A Bucs Draft Qualifier May Not Be So Nuts After All
April 17th, 2026
Hire this man!
“This Joe” has gone on record: If the Bucs are thinking about drafting an edge rusher from Miami in the first round, the only way he would be on board with the move comes with a catch.
The Joe typing this here post simply has no faith or expectation that Bucs coach Todd Bowles can or will develop a double-digit edge rusher. When he gets his hands on a veteran edge rusher, Bowles does well.
The next edge rusher that is drafted as a rookie with Bowles as a defensive coordinator or head coach who turns into a double-digit sack guy will be Bowles’ first.
Rookies? They just don’t develop under Bowles. Three or four years later, they’re on the NFL scrap heap.
Joe doesn’t believe in taking matches to a valuable first-round pick on fire.
But here is the catch: If the Bucs do bring in Reuben Bain or Akheem Mesidor next Thursday night, Joe demands the Bucs hire their position coach in Miami, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive Jason Taylor.
Then, the Bucs give Taylor full and unimpeded autonomy to coach the defensive ends up. No interference from Bowles or any other assistants. Taylor only answers to Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht or someone with the last name “Glazer.”
Joe has had it with Bucs drafting edge rushers and the defensive coaches trying to turn them into safeties.
Well, yesterday Joe was reading a combine notes column cobbled together by Jonathan Jones of CBS, and he had a very interesting nugget on Taylor. It seems Taylor is now on NFL teams’ radars for the job he is doing with defensive ends in Miami.
Two sources on different teams brought this up to me unprompted recently. Each one had high praise for Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, who has been working at Miami as the defensive ends/rush coach the past few years.
Teams have raved about the quality of the pre-draft interviews with Miami rushers Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor.
In short, types Jones, the NFL types he spoke with who brought Taylor up say the Dolphins legend knows what he’s doing with his young pupils.
Said an AFC scout: “Jason Taylor has done a great job with those dudes. They all bring him up a lot and that shows that he cares. They were really buttoned up.”
And an NFC defensive coach: “Jason Taylor is coaching these dudes. They are sharp in the classroom.”
Not developing an edge rusher is a hallmark of the Bucs. It isn’t a Licht thing or even a Bowles thing. Just like the Bucs have never had a quarterback they’ve drafted get a second contract with the team, the Bucs franchise has never developed a double-digit edge rusher since the team drafted Lee Roy Selmon with their very first pick in franchise history back in 1976.
Team Glazer or Licht need to call Taylor and ask what he needs to move up to Tampa. Then after a paycheck clears, tell him to work his magic and if anyone gets in his way, that he has the final say of what to do with defensive ends.
This not developing edge rushers is way past an annoyance. It’s a franchise epidemic.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:07 am
I know the point you’re making, but Marcus Jones had 13 sacks for the Bucs in 2000.
Also Yaya is a great edge rusher, just stuck in a terrible system where corners are told to play so soft, guys are always open for QBs to dump the ball off to. Yaya is going to get paid big money by someone, and the Bucs should lock him now.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:08 am
And after that… poof.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:10 am
“Great” is Simeon Rice. Right now YaYa is a step above Noah Spence. About on the same level as Adrian Clayborn. That ain’t “great.”
Joe likes YaYa a lot and thinks he could still be something. Right now, he’s just a No. 2 edge rusher, provided there is a No. 1.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:10 am
Joe Says:
And after that… poof.
——–
Yep – he was the Wayne Haddix of the 2000s.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:18 am
Joe Says:
April 17th, 2026 at 12:10 am
Also Yaya is a great edge rusher
“Great” is Simeon Rice. Right now YaYa is a step above Noah Spence. About on the same level as Adrian Clayborn. That ain’t “great.”
Joe likes YaYa a lot and thinks he could still be something. Right now, he’s just a No. 2 edge rusher, provided there is a No. 1.
———-
Fair enough – I agree with much of that, just a difference of language. I think of ‘great’ as more of a pro-bowl level player, where as with players the caliber of Rice I generally use ‘ALL-PRO’ or flat out say ‘HOFer’.
I do think Yaya would be solidly into the double digits right now if Bowles just played some tighter coverage like he did under Arians. And I agree with you of course that if he had a legit guy opposite of him, that would certainly tremendously.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:36 am
Def expect to see Taylor roaming the sidelines in the NFL next season with the run he’s been getting lately. Hopefully next year’s new DC in Tampa sees the value in adding him. Stays in-state, no income tax, same weather etc., would be a great add.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:36 am
Per: Joe
Then, the Bucs give Taylor full and unimpeded autonomy to coach the defensive ends up. No interference from Bowles or any other assistants. Taylor only answers to Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht or someone with the last name “Glazer.”
Joe, Let’s Be Clear About What You’re Actually Proposing
So if I’m getting this right — you’re saying, publicly, that the Bucs should emasculate their own head coach by creating a setup where a player on the 53-man roster is effectively taking direction from a position coach who answers to Jason Licht and the Glazers — not the head coach of the team?
April 17th, 2026 at 12:38 am
This is so dumb and juvenile to be presented unironically is embarrassing for this outfit. Bring in Taylor to coach edge with a new Miami draft pick, fine, but to suggest he report over the DC/HC head is so unrealistic and childishly insulting to Bowles and the organization. There are other ways to state your valid point in the usual childish ways your audience is accustomed but this has the mob mentality feel to it.
No one is telling you what to write so don’t pretend that’s what is happening. It’s just editorial criticism if the delicate skin can handle it.
