Latest news with #Kancey
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers projections: How many sacks will Calijah Kancey have in 2025?
Calijah Kancey enters his third NFL season full of momentum. In 2024, across 12 games and 541 snaps, Kancey registered 7.5 sacks, an impressive total for an interior defensive lineman. What stands out even more are his underlying pass-rush metrics. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Kancey's pressure rate jumped from 9.1% as a rookie to 10.5% last year, with his time to pressure falling from 3.07 to 2.77 seconds. Even more telling, his sack conversion rate skyrocketed from 12.1% in 2023 to 20.3% in 2024, a sign that when he gets there, he's finishing the job. Add it all up: Kancey isn't just winning reps, he's doing so faster and turning them into sacks with elite efficiency. On tape, his explosive get-off, hold-your-ground leverage, and high motor have consistently disrupted pockets, even when balanced against double-teams. Entering 2025 fully healthy, Kancey now benefits from an improved supporting cast. Vita Vea will continue to attract double-teams inside, while Haason Reddick's presence on the edge is likely to pull protection away from the interior. The Bucs have indicated plans to elevate Kancey's pass-rush role, particularly on third downs and in stunt-heavy packages, which are exactly the scenarios where his quickness and pressure skills create growth in his pressure and sack conversion metrics suggests Kancey is ready to transform more of those pressures into finished plays. If he plays a full 17-game slate and maintains last year's efficiency, the ceiling is high. Kancey's 2024 performance wasn't a fluke. The results confirm his talent. With an expanded role and better pocket collapse around him, expect a breakout in 2025.
USA Today
04-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers who need to step up their game during the 2025 season
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers who need to step up their game during the 2025 season Much of the NFL offseason is spent focused on new additions to each roster, whether through free agency, trades, or the draft. What is often forgotten is the development of players already on the roster. The Buccaneers have long relied on this development to remain competitive and will need it to remain so in 2025. The improvement from within is mostly needed on Tampa Bay's defense, which ranked 16th in points allowed and 21st in yards per play in 2024. At every level of the defense, the Bucs need their young players to be better than they were last season. Here are the Bucs who need to step up their game in 2025: Chris Braswell The Bucs have long struggled to find a reliable edge rusher in the draft. They took Braswell in the second round last year as a possible replacement for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who departed Tampa Bay this offseason. Braswell was solid in a rotational role, but his impact as a pass rusher was nominal, adding just 1.5 sacks on top of 20 total pressures per Pro Football Focus. Though the Bucs brought in Haason Reddick to boost their pass rush, they still need Braswell to grow as a pass rusher in his own right. Having three reliable edge rushers, including Yaya Diaby, would dramatically improve Tampa Bay's defense and playoff chances. SirVocea Dennis The Bucs' decision to forgo any additions at inside linebacker this offseason is a testament to their faith in third-year linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. With just 209 defensive snaps in the NFL, that faith also imposes significant pressure on Dennis. While the Bucs are going to lean on Lavonte David to remain ageless at least one more season, Dennis is all that stands between the Bucs' defense and a repeat of last year, during which the middle of the defense was a shooting gallery for opposing offenses. In the few snaps he has played, Dennis flashed potential as a pass defender, but he will need to improve his career 23.5% missed tackle rate to make the kind of impact the Bucs are expecting. Calijah Kancey It is possible that all that is standing between Calijah Kancey and a double-digit sack season were his calves. Since the Bucs drafted him in the first round of the 2023 draft, Kancey has missed nine games over two seasons due to calf injuries while recording 11.5 sacks in the same span, including 7.5 last season. Kancey made himself comfortable in the backfield last year, adding 11 tackles for a loss to his 40 total pressures. Like SirVocea Dennis, Kancey has a problem finishing plays, missing 20.7% of his tackles since joining the NFL. Some of this may be attributed to Kancey's lack of length, so he will just have to learn to be even faster and more efficient getting to the ball. Tykee Smith As a rookie, Tykee Smith wasted little time making an impact. He started the 2024 season as a starter and generally made himself indispensable defending from the nickel cornerback spot. Entering 2025, Smith could have a new job as starting safety next to Antoine Winfield Jr., a spot where the Bucs struggled to find consistent play last season. Unlike Dennis and Kancey, Smith had few tackling issues or technique issues in general. What the Bucs need from Smith is a jump from a good player to a great player. Playing next to an All-Pro like Winfield Jr. will afford Smith many opportunities to make plays that Tampa Bay needs to compete in 2025. Graham Barton Barton is the only offensive player on this list, but that is not an indictment of the Bucs' 2024 first-round pick. Barton's rookie year was solid if uneven, allowing 24 total pressures per PFF, second-most on the team. He also led the offensive line in penalties with 13. While the Bucs had one of the NFL's best offensive lines last season, Barton may have been a weak link, but he was always an upside bet. The lack of precision was not unexpected when Barton moved from left tackle at Duke to center in Tampa Bay. Nevertheless, Barton will need to refine his game to keep the Bucs' offense humming in 2025.
