Carl Nassib goes by a couple of names these days. Some call him Carl “Nasty” while others don him the “Wolf Of Dale Mabry.”

Playing with a chip on his shoulder after getting cut by the Browns at the end of training camp, Nassib has put his name on the map here in Tampa. Coaches and teammates never have to worry if Nassib will bring it on Sunday, and there’s one more trait of him that might be most important of them all.

Bucs DEs Carl Nassib & Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

“I’d say consistency is the main thing,” head coach Dirk Koetter said. “Carl has been a consistent player, like several other players on that D-line he’s had to battle through some injuries that some guys would have missed some time. He’s consistently done what the coaches have asked him to do, Carl’s length and his motor make him tough just when we have to go against him in practice. Just those two things alone, length and motor make him difficult to handle, and the fact that he’s usually where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there, that’s the other thing, that’s where the consistency part comes in.”

Both Nassib and Jason Pierre-Paul have been the two best rushers on the defensive line this year. They have created a one-two punch when rushing the passer, which has been apparent all year, especially last Sunday against the Saints when Pierre-Paul got to Drew Brees first, and Nassib followed up by stripping the ball away from him.

His 6.5 sacks this year have already doubled his career high of three from a season ago. In his first two seasons in the NFL, Nassib notched a total of 5.5 sacks. Something has changed here in his third season. Maybe it’s a change of scenery, or maybe it’s playing with  a talent like Pierre-Paul on the opposite side of him. Nassib’s 6.5 and Pierre-Paul’s 11.5 sacks have made stopping them a problem for most opponents this year.

Pierre-Paul talked about the duo.

“I’ve been very impressed with him,” Pierre-Paul said. “That’s what he’s supposed to do, make them know your name. That’s what he’s doing, I can’t really say much more about him. I don’t know what year this is for him, but he’s playing very great. This is your audition to do it next year and the year after that, that’s how you build a name for yourself in this league, man.”

Carl Nassib – Photo by: Mary Holts/PR

Bucs defensive coordinator, Mark Duffner talked about what has made Nassib effective. Even he didn’t expect this kind of job from him.

“Well, we studied him on his film coming from Cleveland,” Duffner said. “He certainly had been a high motor player, guys that we kind of like, you can see he works hard during the course of the game. Did I envision that he would be as productive as this? I’m not sure, I don’t know about that. I know we wanted him because of what we saw in terms of energy, effort, and how hard he played. Congrats, to him on what he’s doing so far.”