Bucs first-round pick Joe Tryon is two weeks into his first career training camp and is already standing out.

The outside linebacker from Washington has been catching the attention of players, coaches, fans and everyone else who has seen practices at the Advent Health Training Facility.

Tryon hadn’t worn pads or played in a game since December of 2019 after opting out of the 2020 season at Washington. Whatever rust he may have had from all that time off wasn’t visible for long. Tryon has recorded multiple “would-be” sacks in training camp while making splash plays when he gets the reps.

“He’s coming along fine,” defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said. “He’s learning the scheme. It’s not an easy scheme to learn for him so we’re trying to put him in different positions and move him around. We’d still like to see him in preseason, but he’s got some tools. He’s got a toolkit, he showed that in college. Love the build and the size; he’s very intelligent. He’s tough, he’s smart. He just has to learn the scheme, and if you can play in this scheme, we’ll find a place for you.”

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

As talented as he is, Tryon is in a unique position where he won’t have to play right away. He’ll be a backup to both outside linebackers Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett. Pierre-Paul led the team in sacks last year with 9.5 in a Pro Bowl season, while Barrett had eight. In 2019, Barrett’s first year in Tampa Bay, he led the league with 19.5 sacks and made his first Pro Bowl.

Even players of Pierre-Paul’s caliber understand how special Tryon could be for the Bucs defense in his first season.

“He’s going to be amazing,” Pierre-Paul said. “He’s doing stuff that I’m looking like, ‘Man, I wish I would have known that when I was a rookie.’ He’s doing amazing stuff out here. Me and Shaq were just talking about on the sideline when we were watching, I told Shaq that he’s going to be a difference-maker for us. He’s bending and moving from day one when he got here to now, he’s bending and moving tremendously well. He’s just got to stay on his feet. I had that problem myself.”

Having another 6-foot-5, 260-pound quick, athletic edge rusher coming off the bench in important situations will only help Pierre-Paul and Barrett stay energized without needing to play every snap. Watching Tryon acclimate to the NFL has reminded Barrett a lot of witnessing Bradley Chubb’s ascension in Denver.

“Joe doesn’t ask many questions, but we usually talk about pass rush stuff,” Barrett said. “Or we’ll watch film and recommend stuff to him. Joe reminds me a lot of [Bradley] Chubb when Chubb came out. I see a lot of similarities in them. I think he’s gonna have a bright future. We just try to coach him up in the meeting room. [OLBs coach Larry] Foote helping us with new move that we’ve been trying to work out.”

“Adding a guy like that keeps us fresh,” Pierre-Paul said. “The rotation will be good. We’ve got [Anthony] Nelson. He’s having a great training camp as well. They’re picking up. That’s the whole game of training camp – knowing your brothers and getting to know them real close, teaching them what I know. I can only teach them what I know.”

Tryon will have the opportunity to shine for the Bucs in their first preseason game next week on Saturday, August 14 against Cincinnati. It will be his first chance to show his abilities as the top pass rusher – and record some real sacks.