Young Buccaneers standout named one of NFL's best edge rushers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Yaya Diaby had a really solid year last year, but he can play better — and Tampa Bay's offseason could unleash him in 2025.

Diaby's pass-rushing skills were quite good last year, but he was simply unable to finish reps and get sacks at the clip he wanted. He netted just 4.5 in 2024, but with the addition of pass rusher Haason Reddick, he could get some attention off of him and be able to feast without too many double teams

Pro Football Focus seems to think that could change sometime soon. Writer Ryan Smith ranked the top 32 edge rushers in the NFL ahead of the 2025 season, and Diaby made the cut, coming in at No. 24.

Here's what he had to say about Diaby going into next season:

"Diaby made a significant leap in his second season, improving his PFF grade from 60.8 as a rookie in 2023 to 78.0 in 2024. He ranked among the top 15 edge defenders in both pass-rush grade (79.4) and run-defense grade (74.8), finishing the year with 65 total pressures and a 17.4% pass-rush win rate."

Diaby has been vocal this offseason about his desire to get more sacks, and if he's able to do that alongside Reddick, Tampa Bay's middling pass rush could get dangerous very quickly.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2025 offseason.

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