DT Ndamukong Suh – 6-4, 313 – 33 years old – 11th season

On a defense filled with youngsters, Suh is by far the eldest statesman in the room at 33 years old and entering his 11th season in the NFL. Rehashing his resume isn’t necessary, as anyone who follows football not only knows who Suh is, but how dominant his football career has been dating back to his annihilation of opposing offenses in college, including his epic, one-man-gang performance against Texas in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game. Suh had 12 tackles, six tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks of Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy.

The days of being a premier player at his position are behind Suh, especially as a pass rusher. He can still push the pocket a bit with that trademark elite power, but a lot of the burst and lateral suddenness that once made him one of the most feared defensive tackles in the NFL are almost gone.

“Suh is interesting because he was never a super quick guy like Gerald McCoy,” Cheah said. “He was a guy who had crazy strength and was just ferocious. There is still some of that guy. His presence frees up other guys, which is a no-glamour job, but Lavonte David, Devin White, Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett are all better because he’s on the field. If he’s left completely one-on-one he’ll likely overpower the lineman blocking him, so offenses have to play on that. It won’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but he still has some gas left in the tank to contribute in that way and that’s not the easiest trait to find at the NFL level.”

Suh had 41 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four fumble recoveries, four pass breakups, 2.5 sacks and two defensive touchdowns last year in his first season in Tampa Bay. He is definitely utilized a lot on twists and stunts up front, often as the crasher to open up a lane for the looper. I saw a lot of four-man rushes where he ended up as the doubled player, but even when left one-on-one, Suh didn’t offer a lot of variety or explosiveness as a rusher. The bull rush and push-pull are his best moves, but he’s more of a slow-burn rusher these days than a quick pressure or penetrating threat.

Against the run, Suh might not be among the league’s best like he once was, but he’s still a really consistent player, who can bully blockers if he’s left one-on-one. Some defensive tackles struggle to identify and react to horizontal runs as they age, but that hasn’t been the case with Suh. Some of his best run stops last year came when he had to move laterally after winning his gap.

Vertical or horizontal run schemes consistently struggle to block Suh effectively unless employing a double team or simply trying to seal him off with a down block. Moving the man one-on-one is a typically fruitless endeavor. Suh will remain one of the most powerful players in the NFL until he retires.

“His job is to eat up blockers,” Cheah said. “He’s so good at that in run defense and letting the linebackers eat that he was a big part of the Bucs’ run defense being No. 1 last season.”

At times Suh can get a little lax with his gap control and try to work around blockers rather than play through them. This can lead to extending his gap, especially as a pass rusher, and allowing escape lanes for the opposing quarterback.

“What is a little worrisome is he’s always been such an elite player that he’s had the ability to freelance and make some plays,” Cheah said. “In his past that often worked, but there were a few times this past season, probably most notably the fourth-and-goal vs. the Giants where he tried to play hero ball and got out of his gap and it cost the team. So if he can understand his limitations and just stick to what he does well, he’ll be good.”

At the same time, Suh might be one of the smartest players in the league. As much as he might have lost a step athletically, he’s gained a few with how fast he can identify concepts and find the football through trash. This play was one of several that blew my mind from a cerebral standpoint.

Suh stacks this block with his eyes in the backfield, and as Matt Ryan pulls the ball back on the fake, the defensive tackle has already shed his opponent and worked backside to the football. As a result, he lands a huge shot on Ryan as he releases the ball, which results in a hurried incompletion. A truly outstanding play from the neck up.

Suh played 77 percent of the Bucs’ snaps last season, after playing over 80 percent every other recorded year of his career. Ideally, Suh’s snaps would decrease this season to keep him a little fresher, but the Bucs’ interior defensive line depth issues could keep that from happening.

That’s where I started to get concerned with Suh. He’s already lost a lot of his effectiveness on passing downs, and continuing to play him at the rate the Bucs will probably have to isn’t likely to help his declining ability to create pressure. I don’t think he’ll ever be a liability, but asking Suh to be an 80-85 percent snap contributor is probably not setting him up to win in 2020.

I’ll continue to stress that defensive line depth is the Bucs’ biggest roster concern right now. Even if they found a quality long/late downs edge rusher, that would allow Pierre-Paul to kick inside and take some reps off Suh’s plate. At 33 years old, the Bucs should be expecting Suh to continue to decline while still remaining a valuable contributor up front. Asking him to be more than that is where they could run into trouble this season.