The Bucs are hoping that defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, their first-round pick, is able to make his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Vikings. With the regular season opener less than a week away, it will be interesting to see when or if he appears on the practice field this week.

If he does, it will only add to the excitement that has been building around him. With the Bucs deciding to keep 13 rookies, Kancey is the crown jewel of them all. Last week, Bucs general manager Jason Licht spoke about his excitement to see Kancey out there and his progression from a right calf injury that forced him to miss the preseason.

“Extremely excited,” Licht said. “He is trending in the right direction still. We still want to make sure we don’t put a player out there, especially with that kind of skill set and with that type of injury, too early. He is trending the right way. [I’m] very, very excited.”

Calijah Kancey Impressed Bucs Players And Coaches In Training Camp

Not only is the Bucs’ general manager thrilled to have his top draft pick out on the field, but players and coaches are as well. Based on the glimpses of him in training camp, Calijah Kancey impressed right away.

Even back when there were no pads on, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles saw Calijah Kancey’s talents on display.

“I think he’s a heck of a ballplayer, but there’s no pads on [yet],” Bowles said early in training camp. “Linemen can’t grab and we can’t hit and everything like that but he’s working and you can see he’s going to be a special player.”

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Kancey definitely looked like a burgeoning player at Pitt during his final two college seasons. Although considered a smaller defensive lineman at 6-1, 281 pounds, that has not stopped him from having a big impact up front. Looking over his college tape, his explosiveness and burst off the snap stand out the most.

Kancey has already drawn comparisons to Hall of Famers John Randle and Bucs legend Warren Sapp, and compared to other rookies, he’s different.

“Aww, man, he’s a different rookie,” running back Rachaad White said. “He’s so composed, you can [tell by how] he just walks around. Good dude though. Great guy. You can see the poise and things like that. You see a guy that just wants to work. He doesn’t really say too many words every time I see him.

“He’s chilling, eating [with him] here and there. He’ll talk to you, don’t get me wrong, but you can tell he is to himself. Just seeing him out on the field, you see him explosive, quick. It makes you understand you got to watch out for a guy like that for sure.”

Calijah Kancey Has The Chance To Make A Critical Impact Up Front

Soon, opposing offensive coordinators will have to gameplan for containing Calijah Kancey as he makes his return. When he does, he will be a critical player up front on head coach Todd Bowles’ defense.

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Playing within a 3-4 scheme, Kancey will be asked to line up alongside nose tackle Vita Vea and the Bucs hope they will be a lethal pairing. He has already said that the defense fits him like a glove. Vea talked earlier in training camp about building a rapport with him and what he saw when he was out there.

“The relationship is growing every day,” Vea said. “We’re still getting to know each other, it’s still early, but he’s showing a lot of upside in his future. He’s surprising all of us every day; his knowledge of the game, his work ethic, and how he’s playing the game. Excited to get out there with him and continue to grow.”

Expectations have to be tempered, of course, with rookie defensive linemen. Randle and Sapp had just one sack and three sacks respectively in their first seasons in the NFL. Even if he does not tally the impressive statistics right away, he can still help apply pressure and affect the game in other facets.

Calijah Kancey Can Help Transform Bucs’ Defense

In other words, Calijah Kancey can help transform Todd Bowles’ defense. Bowles has lacked having a nimble, athletic defensive lineman who can open up the playbook further during his tenure in Tampa Bay. Kancey changes that, and he is another versatile chess piece that can help add further complexity to Bowles’ playbook.

“Calijah has just – the number of ‘wow’ plays that he had in shorts was more than I was even expecting,” general manager Jason Licht said earlier in the offseason. “That doesn’t always necessarily translate to making a bunch of plays in the NFL his rookie season. I’m not saying that he’s going to for sure be an All-Pro his first year or anything like that. It just is, seeing this defense kind of, I don’t want to say transform, but mold into what Todd really does like – an explosive, penetrating front that can get pressure up the middle as well as off the edge.”

Ronde Barber, the newest Buccaneer Hall of Famer, also chimed in on his impressions of Kancey.

“This kid right here, Calijah Kancey, I think he transforms the way that Todd Bowles plays defense,” Barber said as a guest on the Pewter Report Podcast earlier this summer. “He’s never really had – not that I could remember anyway – a guy in this mold, and I’m not going to say an Aaron Donald mold. But the quick, explosive three-technique and it’s a different three-technique because they play a 3-4. Now you got this guy. You can create different fronts, you can create different looks. I don’t know if you’ve watched his college film — holy cow man. Like, Wow, Wow.”

Kancey has “wowed” the Bucs so far, but the extent to which he can when the games matter will be something to watch in the near future.