Buccaneers Rookie to Wear Unique Number For First Time in Franchise History
The NFL Draft is behind us and the majority of franchises will get the first look at their respective newcomers during Rookie Mini-Camp this weekend.
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Leading up to the three-day camp, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have issued numbers to the eight players that they selected in the draft. Seven of the eight draft picks had their digits unveiled last week.
One name was ostensibly missing at the time - third-round pick and former Louisville outside linebacker YaYa Diaby. Now we know why.
On Tuesday, Tampa Bay updated its roster to include the eight rookies. The Buccaneers will be issuing a unique number for the first in franchise history following a recent NFL rule change.
According to the roster, Diaby is set to don No. 0 to begin his career at the professional level. After wearing No. 6 during his time at Louisville, he'll be sticking with a single-digit number.
The NFL approved a proposal to allow players to wear No. 0 at the end of March. While Diaby is the first player to hold the number for Tampa Bay, plenty of well-known players around the league have made the change to the digit this offseason including Philadelphia's D'Andre Swift, Baltimore's Roquan Smith, Jacksonville's Calvin Ridley, Cincinnati's Tee Higgins, and New York's Darren Waller.
Diaby is expected to grow into a standout with the Buccaneers and that's not only because he'll be wearing a distinctive number off of the edge. He developed and improved during his each of his seasons at Louisville. That culminated with a breakout performance in 2022 where he started all 13 games and recorded 37 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and nine sacks while being named Third-Team All-ACC.
"Man, I'm just excited to get there and start working," Diaby said after the draft. "I'm just excited to just come in and earn everyone's respect and just work."
"Just know, they got a dog," Diaby continued. "Someone that is going to come in and work every day – work every day and we're going to be back in that Super Bowl talk."
The Georgia native also brings exactly what Tampa Bay coveted in the draft - size, speed, and athleticism. He finished sixth among the EDGE prospects at the combine with a 4.51-second 40-yard dash and a 1.56 10-yard split that ranked second in his group. He also recorded a 37-inch vertical jump and a 10"0' broad jump. Diaby had the second-best athleticism score in Indianapolis according to NFL.com.
There's a lot to like about Diaby and the rest of the draft class. It'll be interesting to hear if he has a specific reason for wanting to wear the newly approved number.
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