Buccaneers ex-round facing Face of Break ‘season Originally appeared on Sports Athlon.
If a defensive tackle can record more than 11 bags combined during its first two seasons, it is generally a sign that the guy can be an excellent player for his team.
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In the eyes of some …
Not for the star of the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay Calijah Kancey, however.
The former Pittsburgh product started his career with the Buccaneers, improving his total bags of his season recruited to his second year with the team. He quickly became one of the best interior players in pass pass of the league.
Despite the success of Kancey, Pro Football Focus is not exactly sold.
The greatest reason? His race defense.
PFF calls the third season of Kancey this year a moment of brand or rupture simply because of his race defense.
“Similar to his compatriot in 2023, Mazi Smith, Kancey was not up to his invoicing for Tampa Bay during two seasons in the NFL,” wrote the writer Pff Dalton Wasserman. “To his credit, the underdimensions Kancey has accumulated 85 pressures since the beginning of 2023, a brand of the Top 20 among the defensive plasters.
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“However, this is not enough to compensate for his terrible defense note of 28.7 pff during this period.”
Here is what Pff does not obtain on the game of Kancey and the Buccaneers in general.
This does not matter – at a critical level – if the third year tackle is not good against the race. His partner along the inside, Vita Vea, is considered one of the best playing players in the game race today.
If a player is good to defend the race and the other is good to attack the quarter-tree, it is a sign that there could be enough for the defense to be good inside.
Do the Bucs want more of him? Of course.
But Kancey is standing as a player “doing or breaking” seems a little eccentric.
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This story was initially reported by Sports Athlon On June 18, 2025, where he appeared for the first time.