Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Breaking down pass rushing depth
By Cory Kinnan
The new guy on the block
The Buccaneers hit a home run with the signing of former Denver Broncos edge rusher Shaquil Barrett this Spring. Barrett comes to Tampa Bay on a one-year, $4 million deal, but this may be just the beginning of bigger contracts for the former undrafted player out of Colorado State.
Barrett, for the first time in his career, is out of the shadow of future Hall of Fame pass rushers and will get reps as a starter. Playing behind guys like Von Miller and Demarcus Ware early in his career, Barrett served in a rotational role with the Broncos, but will now be a surefire starter in Tampa Bay off the edge.
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In the role he played, Barrett has tallied 14 sacks and 25 tackles for loss over the past four seasons, but consistently stuck to assignments and did his job; this led to him becoming a Pro Football Focus (subscription required) darling, scoring a high 76.1 last season. If he continues to perform as he has done thus far in his career, with more reps this time, he could be looking at a career year in 2019.
From rotational role to starter, Barrett will be asked to lead the attack off the edge for the Buccaneers this season. We will have to be left wondering what a full year of a Barrett/Pierre-Paul attack would have looked like.