Bucs Veteran Can Help ‘Unleash’ Third-Year Edge Rusher YaYa Diaby

Since the arrival of Baker Mayfield in 2023, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has revamped his identity. Tampa Bay has prioritized offense and leaned into the pass “even if it means accepting a league-leading number of turnovers” from Baker Mayfield, writes Patrick Dougherty of NBC Sports.

But Bowles is “still one of the league’s most reliable defensive teachers and tacticians” who “will never let his side of the ball collapse,” writes Dougherty.

The Buccaneers have finished as a bottom-five defense in terms of allowing passing yards the last two seasons, but that doesn’t tell the full story. Now, as third-year edge rusher YaYa Diaby looks to take the next step and help elevate the Bucs defense, Tampa Bay’s addition of veteran pass rusher Haason Reddick “could unleash” Diaby in 2025, writes River Wells of Sports Illustrated.

Bucs Excited to ‘Unleash’ Diaby with Veteran Edge Rusher Haason Reddick

Just a few weeks ago, as my colleague Tony Adame covered, PFF‘s Jonathon Macri singled out Diaby as the Buccaneers’ most underrated player. Macri pointed out that Diaby is likely to “regress positively” in terms of registering sacks, which could result in a more accurate ranking in future seasons. Despite a lackluster season in terms of sacks, Diaby still led the team in tackles for loss (13) and generated 45 hurries and 65 pressures in 2024, both good for top 10 in the league.

One of the main factors impacting Diaby’s production in 2025 will be the addition of veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick. As the Buccaneers’ “splashiest” addition on the defensive side of the ball, Reddick “immediately boosts” their pass rush, writes Ashlie Abrahams of USA Today’s Buccaneers Wire.

“The splashiest of Tampa Bay’s defensive additions, Haason Reddick, immediately boosts a pass rush that struggled to consistently disrupt the quarterback last season,” writes Abrahams. “Reddick, who logged double-digit sacks in each of the past four years with the Eagles and Panthers, gives the Bucs a proven game-wrecker off the edge.”

Abrahams praised Reddick’s versatility and “limitless energy,” writing that the Buccaneers pairing him with Diaby should open more lanes for generating pressures and sacks inside from Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey.

“His get-off is elite, his bend around the corner is textbook, and he brings limitless energy on every snap,” writes Abrahams. “Bowles now has the flexibility to move Reddick around, stand him up, drop him into coverage occasionally, or let him pin his ears back and attack the quarterback.”

With several high-level players along their defensive front, the Bucs should be in position to achieve head coach Todd Bowles’ goal of generating more pressure with a pure four-man rush. Buccaneers Senior Writer/Editor Scott Smith writes that combining Reddick and Diaby with the “intense interior-line duo” of Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey will enable Bowles to “use his exotic blitz packages less but hopefully more effectively.”

To say that Diaby is fully on-board with that plan would be an understatement.

Diaby Ranked as No. 24 Edge Defender Entering 2025 Season

Diaby seems to be ready to make another leap this year, following his first season as a full-time starter in 2024. The team at PFF seems to agree.

On Monday, PFF‘s Ryan Smith released his rankings of the top 32 edge defenders in the league, grading each player based on “career trajectory, advanced metrics and in-depth film evaluation.”

Smith ranked Diaby as the No. 24 edge defender, writing that he “made a significant leap” during his second season.

“He ranked among the top 15 edge defenders in both pass-rush grade (79.4) and run-defense grade (74.8), finishing the year with 65 total pressures and a 17.4% pass-rush win rate,” writes Smith.

Smith’s colleague, Jonathon Macri, highlights that while Diaby’s sack numbers suffered last year, his pass-rushing metrics point to a “breakout season in 2024.”

“Perhaps most impressive about Diaby’s past season is that he delivered an 18.1% pass-rush win rate, which was a top-10 mark for the position, as were his 70 total pressures,” writes Macri.

With another top-level pass rusher playing opposite Diaby in 2025, all signs point to him elevating his play and potentially leading the Buccaneers to a fifth consecutive division crown.