Excited For Pass Rush Toughness And Versatility
May 6th, 2026
A two-time Super Bowl–winning defensive end is excited about what the Bucs’ pass rush now could be.
Joe often references the commentary of Chris Long. In addition to winning rings with the Belicheats and Eagles, and playing with Aaron Donald in Los Angeles, Long knows the NFL game and defensive play inside and out. His dad is Hall of Fame defensive lineman Howie Long.
Long also watches the Bucs regularly, as regular listeners to his Green Light podcast know well. He often co-hosts with Beau Allen, the former Buccaneer defensive tacle (2018 and 2019), who does not hide his Bucs fandom and friendship with current Buccaneers.
Long likes the draft pick of Rueben Bain in Round 1, in part because he thinks the Bucs became a nasty unit.
“You got [YaYa] Diaby, you got Bain, you got [Calijah] Kancey, you got Vita Vea. That’s a fuc**n, that’s a tough group,” Long said.
Short-arm chatter and concern is real when it comes to defensive ends and tackles, Long said, but it’s not applicable to Bain. So he thinks the Bucs cashed in.
“Obviously, Jason Licht, like a smart GM, is looking at guys that he thinks are devalued because of some perceived trait,” Long said. “And I think for Rueben Bain, he’s sitting there and he fits perfectly with their group. You’ve got power players on this group, YaYa Diaby, Rueben Bain, who by the way can move up and down the line.”
Bain talked about how Bain is a true, two-position pass rusher — inside and outside — which he says is a tremendous asset. Joe agrees, but how Todd Bowles uses Bain concerns Joe.
It’s going to be very easy to overthink using Diaby, Bain, Kancey and Vea. And then there’s 11-sack free agent edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and nasty DT A’Shawn Robinson. Bowles might get all guru and make life for Bain and the defensive front more complicated than it needs to be.
Big decisions ahead for Bowles.
May 6th, 2026 at 4:52 pm
I guess I don’t have as much confidence. Two older free agents and two rookies should improve the defence, maybe??? But Bowles is still coaching.
May 6th, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Yes! Vita dropping deeper than Antoine! B-Rex guarding speedy running backs. Tezra Johnson sneaking in as a blitzer on defense. The “everyone stare while a wide open guy catches another ball over the middle” play.
Versatility is the Bowles way.
3rd and 28
4th and 14
2-7
59-73
May 6th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
I believe we will have a very strong defense this season
The offense may be our Achilles Heel, l hope not
I think we win 11 games this season
And the defense will lead us to victories
May 6th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
I have no doubt that Bowles will find a way to screw this up. Nothing over the past 3 years suggests otherwise.
May 6th, 2026 at 5:34 pm
Both defense and offense will be top 8 units. You heard it here first. Especially in scoring.
May 6th, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Bowles should’ve learned by now that he can’t run the same clown defense that he has for the last 2 years, right? RIGHT?
Good news for Trask fans, he got a tryout invite from the Saints. 😂😂😂😂😂
May 6th, 2026 at 5:51 pm
“Bowles might get all guru and make life for Bain and the defensive front more complicated than it needs to be.“
This is comical, because there are so many different variation of a 4/5 man front with the talent we have on hand as of today, that any defensive coordinator/coach would be working the hell out of all the combos they can think of.
At the very least, we’ll have an early down front and a front comprised of the best 4 in terms of applying pressure and seeing how no 2 game plans are ever alike, we’ll see different personnel groupings the same way have been seeing them since ‘19.
Can’t wait to see Bain line up to the right of David Walker and running loops/stunts off that
Or AQM lined up inside of Bain/Yaya on passing downs.
Trotter blitzing off of the rear of any of our DTs or better yet, Keionte Scott hiding behind Yaya on one of those weakside overloads that got Parrish opportunities to hit the QB last year.
It’s not just going to be line up and go forward, there’s going to be some dare Í say-creativity in using some of the dawgs we brought in to play in our front 7.
I’m personally looking forward to it, Bain is just a piece of the occasion he’s not going to be some 1 man savior. Gotta goto church for that, and hope you get out in time for 1pm kickoff
May 6th, 2026 at 6:03 pm
8-1/2 wins and appearing in the playoffs are both looking like very good bets.
I am a little worried about DB height with Dean gone.
Against 11 personnel, with this group of defenders, I would like to see the Bucs mix in some 5-2-4 with Capehart nominally two gapping at NT, Vea and Robinson crashing inside through the outside shoulders of the guards, and Bain and Kancey crashing inside through the outside shoulders of the tackles. Put Anzalone or Trotter on the TE, and Scott or Anzalone on the RB. Put the DBs in pressman keeping inside leverage to force the receivers outside, and with Winfield as the single high safety. Without Dean, I am not sure if the DBs have the size to pull it off? They may have the speed and athleticism to make up for the size limitations.
