The Bucs are one of the top sack-getting teams of the past three years. Under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, the Bucs have registered 47-, 48- and 47-sack seasons, respectively. Those marks have all ranked in the top seven or better, while Tampa Bay has been among the league leaders in generating pressures.

So what’s the problem? The problem is that Tampa Bay’s pass rush plummeted at times when the Bucs rushed four or fewer defenders. It was an issue when the team faced top offensive lines, including against the Rams and Eagles in the playoffs. In past games against the Saints, Tampa Bay’s four-man rush has been neutralized too easily. Watching the Rams, 49ers and Saints consistently create pressure with four has to put Bowles on notice. This area of the Bucs defense must be more dominant in 2022.

How do the Bucs fix this problem? How do they improve their four-man pass rush so that Bowles doesn’t have to rely so heavily on blitzes for pressure? The good news is that two big solutions can come from players currently on the roster. And there really isn’t much bad news, but adding one more rusher through the draft could pay dividends too.

1. Can Tryon-Shoyinka Be Special?

In his rookie season, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has all the tools to be great. Burst, length, quickness, physicality, flexibility, hand usage and a terrific mental makeup. But he also showed that he has a ways to go on the details of the position. Setting up a pass rush plan and working rush moves off of speed-to-power attacks will be key for Tryon-Shoyinka in year two.

I’m guessing it will be much easier for Tryon-Shoyinka to do that as a full-time edge rusher, rather than a defensive chess piece. On the season, Tryon-Shoyinka dropped into coverage 67 times. That’s 11 percent of his snaps. Those 67 reps were more than all but 12 edge defenders in the NFL, despite the fact Tryon-Shoyinka was not a regular starter. And 133 of Tryon-Shoyinka’s snaps came from non-edge defender alignments, per PFF.

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I don’t mind moving Tryon-Shoyinka around at all. It even helped the Bucs win a few games this season. But ultimately, Tryon-Shoyinka needs to develop full-time on the edge. He needs to feel out his opponent over the course of a game and learn the art of winning one-on-one. Nobody, not even Myles Garrett, steps into the NFL and does that at a consistently dominant level. It takes time and repetition to become a great one-on-one rusher.

Unfortunately, Tryon-Shoyinka didn’t get enough of either last year. He was also constantly used on stunts and twists, opening up opportunities for others. While that aspect of the Bucs defense should remain, Tryon-Shoyinka can earn himself more one-on-one reps with a strong offseason.

Even despite being a fairly raw player, Tryon-Shoyinka could have had an eight-sack rookie season. Unfortunately, his tackling let him down a few times too many. That’s typically a very fixable concern for a line of scrimmage defender. The Bucs first round pick also needs to keep his angles tighter to his opponent when trying to corner. That usually starts with working into the frame of opposing tackles first, rather than always trying to run around them. Should the rookie bulk up a bit after getting super lean for the draft last year?

Everything is there for Tryon-Shoyinka to be the difference-maker Tampa Bay needs him to be. But raw talent, even with the right mental makeup, will only take him so far. The Washington product can be great, but this offseason will be critical to getting him there.

2. Play Vea More

This is the most egregious issue and the most fixable. The Bucs just signed Vita Vea to a four-year, $71 million extension. They then proceeded to play him less than 50 percent of the defensive snaps over the next three games. I can understand that usage against the Panthers and the Eagles – two wins that became blowouts. But against the Rams? Playing Vea 47 percent of snaps with your season on the line?

Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That just won’t fly, man. Over the final 10 games of the season, Vea played over 53 percent of snaps just twice. He never exceeded 66 percent of the reps, and he was under 50 percent of snaps in six contests. Either the Bucs made a massive mistake giving a part-time player one of the richest contracts for a defensive tackle in NFL history, or they aren’t playing Vea enough. There is no in-between. And my money is on the latter.

In 2018, Vea played 59 percent of snaps of games he appeared in as a rookie. The next two years, that number increased significantly. In 2019, Vea hit 66 percent, and in 2020 the number ballooned to 70 percent. But in 2021, Vea played just 56 percent of snaps!

Moving forward, Vea cannot dip under the 65 percent mark. Preferably, he would be up over 70 percent of defensive snaps next season. Kenny Clark, the closest player comparison to Vea, just completed back-to-back 71 percent plus seasons. There is no reason in the world why Vea can’t do that. If his conditioning isn’t good enough to carry that workload, why did the Bucs pay him?

It is unacceptable to break the bank at any position in the NFL for a part-time player. And we’ve already seen how dominant Vea can be when he’s out there. The nose tackle piled up 48 pressures this season and set a career high with four sacks this season. That earned him a trip to his first Pro Bowl. He looked better as a rusher in 2021 than he ever has before. With more opportunity in 2022, Vea could help carry Tampa Bay’s pass rush.

3. Bucs Must Find Another Rusher

The Bucs have plenty of run-stuffers up front. Vea, Will Gholston, Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Steve McLendon and Ndamukong Suh if they return, are capable of dominance in the trenches. But on passing downs, only Vea is consistently impactful. That’s a problem moving forward. Looking at the pass rush rotations of the top four-man rush groups, it’s clear that depth is vital.

Tampa Bay could look to add another edge rusher with role flexibility to rush inside next year. Or they could add a defensive tackle with more explosive traits to play alongside Vea. This draft class doesn’t have many difference-makers on the interior, and free agent options will be scarce.

Penn State DE Arnold Ebiketie – Photo by: USA Today

However, there are several collegiate hybrid defenders who will play inside full-time in the NFL. A few of them are at the Senior Bowl, and will bear watching. Could San Diego State’s Cam Thomas or Houston’s Logan Hall impress in Mobile? Or will a more traditional defensive tackle like Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt or UConn’s Travis Jones show out instead?

On the edge, Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson bears watching in Mobile. He measured in nearly 6-4 1/2 and 259 pounds with a nearly 83-inch wingspan. That is ridiculous. His tape is solid, too. A strong Senior Bowl could result in more first round buzz.

Penn State’s Arnold Ebiketie is also generating late first-round buzz. Does he have the athleticism to translate to success in the NFL? The Bucs will be watching in Mobile, and so will Pewter Report.