The Bucs are no strangers to having their depth challenged, especially throughout the first seven weeks of the 2025 season. Come Sunday afternoon in New Orleans, it’ll be challenged again, this time at outside linebacker as Anthony Nelson steps in for the injured Haason Reddick.

“Next man up” has been an unfortunate mantra Tampa Bay has had to adopt this season, but it also perfectly encapsulates who Nelson has been over his seven-year career with the team. The 2019 fourth-round pick out of Iowa generally has the kind of stats you would expect from a guy who has spent his career as a rotational pass rusher. Over 99 games, he has 18 starts, 19.5 sacks, 44 quarterback hits, 27 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and five passes defensed.

The 19.5 sacks, 27 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries do stand out given that he’s largely been anywhere from OLB3 or OLB4 to OLB5 for the Bucs throughout his career. But when you look back on Nelson’s career, it’s the timing of those plays that truly stands out.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Larry Foote made mention on Thursday of the fact that there are some banners hanging inside the Bucs’ indoor practice facility at the AdventHealth Training Center that are up there because of Nelson.

“I [have] confidence in Anthony Nelson. I showed the guys [that] there [are] banners in that indoor [practice field] because of him,” Foote said. “He made some key plays for us through the years. We know what he brings, and he is confident and what an opportunity. He is going to make the most of it.”

The reference to those banners felt like hyperbole at the time. But let me borrow a phrase from NFL referee John Hussey: After a second look… That really isn’t hyperbole from Foote.

Anthony Nelson Has Come Through At The Right Time For The Bucs

The most recent of Anthony Nelson’s high-impact plays is the easiest, most direct and perhaps most memorable example of the 28-year-old veteran being responsible for a championship banner. You’ll likely remember it given its recency, as it occurred last December.

At 5-6 and needing to go on another late-season run to capture a fourth straight NFC South title, the Bucs found themselves in a battle with the Panthers in Charlotte. And just when it looked like they were headed for a damaging loss to a 3-8 division foe, Nelson was there to save the day – and the season. After Chase McLaughlin missed a g0-ahead field goal, the Panthers had the ball in overtime and were in field goal range themselves.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: USA Today

Just when it looked like they’d be set up for a game-winning field goal try of their own, Nelson punched the ball out of Chuba Hubbard’s hands and Yaya Diaby recovered. McLaughlin went on to get redemption, allowing the Bucs to survive and win 26-23, getting to 6-6 on the season. From there, they finished 10-7 and won the division for the fourth straight year.

Without that forced fumble by No. 98 in overtime, the division title and postseason appearance streaks may have ended.

That wasn’t the first time Nelson came up with a key play in a pivotal game against Carolina. At the end of the 2022 season, Tom Brady’s final campaign with Tampa Bay, it was Nelson who gave the team some late breathing room.

Needing a win to clinch an NFC South title repeat, the Bucs were in a battle with the Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. They led 24-21 late when Nelson got to Sam Darnold for a sack-fumble that set up a 6-yard touchdown drive for the offense. That made it 30-21 before the Bucs went on to win 30-24.

This, of course, came only a week after Nelson forced a sack-fumble on Trace McSorley as the Cardinals were in the red zone early in the game on Christmas night. Tampa Bay went on to win that game 19-16 in overtime, so points were at a premium and that forced fumble with Arizona at the Bucs’ 13-yard line proved to be a huge difference-maker. Santa Claus wasn’t the only one delivering presents for Buccaneers fans.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: USA Today

Have you gotten the picture yet? If not, there was also the comeback win over the Jets during the 2021 season in which Nelson had a key third-down sack in the fourth quarter before recovering a fumble on the final play of the game to seal the win.

There was the pressure of Jalen Hurts that turned into an intentional grounding call for a safety in the team’s 32-9 Wild Card win over the Eagles two seasons ago as well. He also had a sack of Taylor Heinicke in the Bucs’ win over the Washington Football Team in the NFC Wild Card Round on their road to Super Bowl LV. And even as a rookie in 2019, Nelson forced a Cam Newton fumble to keep Tampa Bay ahead, 17-12, in a game it eventually won 20-14.

So, yes, while Anthony Nelson hasn’t been a week-in, week-out starter throughout his career and isn’t going to be mistaken for the quick and powerful Haason Reddick while the veteran pass rusher is sidelined, it’s no surprise that the Bucs feel confident in his ability to step in as the quintessential “next man up.”

Anthony Nelson: “Everybody Has To Do Their Job And Make Plays”

Tampa Bay decision-makers have never made any secret about their love for and confidence in Anthony Nelson. When his rookie contract was up after the 2022 season, he was re-signed to a two-year deal. When that contract wrapped up after the 2024 season, he was rewarded with another two-year pact this past offseason that has him signed through the 2026 season.

Nelson is a guy who fits the Bucs’ culture and has served as an important depth player for seven years now. Todd Bowles has referred to him as a “Steady Eddie” time and again for a reason, and now it’s time for him to step up and produce in a bigger role once again in the coming weeks.

“First thing is it sucks to see somebody go down, especially when we have been working so hard the last couple of months,” Nelson said Thursday. “Every opportunity is so precious, so to see somebody that works so hard going to have to miss some time, it sucks, but it is part of the job. It is part of what we battled through this whole year. We have had injuries everywhere at some point, but that is part of the responsibility.

Bucs OLBs Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Everybody has got to be ready, we really lean on everybody, that is part of our culture here – Bowles does a really good job of instilling that. We lean on everybody to makes plays, so it is just another example of that.”

Again, this is nothing new for Nelson. But as much as prior experience helps as he steps into the starting lineup again, he made it clear on Thursday that it isn’t just going to be one person who will be tasked with replacing Reddick’s presence off the edge. It’s a team thing.

“It helps to have experience, but going back to what I said, kind of our culture is we really lean on everybody else,” Nelson said. “Everybody [has] to do their job and make plays, we are not really looking for one person to step up, everybody stepping up and [doing] their part. It is just a different way of doing that but definitely experience helps out.”

While it may very well be a collective effort, don’t be surprised if Nelson finds himself at the center of a game-changing play at some point in the coming weeks.

He kind of has a history with that kind of thing.