Big Year For Edge Rushers
February 1st, 2026
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht may have smiled in Mobile, Alabama, last week.
The Bucs need edge rush help again.
Haason Reddick didn’t cut it. (Did he try?) Chris Braswell isn’t a pass rusher and Anthony Nelson is an eighth-year backup who is much better against the run. And Markees Watts couldn’t get on the field in front of those guys.
NFL Network year-round draft guru Daniel Jeremiah just wrapped up his week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, watching prospects and talking to NFL types.
Asked to characterize his big takeaway from the week, Jeremiah didn’t hesitate.
“It’s a good edge rush group,” told The Rich Eisen Show. “And I think that’s going to be, you know, kind of the larger draft class. A lot of times down here in Mobile it’s a little microcosm of what the class as a whole will look like. Man, it’s been some good edge rushers. And Derrick Moore … from Michigan, he’s been as good as anybody.”
The former Browns, Eagles and Ravens scout noted there will be “really good value” in edge rushers take on Day 2 of the 2026 draft, aka Rounds 2 & 3.
Joe hopes and expects the Bucs will try to end their edge rush blues in free agency again next month. As for the draft, it’s too early to try and get in the mind of Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht.
In his opening mock draft of the 2026 season, Jeremiah mocked Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell to the Bucs at No. 15 overall.
February 1st, 2026 at 1:34 pm
loving that creamsicle fit that big dog licht is rocking out there !
February 1st, 2026 at 1:37 pm
(pic of Jason licht sitting on his hands)
February 1st, 2026 at 1:41 pm
You think he can talk Todd into caring about an edge rush like every other defensive coordinator?
February 1st, 2026 at 1:42 pm
Just don’t let Licht decide who the edge rusher shall be
February 1st, 2026 at 1:43 pm
We have a GM incapable of drafting an edge rusher and a defensive guru incapable of coaching or properly using an edge rusher.
This dead horse has been beaten to a pulp. Give it a rest dawg.
Bowles doesn’t believe in sacking the QB. By his own words.
But I hear he likes his roast beef with warm Swiss cheese.
February 1st, 2026 at 1:53 pm
They had better start practicing covering wide receivers
February 1st, 2026 at 1:53 pm
Just make sure…whatever position…..with our first pick….no gambles.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:02 pm
Jason licht is a terrible evaluator of edge rushers.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Is Jason Licht a terrible evaluator or is Coach Bowles a terrible edge rusher utilizer?
February 1st, 2026 at 2:12 pm
bowles is also a terrible evaluator of edge rushers
February 1st, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Max Crosby
February 1st, 2026 at 2:21 pm
Best player available.. if it happens to be an edge or linebacker, great!! But, I do not like it when they reach for players based on athleticism, character, and projections/potential. Hope is not a strategy – and hoping that a lesser known super athlete will somehow blossom into a superstar just because he’s got great character/upside is just not proving to be an effective strategy. (JTS, Braswell, Hall, McFollowum, 2nd round kickers/QB, etc)
I think we should just go and get the absolutely best football player at his position regardless if he’s a jerk/prick. The GM/staff get enough money to “manage” these types of things..
February 1st, 2026 at 2:23 pm
It’s tough to hit a perfect edge rusher. Even Jadeveon Clowney didn’t play up to his draft position. The Bucs have been more unlucky than some other teams, but there’s obviously no science to it and no absolute guarantees. I actually like the Bucs drafting of one in the second or third rounds trying to hit a Danielle Hunter. Will Anderson where he was picked was very risky, but luckily for the Texans, he worked out. The only more-than-average likelihood to succeed edge rushers go in the top 10 typically.
We don’t have a lot of picks that high. And that’s for a reason.
We’d have a better chance in free agency picking people with potential.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:23 pm
Who led you here blind man? He’s been smelling his way around edge rushers land, falsely identifying Turds washed in what he was told they smell like.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:23 pm
Todd can’t develop one, so why bother? Use a pick or two for a quality veteran. Check that. He would just be dropping back in coverage, anyway.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:27 pm
We’ll worry about edge rush when we pick top 5 next year…
meanwhile, Vega Loane or Styles, then TE Trigg
February 1st, 2026 at 2:28 pm
This is the prove it year for JL & TB. Whatever they do it must make a big difference. If not…they’re always hiring at McDonald’s.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:37 pm
The term : Todd Bowles defense is ridiculous ” please stop!
February 1st, 2026 at 2:38 pm
I like R. Mason Thomas
February 1st, 2026 at 2:40 pm
Don’t draft an edge rusher, it will be a wasted pick. Trade for an established rusher and draft for Linebacker and other positions of need. Bowles and his staff cannot develop an edge rusher and don’t know what to do with them when they have them, constantly dropping them in to pass coverage. What a waste.
February 1st, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Top college Edge Rushers are Top-15 picks, for the most part
Some with injuries, character concerns may slip a bit
Our problem these past 5 years has been our draft position
19 has been our highest position in the draft for the past 5 years
That’s why it’s been so tough to replace JPP and Shaq Barrett
And Jason Licht don’t like to move up in the draft
He’s known for moving down in the draft, for more picks
Yaya Diaby is a keeper, he’s outplayed his draft position
JTS, Braswell, Hall, has underperform, Kancey has been unavailable
February 1st, 2026 at 2:59 pm
Not real excited about the number of good edge rushers in the draft this year, as many others have also said, the Bucs have not drafted well with edge rushers. They’ve done better when bringing in ERs through free agency. No one has yet to put a finger on the reason why. A hand full of people blame Bowles and Licht for bad evaluation of edge rushers when drafting them, some including my self think it development after they get to Tampa and Bowles defense. However, none of the edge rushers the Bucs have drafted and released have done any better elsewhere so I am just wondering where does the blame lie here
February 1st, 2026 at 3:03 pm
If Styles is gone (and many people seem to think Dallas takes him) I hope the Bucs move down when they pick. That will allow them to take 2 LB’ers and a DT in the first 2 rounds. Then continue with all front 7 players except for a guard mixed in there someplace for O-line depth. Love to see 2 DT’s and 3 LB’ers including an edge in this draft.
February 1st, 2026 at 3:22 pm
draft an edge rusher who is a narcissist…
the team needs more narcissists 🙂
February 1st, 2026 at 3:23 pm
draft 2 dudes on the spectrum and one narcissist !
February 1st, 2026 at 3:24 pm
let’s get crazy
February 1st, 2026 at 3:34 pm
The NFL is gaga over edge rushers. The so-called draft experts think every team needs an edge rusher and these experts keep elevating mid-round edge talent up to the top 100 players. It’s inflation. That’s why so many edge rushers fail, they are over-hyped.
You can bet that Bowles is very heavily involved in evaluating defensive players. Licht’s scouts do the research, but Bowles and his staff are heavily involved looking at tape. Remember when Larry Foote was so excited about David Walker? The accountability is on both Bowles and Licht, but we know what Bowles thinks about the importance of an edge rush.
February 1st, 2026 at 3:37 pm
No worries, we’ve got David Walker. Bases on what I heard last year he’s our very own Maxx Crosby.
February 1st, 2026 at 3:46 pm
Still waiting to be shocked by Braswell.
February 1st, 2026 at 4:21 pm
New England puts alot of pressure without a high class edge rusher with unique defensive schemes. How about someone copying New England without reaching for the moon.
February 1st, 2026 at 4:27 pm
What about the fifth round kid who got hurt before camp even opened or right after?