Interior And Exterior Love For Elijah Roberts
September 23rd, 2025
Devouring snaps and accolades.
On Sunday, the Bucs upped their record to 6-3 when defensive tackle Calijah Kancey is not in the lineup.
Joe’s a big Kancey fan, but facts are facts.
Kancey is lost for the regular season with a pectoral injury. It was a brutal blow because Kancey is do darn talented. But the Bucs do have depth on the defensive line.
So which of those fill-ins not named Vita Vea played the most snaps Sunday? The answer is rookie fifth-round pick Elijah Roberts. He took 39 snaps against the Jets, 57 percent of the total on defense.
The rookie has impressed one player he replaced, Will Gholston, who currently is out of football.
Gholston, a Bucs defensive lineman from 2013-2024, was a guest on the Buccaneers Radio Network and lauded Roberts, even if he doesn’t know his name.
“Got a couple new faces out there. I like the young boy, nine five, he can go. He can go,” Gholston said with his voice getting higher as he spoke of Roberts.
No. 95 also has caught the eye of Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht.
Before Sunday’s kickoff on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Licht gushed about his rookie.
“Elijah has immense talent,” Licht said. “He’s got great talent as a pass rusher, uses his hands very well. He’s a very powerful guy but he’s also on top of it; he’s very athletic. He was a very productive guy in college and he’s continued to get pressures here at this level. We’re very excited to see him continue to grow. With Calijah out, it’s not a good thing, but it’s a great thing for [Roberts].”
Soon after Licht’s interview, Roberts was a radio guest and said he’s felt very comfortable on the field as a rookie, in part because Vita Vea and Greg Gaines guide him so much pre-snap.
Joe would be incredibly impressed if Roberts keeps growing and showing he’s a quality trenches player. When a team can find those guys in Round 5, they’re winning the draft.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:37 pm
I watched a YouTube interview yesterday and Hasson Redick and Will Gholston were on the same couch. Will is a massive man compared with Redick
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:48 pm
I knew what i saw when i was pushing for him in the draft. He’s actually doing better than i thought. Wish i could find the posts, i suck at that. Keep growing Elijah, you’re doing great! 5th rd, wow.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:56 pm
Licht also said Braswell is going to be a monster this year…. still waiting for his name to be called over 2 times a game which includes lineups.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:58 pm
And he’s getting better plugging himself into our run fits, not worried about this kid at all. Licht and our scouts are already getting good ROI on him. Kancey out, and I read elsewhere Logan Hall is banged up as well, so Roberts is going to have a lot of opportunity to get his feet wet. Pressure up the middle works just as good as it coming off the edge. This fan doesn’t care who makes the play, or how many times they make the play as long as it’s 1 of our 11.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:59 pm
I rewatch the game today. Braswell was not impressive, kind of like the Jamel Dean of outside linebackers, he likes to watch.
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:04 pm
No offense to Jason Licht, but I think he’s got a better shot of scoring with Kate Upton than drafting a great pass rusher.
He’s great at a lot of things – but with kickers and sack masters:
He. Is. Horrible.
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:14 pm
The question is how he can handle the long NFL season.
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:15 pm
happy for Elijah, he had a bunch of sacks at SMU and he impressed in the pre season. he is gonna get a real good shot to play and looks good so far.
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:20 pm
Sucks Walker got hurt man was really looking forward to watching him this year
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:28 pm
Yougottabekiddingme….
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:44 pm
How did he do against the Jets? The defense was very good overall until the fourth, so maybe not so bad? I do not remember noticing him and see no stats.
September 23rd, 2025 at 5:53 pm
Larrd Says:
How did he do against the Jets? The defense was very good overall until the fourth, so maybe not so bad? I do not remember noticing him and see no stats.
