Buccaneers Pick Edge Rusher YaYa Diaby In Round 3
April 28th, 2023
The Bucs went with a bit of an atheltic freak in University of Louisville edge rusher YaYa Diaby in Round 3 tonight.
At 6-3, 263 pounds, Diaby cranked out a 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine. And he’s got a 37-inch vertical leap. That’s special raw talent.
The former junior college great at Georgia Military College played two seasons for Louisville. He was third-team All-ACC last season with 37 tackles, 14 for loss with nine sacks.
Diaby comes off both edges on the pass rush and certainly the Bucs must be happy they got fresh legs in the fire in case Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett isn’t able to return strong from his torn Achilles.
Joe had seen Diaby in Round 2 of multiple mock drafts, so perhaps the Bucs got fantastic value here.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
Wow
April 28th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
Probably a round too early, but I love YaYa Diaby. I figured he would be a target of the Bucs.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
This pick makes me happy !!! JPP 2.0
April 28th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
Trenches… it’s how you build a winner
April 28th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
Another super high RAS metric guy.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:25 pm
Projected as a 4th rd pick..we’ll see.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:26 pm
Wow, huge reach for need! WHY!!! Could have had Trenton Simpson or Darnell Washington 😫
April 28th, 2023 at 10:26 pm
” sittin’ in the la la waitin’ for my ya ya, uh ha
April 28th, 2023 at 10:26 pm
I was seeing him go in the 5th round. Might be a bit of a reach, but I kept an eye on him and I definitely am familiar with him. Least we got an edge. I really like how we’re doing with this draft.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:27 pm
Man, going into the draft, I was hoping the Bucs didn’t waste their picks on luxury guys like RB’s and TE’s. I wanted them to draft lineman, on both side, and edge rushers. As Dungy said, you build your team, front to back, and the Bucs are doing just that.
Also that Dungy all-time great defense was ‘undersized’ – but fast. These guys, Kancey and Diaby, undersized with elite speed.
Maybe Dungy is advising the team behind the scenes.
This is a boring, but great, draft so far. These are the guys that let you draft exciting RB’s as luxury picks in 2 or 3 years when you’re one player away.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
He was projected in the second or 3rd ?? How is he a reach ??? Give me a break and we needed a freak athlete on the D line and got one and we don’t have a 4th because we traded it to mine up to spots to get the toothless, corn fed, beef eating O Lineman.. Shaq is done !!!!
April 28th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
Licht always reaches on mid round picks. He’ll pick a 4th round prospect in the 3rd to make sure he gets them. I’d say, historically, his mid round picks have shown to be solid, so let’s not get too hung up on the idea of reaching. I’m much more concerned about our premium picks the past couple years in Tryon, Hall, and Hancey. Our line should be elite with 3 first-pick talents. I’m not seeing it.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:30 pm
Great pick – long arms and fast, thick build like Shaq – two good additions to the front 7
Logan Hall and JTS better work hard this off-season or they may not see very many snaps
April 28th, 2023 at 10:31 pm
And shocked they didn’t trade Diva White ?? If they give him 20
Million a year I will be sick to my stomach because he’s not worth it and maybe just maybe they can still trade for him
April 28th, 2023 at 10:31 pm
I was hoping for the Tulane RB but he went off the board when the Titans picked before the Bucs. this guy could help if Shaq is not ready this fall, good insurance.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:32 pm
We did not give up a 4th round pick.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
crazy guys with no teeth and cool names…gotta love it…
round 1-3 seems legit
April 28th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Another thing I like about these guys that Licht took, they all got a lot of snaps in college. This isn’t JTS where he had very few snaps and you were just drafted based on topless photos of him and potential, all these picks are guys that have played a lot, and produced, in college.
I love it. If they bust, they bust, but based on the workout numbers and stats/playing time, I think the Bucs are giving themselves a real chance at getting some good players here, instead of going the lottery ticket route.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
but will yaya rock #0 for the bucs
April 28th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
@cometowin2 good !!!! Now if we can find a trade partner for Diva White and let Mike go to a contender and see if we can get something for him
April 28th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
Pretty sure Todd Bowles and Jason Litch know more about these players than the commentors who only know the players based on someone else’s player ranking
April 28th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
There might be a disconnect between the fans and the front office. Fans are expecting these guys to be starters. The Bucs are looking for versatile, athletic players who can play special teams. Special teams will be much improved this year. Just being realistic.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:36 pm
Crazy to call him a reach in the mid third round.
We platoon our defensive front guys a ton. Even if Shaq comes back ready to rock we needed another guy to form that second line with Anthony Nelson on the edge.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:36 pm
Special teams? lol
This team is drafting starters. So many needs.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
I was expecting Simpson but I really like the Yaya also.
Licht landing it.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:45 pm
Let’s hope some of these are hits!
April 28th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
You forgot to mention the 10.0″ long jump and 1.56 10 yard split Joe.
You da man Jason Licht!
Way to fortify those trenches with higher end talent!
April 28th, 2023 at 10:50 pm
The guy has incredible athletic measurables and what I like is that he really progressed and in his last season had nine sacks. He was not even set up to be their primary pass rusher in their offense and played all over the defensive line.
All that being said I’m kind of surprised that we didn’t either take Darnell Washington or the linebacker out of Clemson given that those are two areas that I can see being of need although linebacker will be a much bigger need next year.
In any case with the speed that we added on the defensive side of the ball between our first and third round picks this should be a much faster aggressive defense which fits with Todd Bowles likes to do so if our offense could be even average I’m very excited to see how we will do.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:52 pm
I liked Simpson as well, but Yaya has much more juice as a pass rusher which is what is required in this defense. Still shocked to see Simpson fall this far.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:53 pm
He has measurables like JPP. Remember, coming out of college JPP had very pedestrian sack numbers. This kid even looks like him. Weird. We can only hope he produces anywhere near his level.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:56 pm
Another DOG and further indictment of the softness of JTS and Logan Hall. This team is getting a little tougher from the inside-out.
April 28th, 2023 at 10:58 pm
I think this has been a great draft so far. These are guys you build a team with. Athletes. Everyone who talks about flaws, try looking at production and desire. This is a good group.
April 28th, 2023 at 11:47 pm
Please. YaYa, no hand-held fireworks…
April 29th, 2023 at 12:37 am
Very Raw. OLB coach is going to have his work cut out for him with YaYa & JTS.
April 29th, 2023 at 2:49 am
I’ve seen him projected all over the place
April 29th, 2023 at 3:00 am
Bye Bye Plan 9/
April 29th, 2023 at 5:10 am
Yeah, this is clearly a statement on how the Bucs feel about their pass rush…or lack thereof. Kancy and now Diaby?!
Trenches! I’m diggin’ it!
April 29th, 2023 at 5:40 am
ughh.. could of got jpp on the cheap and went after safety help
April 29th, 2023 at 6:48 am
What’s up with the comparisons to JPP? You doofuses need to STFU. There are no comparisons. JPP was 6’5. This dude is way shorter. JPP only ran 4.78 but was freakishly athletic (back flips with round offs still exist on internet), this guy is a much stiffer and tightly wound athlete with elite testing numbers.
You wanna compare this guy to someone… Adalius Thomas. Great testing numbers, modest production due to being raw and not featured on his college D. So many people on here with baseless opinions.
April 29th, 2023 at 8:11 am
He will be right at home here. There is a YaYa’s Chicken down in Bradenton that has Flame Grilled Chicken.
Seriously, I am down with this pick
A team cann never have too many pass rushers!