I don’t think that anyone is going to run inside against that alignment. I don’t think that they can run on Bain outside. If they can run anywhere, it would be outside over Kancey, but Scott or Trotter should be on the RB to clean it up quickly.
The DBs shouldn’t have to hold up for very long in coverage before the pocket is the size of a postage stamp.
Someone would get loose once in a while for a big gain. But, it should also make for a lot of three and outs keeping the defenders fresh.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:23 pm
No one should worry. Todd “will coach it better “. There is improvement in personnel so logic says that should translate to the field. If not it’s on the HC.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:39 pm
Joe, Todd Bowles is going to use Bain to maximize his strengths and pass rush. Todd didn’t have the talent he needed to rush the quarterback. This Defense has the missing piece. With proper coaching the Bucs will be contenders this year and Super Bowl contenders next year.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:39 pm
Bowles is about to put on a master class of how to sabotage good defensive talent.
I give it 2 defensive plays before he has Bain drop into coverage trying to stop a WR 30 yards downfield.
And he’ll once again have the DB’s looking lost in coverage trying to remember the incoherent scheme he refuses to change.
Todd Bowles defense = Dumpster Fire with Jet Fuel.
May 6th, 2026 at 7:09 pm
Bowles has to prove us all wrong that he can start developing his defensive picks. How many CBs has his GM Drafted high and almost all of them havent been pro bowlers. Then there is the front, and Dennis who had promise his first season plahing platoon. Bowles stinks at talent development.
May 6th, 2026 at 7:37 pm
Prediction: Bucs’ defense will rank in the Top-10 this season, surrendering at most 340 points (20 PPG average). Bowles will average 3 DLinemen & 2 OLBs on the field because we have the TALENT and our pass rush if we consistently rush 4-5 will be awesome.
Bucs averaged 1044 def snaps in 2025, and 1117 def snaps in 2024, and 1126 def snaps in 2023, plus 1121 def snaps in 2022. So in Bowles 4 years as HC & DC, Bucs have averaged 1102 def snaps per season. IF Todd really does go with 3 DLinemen average all season, then Vea-RNR-Capehart-Robinson-Kancey-Roberts would get 3306 def snaps among them. Bowles SHOULD be looking to keep them all as fresh as possible, and here’s a prediction for how he’ll divvy up those 3306 snaps:
o NT/DT Vea – 650 def snaps (last season: 763)
o NT/DT RNR – 450 def snaps (last season: 241)
o NT/DT Capehart – 550 def snaps (last season: N/A)
o DT/DE Robinson – 650 def snaps (last season: 657)
o DT/DE Kancey – 550 def snaps (last season: 97)
o DT/DE Roberts – 450 def snaps (last season: 507)
As far as the OLBs go, IF Todd really does go with 2 OLBs average all season (which he historically has), then Diaby-Bain-Muhamad-Nelson-Braswell-Walker would get 2204 def snaps among them. Again, Bowles will be looking to keep them all as fresh as possible, and here’s a prediction for how he’ll divvy up those 2204 snaps:
o OLB Diaby – 550 def snaps (last season: 783)
o OLB Bain – 550 def snaps (last season: N/A)
o OLB Muhammad – 350 def snaps (last season: 457)
o OLB Nelson – 250 def snaps (last season: 387)
o OLB Braswell – 250 def snaps (last season: 283)
o OLB Walker – 250 def snaps (last season: 0)
Of course, as always happens, we’ll lost several to injuries at various times in the season, and others will step up to take their def snaps. Obviously no way to predict how that’ll flesh out, but it always seems to happen.
What’s fascinating about going through any exercise like that is that Todd Bowles has FAR GREATER FLEXIBILITY this season than any season since 2021 ended. Keeping guys healthy is always key, and I believe that the best way to do that is to manage the rotation so that they stay fresh. That’s also the key IMO to having the most effective pass rush.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:25 pm
The front 4 has the potential to be great. They have some good rotational veterans they just signed at DT plus Walker and Robert at edge.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:28 pm
I also think we’ll have a top 10 D (at least) this upcoming year if we can stay relatively healthy.
