FAB 3. The Bucs’ Silent Assassin

Ryan Russell hasn’t done much in the NFL as a defensive end, but he’s getting ready to do more.

Entering his third year in the league and his second in Tampa Bay after spending his first year in Dallas as an undrafted free agent, Russell is hardly a household name. If not for his sack of Russell Wilson in the Bucs’ 14-5 victory over the Seattle Seahawks you might not even know who he is.

Despite that sack, you may not even know who Russell is, as he’s only played sparingly in eight games and collected just four tackles. But you’ll probably get acquainted with No. 95 (he switched jerseys from the No. 96 he wore last season) during the preseason.

Bucs DE Ryan Russell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The unexpected knee surgery that has veteran Jacquies Smith sidelined this August has opened the door for Russell to get first-team reps at defensive end opposite Noah Spence in nickel rush situations when Robert Ayers, Jr. moves inside to defensive tackle next to Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy.

“He’s a good rusher,” Ayers said. “The dude can play. He was in Dallas and I think they were real deep and had a couple high draft picks so he came here. Coach [Dirk] Koetter is all about opportunity and Ryan has one and is taking advantage of it and getting better every day. He’s another guy with a lot of ability.”

Second-year defensive linemen Davonte Lambert and Channing Ward got more playing time than he did last year, but at 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, Russell is a more fluid pass rusher, which is what Tampa Bay needs in Smith’s absence.

“He’s a young guy that has got to keep working,” Bucs right tackle Demar Dotson said. “He works hard and has a lot of upside. He’s got a long way to go, but he’s improving. You can see it.”

Like Spence, Russell is working on rushing from both the left and right side to give opposing offenses a different look.

“You have to get comfortable doing it,” Russell said. “One of my old coaches told me to get comfortable being uncomfortable. There are going to be some moves you like on the left that you might not like on the right. The more you can do, the more valuable you can be in this league.”

Russell has put himself in this position because he has quietly gone about working on his conditioning and strength training this offseason.

“He’s a quiet guy, but very smart, though,” Ayers said. “When you have a conversation with him he is very intelligent. It looks like he leaned out, but he put on more muscle mass. He’s hungry and he works his butt off and has a very serious demeanor.”

Russell admits he’s quite reserved, and is probably the quietest member of the defensive line.

Bucs DE Ryan Russell – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

“I’m a young player in this game,” Russell said. “This is only my third year in this league and I don’t have much to say. I want to let my play speak for itself. I’ve been watching a lot of film with mentors like Gerald McCoy and Robert Ayers and listening to their wisdom. There’s no way I can get as many reps as they’ve had in their careers. They’re older than me, so I have to listen and learn.

“I’ve been training my body to go hard, so when you get tired you can still use some of your best moves. Everybody gets tired and fatigued, especially in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. That’s when the pass rush needs to show up.”

Russell’s quiet demeanor is legendary around the halls of One Buccaneer Place.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Spence said. “We’re scared of that though. We’re like ‘What is he thinking? Tell us when you’re going to come in with something.’ He lets his play do the talking, though. He can hit and he’s real aggressive. He just doesn’t like to talk a lot.”

Russell’s hushed and studious nature has earned a nickname inside the defensive line room.

“Ryan is like a silent assassin,” Gholston said. “You won’t even know he is in the room or if he is around you. He is very extreme about his business. We’re locker mates. He sits to my left and Noah sits to my right. I see him studying film and trying to do better. He takes this as his profession – not just an opportunity.”

Russell is hoping to use this preseason as an opportunity to plant some roots in Tampa Bay and factor into the pass rush rotation. His teammates can feel that he has some momentum heading into the preseason opener at Cincinnati after registering his first sack against Wilson last year.

“Getting your first sack gets things rolling,” Ayers said. “The better you play, the more you know you can do it. You can see once he got going and started having a successful rush, even if he didn’t get the sack, his confidence level was rising. Coming into this training camp you could tell he was still thriving off the success he had last year.”

The sack of Wilson proved that Russell could be a playmaker in this league.

Bucs DE Ryan Russell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“It’s a boost for your confidence,” Russell said. “It’s not just validation that you belong out there, but that you can also make plays out there and you can make an impact. Gerald called that game on that sack, so I’ll give him credit for that. He wanted the stunt on our side and that’s what freed me up to get the sack.”

Wilson, a three-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion, is quite the quarterback for Russell to notch his first sack on.

“I owed him one,” Russell said. “I played him his last year at Wisconsin and he faked me out when I was going to sack him. But I finally got him. We all got him a lot that day.”

It’s that type of determination that has positioned Russell for a rise up the Bucs’ depth chart – as long as he makes some noise in August.