“If You Don’t Have That Big-Timer”
July 3rd, 2025
Todd Bowles
The Bucs ranked sixth in the NFL in total sacks last season but were the rare team in that class to have its fans begging, pleading and screaming for pass rush help.
Well, maybe it’s not rare considering the same freakout happened in 2023 when the Bucs ranked seventh in the league in total sacks.
Those realities actually impress former Chiefs head coach and longtime offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who coached with an against Bucs defensive coordinator/head coach Todd Bowles.
Haley talked on SiriusXM NFL Radio this week about Bowles’ prowess when it comes to scheming. So it didn’t surprise him that the Bucs found sacks — lots of them. For Haley, that reality says Bowles is doing things the right way. He’s just lacking pass rush talent.
“You gotta do what you gotta do if you don’t have that big-timer that you can just say, ‘Hey, we’re moving you around and you’re going to make a play for us,’ Haley said. “And that also forces the offense to allot players to him to make sure he doesn’t wreck the game for them.
“That’s always a big thing when you have that one guy that an offense knows can disrupt everything you’re trying to do. [The Bucs] don’t have that, but they [got big sacks numbers] in other ways. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. It means you’re doing things the right way.”
Hopefully, new edge rusher Haason Reddick recovers from his dreadful season last year with the Jets, despite playing with a Pro Bowl nose tackle and a 10 1/2-sack guy on the opposite edge. If the so, the Bucs will have, as Haley calls it, “that big-timer.”
Joe also hopes the 2025 switch to Larry Foote coaching the edge rushers/outside linebackers has an impact. Bowles and his crew certainly must be better at developing edge rushers.
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