Let pass rushers eat.
Joe isn’t going to refer to this as a broken record. It’s just by far the most glaring hole on the Bucs’ roster, and has been for a few years now.
The Bucs need a legitimate, 10-sack dude breathing fire coming off the edge.
Now Joe fully understands why Bucs coach Todd Bowles, when asked about an edge rush, always responds with how he asks outside linebackers “to do other things.”
Yes, this means pass coverage, too.
Yes, Joe goes bananas watching this but the Bucs aren’t remotely the only team that does this. The majority do. Trick is, the majority of other teams may not have edge rushers drop into coverage at the rate Bowles does.
Hey, one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history happened right here in Tampa Bay way back in 2009 when Steelers linebacker James Harrison picked a Kurt Warner pass for a 99-yard pick-six.
Harrison did this by freelancing and dropping back into coverage, which completely fooled Warner.
So defenses dropping linemen/edge rushers into coverage is hardly new. Hell, Joe saw Bowles drop Vita Vea into coverage against Dallas and had Bowles not, the play would have been a first down but Vea was in the perfect spot and got a tackle, forcing a late punt in a one-score game.
So it’s not like Joe is completely against outside linebackers or linemen in coverage — just that Joe prefers moderation. Mouthy slimy Saints defensive end Cam Jordan once said rushing the passer is so difficult that worrying so much about pass coverage screws a guy up.
In other words, let a pass rusher eat.
Joe brings all of his up because prickly Pete Prisco of CBS, who predicted the Bucs would have the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs last season, ranks the Bucs currently at No. 18. Why? One reason he gives is that Bowles must find an edge rush.
Rinse, repeat.
Here is the dilemma that Joe sees: We’ve heard Bowles say the following. He said it as recently as late in the 2025 season. He asks edge rushers “to do other things.”
Joe doesn’t care what walk of life one is referring to. If someone doesn’t believe something is critical, something isn’t vital, something isn’t important, how then does that person excel at the same subject?
Would Lavonte David have been a great linebacker if he didn’t like tackling? Would Mike Evans have been great receiver if he didn’t care for catching passes? Would Baker Mayfield had won a Heisman Trophy and become a No. 1 overall pick if he thought running was more important than throwing passes?
People at One Buc Palace need to embrace the value of an edge rush.