Rave Reviews for Buccaneers' Tryon: ‘He’s Going To Be the Difference-Maker'
Photo: Joe Tryon; Credit: Buccaneers.com
Several members of the Buccaneers roster share the same sentiment as Tampa Bay's coaching staff: First-round rookie edge rusher Joe Tryon is going to be a problem for opposing offenses.
After head coach Bruce Arians acknowledged that the University of Washington has been "whipping a lot of guys' asses" in training camp, several of his teammates took to the podium with a similar attitude over the past two days.
“Joe is going to be amazing," fellow edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul said on Friday.
"He’s doing stuff that I’m looking at and thinking, ‘Man, I wish I would of knew that when I was a rookie,’" Piere-Paul continued. "He’s doing amazing stuff out there. Me and [Shaquil Barrett] were just talking about him on the sideline while watching him go at it with the tools. I told Shaq, ‘He’s going to be the difference-maker for us.’"
On Friday, Tryon was one of AllBucs' top performers at practice, showing off impressive movement ability while dropping back into coverage, blitzing from the nickel corner position, creating pressure and nearly recording a would-be sack.
Barrett compared Tryon to a player that he was quite familiar with from his time in Denver, having played alongside him with the Broncos during his 12-sack 2018 rookie season as well.
"He reminds me a lot of [Bradley] Chubb when Chubb came out, like you can see a lot of similarities in him," Barrett proclaimed. "So I think he's going to have a bright future, [Pierre-Paul and I] just try to coach him up ... We're pretty much an open door at all times."
Tristan Wirfs, the Buccaneers' second-year starting right tackle who made a huge impact as a rookie himself, was on the wrong side of Arians' earlier compliments of Tryon. Arians admitted that Wirfs has, at times, struggled to slow the rookie pass rusher down throughout training camp.
Wirfs wasn't afraid to reiterate what Arians said, conceding that Tryon has been able to beat the second-year pro off the edge in practice.
“Joe is a really good player. He’s got a lot of juice, a lot of energy, plays with a lot of leverage," Wirfs raved. "I mean he’s got long arms, he’s fast – you don’t see a lot of people that are built like him. He’s tough to handle sometimes.
"I think just getting your hands on him, he comes off the ball so fast. In certain situations, like if I’m getting my eyes out to him late – if I’m in a shift or something – he gets his hands on me first, you really have to throw your feet back and sit down and sometimes it’s harder to recover from it."
The Buccaneers clearly have their starters at outside linebacker entrenched after Barrett and Pierre-Paul combined for 17.5 regular season sacks a year ago. That being said, it will be difficult for Tampa Bay to not give Tryon meaningful snaps at the pace he appears to be developing at.
Although Tryon may be viewed as the heir to Pierre-Paul as his contract will expire after the season, Pierre-Paul views Tryon - literally - as a breath of fresh air who should only be able to help Pierre-Paul's game excel in 2021.
“Adding a guy like that, it keeps us fresh,' said Pierre-Paul. "The rotation is going to be good. Anthony Nelson, he’s having a great training camp as well. They’re picking up. That’s the whole game of training camp throwing your brothers in and getting to know them and teach them what I know. I want to teach them what I know.”
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