
LA Rams	50	53	50	38	41	232
New Orleans	51	45	46	48	34	224
Kansas City	45	32	31	55	57	220
Baltimore	37	39	34	48	60	218
Buffalo	44	38	42	40	54	218
San Francisco	48	30	48	44	48	218
Washington	46	47	38	43	39	213
Dallas	39	31	41	54	46	211
Indianapolis	41	40	33	44	51	209
Miami	23	41	48	40	56	208
Minnesota	48	23	51	38	43	203
Cleveland	38	38	43	34	49	202
Seattle	28	46	34	45	47	200
Green Bay	41	41	39	34	45	200
Arizona	40	48	41	36	33	198
New England	47	24	36	54	36	197
Denver	40	42	36	36	42	196
NY Jets	35	31	33	45	48	192
Tennessee	43	19	43	39	45	189
NY Giants	36	40	34	41	34	185
Carolina	53	29	39	35	27	183
Houston	31	34	32	39	46	182
LA Chargers	30	27	35	40	48	180
Jacksonville	47	18	32	35	40	172
Chicago	32	35	49	20	30	166
Cincinnati	31	17	42	30	44	164
Detroit	28	24	30	39	41	162
Las Vegas	32	21	35	27	46	161
Atlanta	28	29	18	21	42	138

As noted, I don't have the Bucs ranked as a regular starter in fantasy leagues. They haven't been as reliable lately for takeaways (20th and 12th the last two seasons). But with their pass rush, they should be a nice second option at the position, and with some top 10 weeks along the way. Underrated group.

--Andy Richardson

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