Will Al-Quadin Muhammad Surprise Again?
March 15th, 2026
New Bucs edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad.
As Joe has stated, it’s strange that at the age of 30, new Bucs edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad had his first season with more than six sacks. In 2025, he totaled 11 sacks for the Lions.
Even more strange, Muhammad never started one game last year. What would this guy have done if he was on the field full-time, and why wasn’t he?
Former scout and current talking head for NFL.com, Bucky Brooks, believes Muhammad is one of the most overlooked free agent signees last week. And Brooks believes Muhammad is versatile enough that Todd Bowles could send him hunting for the quarterback in a variety of ways.
Al-Quadin Muhammad
The Bucs totaled just 37 sacks in 2025, tied for 18th-most in the league, with just one player topping five QB takedowns on the season (YaYa Diaby, who had seven). So the Buccaneers are rolling the dice on a soon-to-be-31-year-old pass rusher coming off the best season of his nine-year career. Muhammad totaled 11 sacks with the Lions last season, utilizing violent hands and a non-stop motor to overwhelm blockers at the point of attack. Additionally, the veteran sprinkled in a few speed-rush maneuvers that surprised offensive tackles who were anticipating a bull rush or “butt-and-jerk.” Considering his success in Detroit’s aggressive scheme, Todd Bowles should enjoy unleashing Muhammad from various alignments along the frontline.
But here is the $10,000 question: Will Bowles let an edge rusher hunt? Bowles is absolutely notorious for not having edge rushers rush because “we ask them to do other things.”
NO! Ask a guy who excels at edge rushe to, you know, get after the quarterback! Bowles’ ability to step away from what he normally does — which clearly is not working and hasn’t for years — may mean the difference between the Bucs going to the playoffs or Bowles being sent into an involuntary retirement.
Will Bowles step outside of his comfort zone?
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