The Bucs pass rush is on a new level in 2025. Todd Bowles has the defense creating havoc at a league best rate thanks to several factors, including improved personnel on the defensive front, weaponizing SirVocea Dennis’ best attributes as a downhill point-and-shoot player, and sticky coverage players in the secondary who have been some of the league’s best playmakers.
Top NFL defenses in “Havoc” which is the % of plays a defense gets a pressure, TFL, forced fumble, INT, or pass breakup:
1. Buccaneers (42.8%)
T2. Broncos (41.7%)
T2. Seahawks (41.7%)
4. Lions (41.6%)
5. Rams (41.5%)
6. Chargers (41%)
7. Texans (40.8%)
8. Packers (40.6%)
9.…— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 28, 2025
But as much as Bowles has been in his bag creating unblocked pressures and sacks, he still needs players to execute and defensive linemen who can threaten enough to help spring the extra rushers Bowles is sending.
With no definitive timetable for Haason Reddick’s return from an ankle sprain, the Bucs need their depth players to step up. They got quite the performance from Anthony Nelson in Week 8. But Nelson was not the only player stepping up.
Bucs OLBs Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Chris Braswell’s Week 8 Performance
Flying under the radar last week was the yeoman’s work Chris Braswell delivered in an increased role. At 30 defensive snaps, Braswell almost doubled his previous season high. Braswell recorded just one tackle on the day. But he still had a solid, dare I even say promising, game. Multiple tracking sites credited him with multiple pressures on the day, although the number and rate changes based on the site.
Pro Football Focus has him for five pressures in 25 opportunities. By their metrics he had a pass rush win rate of 16%. That win rate peaked at 26.7% in true pass sets. Next Gen Stats, which uses chip tracking to measure pressure, has him with a slightly more modest 4 pressures and 16% pressure rate. Those were the first pressures Braswell has recorded all season.
While Bowles’ scheme creates easy wins for his rushers at various junctures, Braswell logged multiple 1-on-1 wins and showed his best pass rushing ability of the season.
— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) October 28, 2025
Getting The Most Out Of Who Chris Braswell Currently Is
To say Chris Braswell is behind where he should be given his second-round draft status is a fair statement. He averaged just over 18 snaps per game last year and when Joe Tryon-Shoyinka went down with an injury in the back-half of the year, Braswell’s playing time went down, not up. This year, his playing time continued to trend down at just 13 snaps per game prior to his Week 8 spike.
Braswell is clearly edge No. 4 on the Bucs depth chart, firmly behind Nelson. While Nelson is a solid backup edge, the hope had to have been when Tampa Bay selected Braswell in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft that he would be ahead of Nelson at this point. That clearly hasn’t transpired, and the Bucs showed their concerns regarding his development when they signed Haason Reddick and drafted David Walker in the fourth round of this year’s draft.
But that concern doesn’t mean they can’t get something out of Braswell and ensure he is a contributing member to a successful defense. That has been a hallmark of this coaching staff since 2019. Even their draft “misses” become solid pieces of a roster, even if they don’t live up to their original draft billing. What can that look like with Braswell?
Power Rusher and Pocket Denter
Chris Braswell uses his long arm to get into the chest of tackles and drive them back into the lap of quarterbacks. It was particularly effective against the Saints. He lined up over right tackle Taliese Fuaga, who has shorter arms, leaving him susceptible to Braswell’s strongest pass rushing trait. Braswell’s reach and strong lower half profile him as someone who can condense a pocket.
That pocket condensing power can be leveraged to its best by calling pressure packages that ask Braswell to stunt and drive while other players loop around him.
— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) November 2, 2025
Braswell’s long arm and bull rush should continue to improve as he is playing faster and with more confidence this year as compared to his rookie season when he was more timid and adding unneeded steps. Braswell’s get-off, as measured by Next Gen Stats, has come down from 0.93 seconds last year to 0.79 this year. That number is close to Nik Bonitto’s 0.77 and Will Anderson Jr.’s 0.78, who are both star edge rushers for the Broncos and Texans.
Braswell has started to layer in an inside swim move off of his long arm. If he can access that follow-up on demand the Bucs should be more comfortable throwing him out more often.
Bend
Frustratingly, Chris Braswell has flashed impressive bend that could make him a weapon if he could ever harness it consistently.
— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) November 1, 2025
There are a handful of clips like this on Braswell’s tape. But it doesn’t look like a skill he can access on demand. If he could, it would give him enough of a changeup to become a more potent threat. But until then, these will be nice highlights that people like me can post online to show what he can – but probably won’t – be.
Instincts
Even if Chris Braswell learns to keep his pad level low and access his bend more regularly, learns how to work his long arm and high side rushes off of each other, and get to his inside counter with regularity, there is still a major barrier to him making plays and winning with regularity. Despite finding ways to create plays in college at Alabama, Braswell doesn’t seem to have the instincts to operate at the same level in the NFL.
Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Staying with the ball while still executing your assignment is not a talent every player possesses to the same degree. Lavonte David has made a career of knowing what is about to happen before it happens. Braswell is much more of a see it-and-react player. And rarely do those players level up to become full-time, above-average starters.
But Braswell is showing enough that he can be a part of the Bucs pass rush plan as a part of a larger successful organism. By weaponizing his power to set up Bowles’ second-level blitzers while giving him more chances to develop his bend and changeups should allow him to be the depth player Tampa Bay needs until Haason Reddick returns.
Josh Queipo joined the Pewter Report team in 2022, specializing in salary cap analysis and film study. In addition to his official role with the website and podcast, he has an unofficial role as the Pewter Report team’s beaming light of positivity and jokes. A staunch proponent of the forward pass, he is a father to two amazing children and loves sushi, brisket, steak and bacon, though the order changes depending on the day. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2008 with a degree in finance.
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