Hope the offense can keep up 🤞🏼. And I think they will.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:39 pm
Oh man I’m started to get optimistic about this season and where this defense is going to be go bucs just feels like they are going to be more effective in their attack with players drafted and signed the rotation is a total upgrade from what we had.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:58 pm
Got to hand it to Licht and Bowles, u like last year they went out this off season and made it a point to fix the defense, More importantly the pass rush. You’re not only have a great starting rotation but we have quality backups now at the edge which I can’t believe I’m saying but when you have 11 sack guy from last year as your backup pass rusher that’s pretty darn good not to mention the all hyped David Walker which I admit I am excited to see as well. Lots of potential and reasons to be optimistic about this defense this year.
May 6th, 2026 at 9:40 pm
It all looks good on paper. I think the defense should be a least a little better. Cornerback worries me. Better kickoff coverage should help the defense quite a bit.
I’m not as sure about the offense. That will likely depend on health along the online.
May 6th, 2026 at 9:45 pm
Everyone is a SB contender in MAY….Let’s see what this team looks like in OCT-NOV-DEC before we all go anointing Licht a draft guru that has flipped the roster back into a division winner and playoff advancement threat.
Do I think there’s a solid chance the FO hits well on 3 or 4 draft prospects & 3-4 FA’s that were brought in to supplement visible weaknesses…Damn right I do, but I want to see it when it counts. Not in MAY or during underwear FB sessions.
It only takes the camp ghost injury bug or rookie late night bonehead maneuver to completely alter the trajectory of the season. SO, not counting any chickens before those eggs hatch. Right?
May 6th, 2026 at 10:47 pm
The problem with the defense is that Bowles thinks that YaYa and Vita are good pass rushers. I’m not sure their sack numbers are that great when you look at the league. How good are these guys sack numbers?
May 6th, 2026 at 11:28 pm
I really think if we can get off tona fast start which Bowles has done every year he’s been here I think this whole team will respond an keep it rolling for once I think there are some real dogs on this team who don’t want to lose an will fight
May 7th, 2026 at 6:49 am
“”Yes! Vita dropping deeper than Antoine! “”
Speaking of the disappearing AW3 is he still on this team? Haven’t heard or seen his name much in the last couple years. He and Zion should be taking pay cuts like Jamaal Dean did. How many players on this team have actually gotten better over time? Anybody? Anybody at all? Maybe Tykee Smith? I find it mystifying that virtually nobody gets better under this current administration. I’m sure it’s just some strange coincidence.
May 7th, 2026 at 8:08 am
Joe why is it that sport commentators get squarely with Todd Bowles saying he will use exotic formations that confuse his players rather than the opponents. Do you know how stupid that sounds. It’s an indictment against the entire Bucs organization.
This is a new season. The Bucs finally have backups who can hold there own against opponents. The season hasn’t even started but you guys are full of Debbie Down syndrome.
Let’s see how the Bucs do after the bye week. Their defense could well be the salvation. GO BUCS
May 7th, 2026 at 9:15 pm
Although as I have been saying I wish the Bucs had made a total commitment to being a top team & HIRED A DEFENSIVE CORDINATOR to develope the players & call the plays game day , i also realize thats not gonna happen probably cause Bowles has ( or should have) a huge CHIP on his shoulders, (yep both shoulders ) after all the off season abuse he’s catching from BUC-NATION about his out dated Defense & being blamed for all the failure of last seasons Bucs. They were soft, they didn’t have NFL quality talent most of the season true . But there were injuries Lots of them, more than the normal season for any team. The Bucs had entire position groups out for several games togather.. So I gotta say I’m taking a big Ole sip of the Pewter Kool-Aid , they will be better next season , i think the best will be 10 wins if all goes right but they will be a stronger team,more talented team despite Bowles because he has hired a better, younger more energetic staff & more aggressive talent. GO BUCS WIN 10 & THE SOUTH!!
May 7th, 2026 at 9:16 pm
Although as I have been saying I wish the Bucs had made a total commitment to being a top team & HIRED A DEFENSIVE CORDINATOR to develope the players & call the plays game day , i also realize thats not gonna happen probably cause Bowles has ( or should have) a huge CHIP on his shoulders, (yep both shoulders ) after all the off season abuse he’s catching from BUC-NATION about his out dated Defense & being blamed for all the failure of last seasons Bucs. They were soft, they didn’t have NFL quality talent most of the season true . But there were injuries Lots of them, more than the normal season for any team. The Bucs had entire position groups out for several games togather.. So I gotta say I’m taking a big Ole sip of the Pewter Kool-Aid , they will be better next season , i think the best will be 10 wins if all goes right but they will be a stronger team,more talented team despite Bowles because he has hired a better, younger more energetic staff & more aggressive talent. GO BUCS WIN 10 & THE SOUTH!!
May 8th, 2026 at 11:56 am
As long as Bowles(not a defensive genius) but the opposite is running the defense, the Bucs will lose.