Second-year edge rusher Chris Braswell.
Joe has to draw the line somewhere when it comes to how a team spins the performance of a player.
For 2024 rookie edge rusher Chris Braswell, there has been a lot of talk about how he significantly upped his game late last season and that he’s poised to have a strong 2025. There’s so much faith in Braswell that Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht even said he believes Braswell will “shock” fans next season.
Joe can’t make the leap that Licht and Todd Bowles have.
Braswell was active but did not take defensive snaps against the Commanders in the playoffs. In fact, his playing time waned late last season.
Braswell logged just 26 snaps through the final four games of the regular season. His first sack and only full sack came in Week 16 against the Panthers.
Does that sound like an ascending player? Not in Joe’s book, especially given Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett was signed in late December in hopes he could give the edge rush a jolt.
Still, Braswell is 23 years old with plenty of potential.
> Braswell’s new position coach, Larry Foote, said yesterday he’s counseling Braswell to keep his chin up. “‘Keep your confidence.’ … Come back focused. Come back confident.'”
Foote acknowledged Braswell didn’t achieve what was expected from the second-round draft pick,
> “‘Don’t let, you know, the lack of production — your expectations didn’t get met — but you can come back next year and you can achieve all those goals,'” Foote said he told Braswell.
Per Foote, performance of a Year 3 edge rusher reveals what the team really has in the player. But Joe can’t buy that 100 percent, and it certainly was an interesting take considering the Bucs banked on Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in his Year 4 (after a shaky third season).
Regardless, Joe is rooting for Braswell. What a bonus it would be if he makes a healthy handful of plays next season.