Epoch Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Epoch Times
Buccaneers DL Makes Bold Prediction About His 2025 Performance
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Calijah Kancey says if he's healthy, he'll lead the NFL in sacks this season. A 2023 first-round pick of the Buccaneers, Kancey exploded onto the scene in November 2023 with an NFC Defensive Player of the Month award that saw him post two sacks, four QB hits, and 10 tackles. Kancey battled a nagging calf injury into the 2024 season but had another stellar campaign with 7.5 sacks in just 12 games played, including 6.5 in the final nine. In a Kancey began the exchange by talking about his exit interview with head coach Todd Bowles after the season. 'It was more so of me making sure that I'm ready, come beginning of the season, not missing those five games [like] I did the first two seasons,' he said. 'Really, just making sure I'm doing everything to not miss those games, but also to continue to dominate at a high level.' Kancey has dealt with calf injuries in both his NFL seasons so far. He dealt with one going into his rookie campaign, which he aggravated in his NFL debut in Week 1 of the He missed the first five games of the In the press conference, Kancey indicated that he suffered injuries to each calf muscle. 'Honestly, I think I got both of them out the way now,' he joked. Related Stories 3/8/2025 1/13/2025 A reporter then asked what would happen if he were able to suit up for a full season in 2025. 'I think you'll be looking at the sack leader,' Kancey said. 'In Tampa Bay or the league?' the reporter followed up. 'In the league,' Kancey said. In the same press conference, linebacker Yaya Diaby said he planned to compete for that title. 'Hey, I want him to win as much as he [wants] me to win but that's just something we're going to have to fight for,' Diaby said. 'But it's going to be fun.' Kancey had praise for his 2023 Draft classmate. 'Yaya is going to have a crazy season,' he said. 'We don't stop talking about it ... We always talk about how we want to go out there and dominate ... just looking at the work that's been put in this offseason, [it's] definitely rolling on the right path.' The Bucs have had a recent NFL sack leader: outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett led the league in 2019 with 19.5 sacks. And last year's sack leader was Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, with 17.5 sacks. But Kancey and Diaby will both have to compete with free agent acquisition Haason Reddick, who posted double-digit sack counts in four of the last five seasons. Regardless of individual accolades, Kancey wants the defense to elevate their performance. 'We definitely want to raise the bar here every day,' he said. 'We all want to hold each other to a higher standard and bring more to the table. I mean, it's year three for me, I'm sure the coaches, my teammates, they all want to see more from me as much as I want to see more from myself. So that's just how it is around here. We all bring each other up, and we also want to be as good as our offense is as well.'
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bucs' Calijah Kancey returns to Pitt during the offseason
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their players have been very busy this offseason. From Pro Bowls to NFL Honors, they have been all over and visible in a variety of ways. For some players, though, this offseason has been nothing but focusing on building towards a successful 2025 season, and that includes Calijah Kancey. The former Bucs first-round pick in 2023, Kancey is coming off a 2024 season that saw him come out of the gates slow due to injury. However, he ended the season on a tear, finishing with 7.5 sacks, up from his 4.5 during his rookie season, and he achieved that with fewer games played. Kancey posted on social media that he was back at Pittsburgh, where he attended college and worked out in the team's facility. This was a common practice of future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. #H2P — Calijah Kancey (@Ckancey8) March 13, 2025 Kancey will be pivotal to the Bucs success in 2025. Todd Bowles has shown that he can develop defensive linemen over the length of his career and the former Pitt Panther is proving to be no different. This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Calijah Kancey returns to Pitt in offseason as he works towards 2025
USA Today
16-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Bucs' Calijah Kancey returns to Pitt during the offseason
Bucs' Calijah Kancey returns to Pitt during the offseason The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their players have been very busy this offseason. From Pro Bowls to NFL Honors, they have been all over and visible in a variety of ways. For some players, though, this offseason has been nothing but focusing on building towards a successful 2025 season, and that includes Calijah Kancey. The former Bucs first-round pick in 2023, Kancey is coming off a 2024 season that saw him come out of the gates slow due to injury. However, he ended the season on a tear, finishing with 7.5 sacks, up from his 4.5 during his rookie season, and he achieved that with fewer games played. Kancey posted on social media that he was back at Pittsburgh, where he attended college and worked out in the team's facility. This was a common practice of future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. Kancey will be pivotal to the Bucs success in 2025. Todd Bowles has shown that he can develop defensive linemen over the length of his career and the former Pitt Panther is proving to be no different.