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He had at least 2 pressures that I saw on replay. But by the 4th quarter the Bucs DL in general were getting almost no pressure at all. I don’t know if that was caused by the heat and fatigue, but they were mostly all being single blocked (except Vea) and getting nowhere collectively.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:03 pm
Jerseybuc, we were all looking forward to that! Everything is about what are you doing for us now in this league. Availability is very important. But building what the Bucs are building is a process. Players out for the season are like money in the bank for a good franchise. More depth and dreams for next year. He’s 25 years old, he’ll get healed up and have the chance to show us what he’s got. Plus others are getting to show what they’ve got. Hope Walker comes back strong. Who knows, he may get 60 sacks from 2026-30. On a defense that conjures up memories of Bucs defenses at the turn of the century. Nobody has ever won 3 Super Bowls in a row. If we win one this year we will need another goal.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:12 pm
He isn’t much slower than Kancey (4.76 vs. 4.67 40) but he’s quite a bit bigger and stronger than Kancey. Kancey had the fastest 40 time as a DT in at least the last 25 years! So he shouldn’t hurt us in there all that much especially as he gets better with technique. I would have loved to have seen David Walker this season too. He looks like a freakish athlete…his highlight films were nuts on YouTube.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:12 pm
Joe’s a Kancey fan? Tough to be a fan of a guy who is always injured.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:24 pm
It’s so important for a rook to have veteran to lean on and learn from
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:34 pm
@BakerFan
They’ll never admit to mistakes they’ve made. They’ll just stick with it & just hope it does end up working out. Just like Tryon, Dean & some others I’m sure I’m missing. I didn’t want either one of them coming out & I would’ve passed on Braswell, too! But they’ll just keep defending all of them as much as they can because they’ll never want to admit they might of messed up on another draft pick. I was just shocked Dean was the one that came up with the INT this week.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:37 pm
@BakerFan
Although I’m sure just like some others I did question them picking Egbuka but maybe it is gonna end up working out. I thought for sure they should’ve considered going D first.
September 23rd, 2025 at 6:51 pm
Bucs need to re-sign Gholston to the practice squad. At this rate the team is going to be in more trouble with all the injuries.
September 23rd, 2025 at 7:15 pm
Calijah replaced by Elijah. Well, he needs snaps but looks promising so far.
September 23rd, 2025 at 8:07 pm
I’m a little surprised Joe hasn’t already nicknamed him “The Dread Pirate Roberts”
September 23rd, 2025 at 8:45 pm
It really sucks about D-Wall because I was at training and that dude was blowing up everybody he faced. People keep saying Licht can’t draft a dominate pass rusher. I disagree He just hasn’t had the draft capital to get one If your drafting outside the top 12 it’s very rare to find a dominate pass rusher. It does happen but not very often. I honestly think Licht hit on D-Wall but of course the Bucs curse aka injury bug strikes again. The Bucs have the worst problem with injuries I’ve ever seen. This offense could of been special this year.
Imaging having the best O-line in the NFL with Godwin, McMillan, Egbuka, Evans and Otton on the field. Then having White and Irving coming out of the backfield. With Baker throwing. It’s sucks so bad because this could of been a historically good offense. You combine that with what the defense was starting to do before their injuries and your talking about a serious contender. How many starters are out this week? I think it’s like 10 starters out That’s insane.
If the Bucs win this week I will be completely shocked. I’m truly more worried about Baker getting knocked out for the season than a loss.
10 STARTERS! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! WTAF
As always Go Bucs!
September 23rd, 2025 at 8:49 pm
Goedeke out
Mauch out
Wirfs out
Kancy out
Morrison out
Godwin out
McMillin out
Evans out
Kieft out
September 23rd, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Joe did y’all notice anything about Elijah Simmons? He’s huge & would be ideal subbing for Vea IF he’s got talent.
September 23rd, 2025 at 10:16 pm
But but but…the rookie wall…
September 24th, 2025 at 3:45 am
Gaines has been playing well when he gets in there as well. Hall? That penalty was BS!
The front four was getting after it I think but mobile QBs give us fits!
Go Bucs!
September 24th, 2025 at 6:49 am
The REAL question is how many new injuries will we have by Sunday night?
That injury list from NoClu is absolutely ridiculous.
September 24th, 2025 at 8:04 am
I noticed Roberts quite a bit sunday…he was active…he’ll only get better
GO BUCS!!!!
September 24th, 2025 at 8:56 am
The Dread Pirate Roberts is pretty apt considering he’s a Buccaneer. 🙂
September 24th, 2025 at 9:24 am
If Will G says this dude is for real, that’s good enough for me. Will was one of those ‘quiet’ players. His durability and results did the talking. Also, he’s a team first guy. I was so glad to see the Bucs won that 2nd SB. It meant rings for ME13, LVD and Will G. You name another trio of players more deserving of that honor. Dig down deep, Bucs. Find a way to outsmart and beat the Eaglets and refs. 4-0!!
September 24th, 2025 at 9:25 am
*winning