April 17th, 2026 at 12:46 am
Joe, two quick questions for you:
Question 1: If Shaq Barrett was so good, why did the Denver Broncos use the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft on Bradley Chubb — with Barrett already on their roster?
Question 2: When Barrett finally hit free agency, why did he sign a one-year, $5 million prove-it deal just two days after the market opened — no bidding war, no competition, no team breaking down his door?
April 17th, 2026 at 12:56 am
Before we fill of the cliff in 2025
👉 Tampa Bay is top 3 – Totals Sacks (2019-2024)
Top 5 NFL teams in total sacks (2019–2024):
1. Steelers — 340
2. Broncos — 327
3. Bucs — 318***
4. Eagles — 317
5. Rams — 317
April 17th, 2026 at 1:04 am
Jason Taylor would be a good addition to this defensive coaching staff if we draft one of his Miami pass rushers so long as he only reports over the head of Todd Bowles. Seems like a great idea and I’m certain that will work out great across the organization. Should be exactly what this pass rush needs to turn things around. This is the best take I have ever read.
Don’t tase me bro
April 17th, 2026 at 1:27 am
One of the first comments I made in early this draft season is that I’d be more excited if the Bucs hired Jason Taylor than if by some miracle/awful trade they added Bain and Mesidor. He counts for nothing against the cap and cost zero draft capital but would be a heckuva difference maker. The way his players gush about him, the way they hold their edge and use their hands screams he is a talented coach.
Even Keonte Scott is an absolute force on the edge against the run. Miami had a five man front with Scott and Bain on the weak side and those two were like the Great Wall of China against the run no matter who they were playing. When asked about his playoff pick 6 Scott delivered a treatise on how that play happened on a Saturday but began on Wednesday in the film room. He and Mesidor are both old/at the end of their developmental runways but they are refined coach on the field types who are naturally inclined to be in the film room and Taylor’s office who are plug and play upgrades for nearly any team in the league. I hope Taylor and one of his Miami minions could be brought in and refresh and reenergize the Bucs’ film room culture.
He could definitely help YaYa trim the fat from his game and be worth a $100 million dollar contract. I’ve been saying he isn’t worth the contract because he is not a leader so I’d rather some other team pay him his second contract. Then I read a Mike Florio piece dated Jan 6 where YaYa flat out says the Bucs excess of soft practices due to injuries were a big part of their 2025 tackling spit show and that it’s his responsibility to be in Bowles office just after NewYears to let him know about it since he is expected to be a 2026 team captain. I missed this crucial tidbit somehow. I love being wrong sometimes. Yaya’s words weren’t PR department propaganda it was proper prosecution of their performance. It absolutely showed me how wrong I was about his leadership and accountability for 2025’s failures. I love being wrong sometimes. YaYa emerging as a leader could make 2026 a true redemption campaign for him and his crew. I’ve gone from skeptic to very, very comfortable with him as the Bucs #2 edge. I still need him to learn to finish, for the Bucs to draft a Miami edge in the first and a speedy DPR on Day 2. This draft is an opportunity for the Bucs to make their pass rush room as deep as their WR corps.
Doing that and bringing in Taylor to weaponize them could be the change in idenity that heals last years wounds. No one player could cure what ails this defense but if there is one man right now it is Jason Taylor.
April 17th, 2026 at 1:31 am
LOL!
April 17th, 2026 at 1:56 am
Soooo according to you Tykee has not developed into anything?.. Zion has earned an extension has he not? Cancy when healthy didn’t have what 8 or 9 sacks? Yaya isn’t like near the top of pass rushers for QB pressures?… Again a Tampa “media” outlet with dog whistles about Bowels but no mention of the poor job by the GM…
April 17th, 2026 at 2:36 am
DEVIN WHITE — 1st Round, #5 (2019)
2020 — 140 tkl, 9.0 sacks; 2nd-Team All-Pro; dominant SB run (peak)
2021 — Pro Bowl; efficiency collapse (PFF ~36) despite production
2022 — Continued regression; bottom-tier vs run + coverage
2023 — 83 tkl, 2.5 sacks; freelancing/coverage issues; benched late
2024 — Let walk; PHI → cut Week 5 → HOU
K.J. BRITT — 5th Round, #176 (2021)
2021–2022 — Minimal defensive role; core ST
2023 — 15% snaps; 6 late starts flashed value
2024 — Full-time starter (65%); 72 tkl; near bottom-tier grading; not retained
SIRVOCEA DENNIS — 5th Round, #153 (2023)
2023 — 13 games; limited role (96 snaps), 13 tkl
2024 — 4 games; shoulder surgery ends season
2025 — Projected starter next to Lavonte David
No heir apparent.
Devin White — a top-5 pick who regressed out of the building
K.J. Britt — a 5th-rounder who graded near the bottom in his only full season
SirVocea Dennis — another 5th-rounder with 17 games in two years due to injury
Reactive, not proactive.
We’re signing a 32-year-old free agent in 2026 just to patch the room.
April 17th, 2026 at 2:56 am
Lavonte David just retired at 36.
Who was the heir apparent?
No one.
Not a 1st.
Not a 2nd.
Not even a defined succession plan.
So for 2–3 seasons, not one premium off-ball LB was sitting behind Door #2 — learning the WILL, picking Lavonte David’s brain — preparing to take over?
And now?
Christian Rozeboom
And hopefully a premium draft pick