The Bucs have added several pieces to their defensive line this offseason. A’Shawn Robinson as one of their first free agent additions. A later reunion with Rakeem Nunez-Roches took place in free agency. DeMonte Capehart was a Day 3 add in the draft and the team believes he has a high ceiling.

But it’s important to take an early look at 2027 draft-eligible prospect, Oregon defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington, who might be able to take up the mantle if Vita Vea departs after this season.

But Nunez-Roches and Robinson are both under contract for just 2026, and Vea is entering a contract year. There’s a solid chance the room will look considerably different once again in 2027. And there’s a solid chance Tampa Bay invests in another defensive tackle in the 2027 NFL Draft.

A’Mauri Washington Measurables

Pro Football Focus lists A’Mauri Washington at 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, giving him the perfect frame for a nose tackle. But what drew me to evaluating him early was his appearance on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List.”

A’Mauri Washington’s numbers made me do a triple-take when Oregon staff sent them over. For a 338-pound guy to clock 20.89 mph and vertical jump 36 inches is mind-blowing. Washington also squatted 755 pounds, bench pressed 475 and power cleaned 385. FREAK: https://t.co/EHum0qnN3Y

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 31, 2025

Twenty miles per hour is an incredible top end for a linebacker, let alone a massive defensive lineman. A 36-inch vertical would put Washington in the 98th percentile for interior defensive linemen.

If the Bucs move on from Vita Vea, or vice versa, finding a 320-plus pound defensive tackle who is also an elite athlete would be a tall task. But Washington may fit that bill and therefore is a fascinating proposition to me.

A’Mauri Washington’s 2025 Production

Washington’s traditional stats in 2025:

Games – 15
Tackles – 33
TFL’s – 4.5
Sacks – 1.5
PBU’s – 8

Additional information from Pro Football Focus:

Snaps – 656
Pass-rush Snaps – 358
Pressures – 22
Defensive Stops – 24

PFF credits him for 27 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 TFLs

Using PFF data, his production profile shows a player who is solid across the board but fails to stand out in any particular area.

Tale of the Tape

I watched three of A’Mauri Washington’s games from 2025: Week 5 at Penn State, week 13 against USC and their Bowl Game against Texas Tech.

Overview

A’Mauri Washington is an athletically gifted defensive tackle, a 338-pound interior defender who moves like a player 60 pounds lighter. The athletic foundation gives him a rare ceiling that most big men can only dream of, both in testing and on tape. But his evaluation comes down to his play style not matching his foundational physical profile.

When he plays with leverage, his testing profile shows up immediately. When he plays tall, which is entirely too often, the drive, the balance, and the point-of-attack anchor all fail at a critical level. His pad level is the crux of almost everything, both pro and con, about him.

Oregon DT A’Mauri Washington – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Strengths

Elite athleticism for his size – Incredible movement skills for such a large frame. Light on his feet, moves extremely well laterally, and shows loose joints and fluid hips that are uncommon at his mass.

A’Mauri Washington is listed at 6’3 330 lbs. pic.twitter.com/jr5I2ZsOKN

— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) June 13, 2026

Lightning-quick get-off – First step and snap anticipation are a genuine weapon. Washington is frequently moving before blockers can set, and the quickness is a real edge on the interior.

Varied, functional hand kit – Uses his hands well and is an active hand-fighter. Washington throws a long-arm to keep blockers out of his pads and create separation, runs a club-and-slide (clubbing the blocker one way while sliding laterally to the opposite gap, a very Elijah Roberts-esque rep), and has an arm-over/swim to clear and escape. For an interior player his size, that is a genuinely diverse, three-move rush plan.

High-value stunter – His get-off and size make him an excellent looping and penetrating piece on games. Washington crosses gaps quickly, works into the frame of a second blocker, pulls his own blocker with him, and absorbs the double, freeing a looping linebacker or edge for a clean free run. A meaningful share of his disruption is by design as the space-creator, which props up the stop and pressure rates even on snaps where his job is to spring someone else.

Latent, translatable power – The bull rush is his best NFL-projectable trait. Late against the USC center on a 1-on-1, Washington bulled the blocker into the quarterback’s lap, and the same rep popped again against Texas Tech. When he commits to power and sinks his pads, Washington becomes a force of nature capable of dropping solo blockers into a quarterback’s lap.

Washington has this in him. He just doesn’t go to it nearly often enough. pic.twitter.com/AyQ0ftIJSV

— Josh Queipo (@JoshQueipo_NFL) June 13, 2026

Weaknesses

Pad Level – Washington plays too high, and it is the root cause of nearly every limitation on his tape. It leads to almost all of the issues listed below.

Power and Drive Loss – Because he gets too upright, and because of how light his feet are, Washington loses the drive and displacement you would expect from his size. For how big and strong Washington may look and test, it rarely shows up on tape.

Balance Issues – Washington’s rising pad level costs him stability and forces him to lose balance consistently.

Point-of-attack and anchor in the run game. When he plays high, Washington struggles to hold the point of attack and gets moved off his spot. For a player whose size profiles him partly as an immovable interior anchor, this is the costliest consequence of the leverage issue. It also explains why Oregon used him as a 3-technique more than as a shade or straight-up nose.

Finishing and trait selection. The production percentiles flag it and the film explains it: Washington wins reps he does not convert (sack rate 41st, conversion 34th). He leans on finesse (club-slide, swim, long-arm) and quickness, and treats the bull rush, his most translatable trait, as an occasional changeup rather than his base. His most projectable NFL skill is the one he uses least.

Summary

The talent is easy to spot. A’Mauri Washington is a disruptive, athletically rare interior penetrator and high-end stunter whose ceiling is gated almost entirely by pad level. Fix the leverage and the tantalizing reported testing and massive size that already exist start translating to drive, balance, and an anchor. And the underused bull rush becomes a foundation rather than a flash. He doesn’t need to add tools. He needs to play lower and make power his fastball.

My best way at describing who he is versus who he can be is Robert Doback’s explanation of his childhood in the phenomenal comedy, Step Brothers.

“When I was a kid, when I was a little boy, I always wanted to be a dinosaur. I wanted to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex more than anything in the world. I made my arms short and I roamed the backyard, I chased the neighborhood cats, I growled and I roared. Everybody knew me and was afraid of me. And one day my dad said, ‘Bobby, you are 17. It’s time to throw childish things aside,’ and I said, ‘Okay, Pop.’ But he didn’t really say that, he said, ‘Stop being a f*cking dinosaur and get a job.'”

Washington’s current playstyle –where he tries to win with speed and agility, beating blockers laterally – is his Tyrannosaurus Rex. But it’s time he throws away childish things, lower his pad level and start bullying opponents. That’s how he is going to get an NFL job.