Bucs outside linebacker YaYa Diaby will be entering his second season looking to build off a promising rookie year. Although he did not start a game until Week 12, Diaby led the team with 7.5 sacks and provided a lot of pass-rushing spark to the room.

With veteran Shaq Barrett being released in the offseason, Tampa Bay will be relying on Diaby to again lead the room and take the next step to elevate into a premier pass rusher. He is hungry to get out there and show what the outside linebacker room is capable of, especially after being recently slighted.

YaYa Diaby Overlooked By PFF, But One Of NFL.com’s Most Underappreciated

Pro Football Focus has been busy ranking each position group over the past couple of weeks, and recently Pewter Report covered its rankings of each linebacker position. PFF chose not to include YaYa Diaby in their top 32 outside linebackers, and he responded to a post on X about how that makes him more hungry heading into this season.

Bucs OLB YaYa Diaby – Photo by: USA Today

Despite being snubbed from the list, NFL.com recently came out with a list naming one underappreciated player from each team, and their selection for Tampa Bay was Diaby.

Diaby racked up his first five career sacks in a six-game span between Weeks 8 and 13, when Tampa was between one and three games under .500 and seemingly in danger of falling into oblivion. By the end of the year, the 2023 third-round pick had claimed a starting job, and the Bucs were NFC South champs.

Tampa fans who felt like Diaby should have earned Defensive Rookie of the Year consideration have a case, but his emergence was sudden, and perhaps overshadowed by the many other developments around Baker Mayfield’s crew. Even with second-round pick Chris Braswell in the fold, Diaby has a chance to leave no doubt about his quarterback-hunting prowess in Year 2.

This assessment is a logical one explaining what has perhaps kept Diaby off some radars heading into this season. While he started to emerge down the stretch as the Bucs were turning the tide on their season, bigger storylines often outweighed how he was impacting games every week.

YaYa Diaby Had A Strong Case For Defensive Rookie Of The Year In 2023

Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

YaYa Diaby did go on to be tied for fifth in the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting with Lions defensive back Brian Branch, but comparing his numbers to Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (who won the award), Diaby did more with a lot less playing time.

Will Anderson Jr.: 15 games, 13 starts, 45 total tackles, 22 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss, seven sacks

YaYa Diaby: 17 games, seven starts, 38 total tackles, eight quarterback hits, 12 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks

Now, that is not to say that YaYa Diaby is better than Will Anderson Jr., but it is noteworthy that when comparing their numbers, Diaby isn’t too far off from the third overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Time will tell how Diaby fares in his second season, but it is clear that he is motivated to prove that he is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL.