Big prediction.
When prickly Pete Prisco of CBS is on a roll, it’s best to just take a step back and just enjoy it.
Prisco brims with confidence and conviction about his takes. He doesn’t have hot takes, he has strong takes and he will defend his takes all day long.
In a preview of the NFC, seen on CBS, Prisco maintained the Bucs will finish the season with the No. 1 seed in the conference.
So Prisco believes the road to Santa Clara and the Super Bowl must go through Tampa.
After noting how the Bucs are primed to dominate this year, Prisco advised viewers that the next big thing is on the Bucs roster. So learn the name now, Prisco said.
It’s defensive tackle Calijah Kancey.
“The name to keep an eye on [is] Calijah Kancey,” Prisco said. “He’s ready to take his game to superstar status.
“This is the year if he stays on the field — remember, last two years he’s been hurt in training camp. Now he’s back healthy.
“It’s time for him to go to the next level.”
Despite playing in only 12 games last year as he dealt with a calf injury, the same one that dealt Kancey a setback in training camp his rookie season, Kancey led the Bucs in sacks in 2024 with 7.5. At tackle, no less.
And despite Next Gen Stats claiming Kancey didn’t miss a tackle in the regular season, Kancey admitted, yes, he had a missed tackle.
Not very many, though.
While Prisco may be overstating things, claiming Kancey will be a “superstar” — who is the last “superstar” to be a defensive tackle, Mean Joe Greene? Superstar is Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, a young Odell Beckham with the Giants or foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski-level type of star — Joe thinks Prisco is on the money that Kancey will be a feared man by December.