Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has the talent to be top rookie defender in 2021

The Buccaneers hit the jackpot with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

Tryon-Shoyinka may not have been the first pass rusher to come off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft, but there will be a lot more teams that wish they did pull the trigger on the star pass rusher before the Buccaneers as this next season unfolds.

Jason Licht is on an unreal hot streak in the draft room right now. Looking back at the past first-round picks before this season, Licht brought Vita Vea, Devin White, and Tristan Wirfs to Tampa. All three players are All-Pro talents that are amongst the best in the league at their position on rookie contracts, and drafting like this is precisely why the Buccaneers are so great today.

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka joining the best defensive front seven in the NFL is just another example of the rich getting richer. The Bucs found a dominant pass rusher with the last pick in the first round, and the naysayers are losing ground on this selection by the day.

While it may be too soon to put Tryon-Shoyinka in the Hall of Fame or on an All-Pro roster, those who kill the excitement about the rookie have to make up new arguments every week.

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka will keep proving the doubters wrong

First, when reports were coming out during camp that Tryon was giving the established offensive line trouble, the argument was “wait till he does it against an opponent.”

When JTS started throwing grown men around and running past them like they weren’t even there in the preseason, the argument became “wait for the regular season.”

At a certain point, the pessimists need to keep their arguments to themselves. These takes are rotting like milk in the sun, and safe money is on Tryon-Shoyinka to continue his impressive upward track regardless of who he is lined up across from.

The regular season and the number three role will change some aspects of his game, but Tryon-Shoyinka is still in position to emerge as one of the best defensive rookies in the class.

The combination of size, speed, and bend in the NFL like JTS has doesn’t come often, and it is essential that we evaluate players on talent above their end-of-season stat lines and awards. We don’t have a massive sample size yet, but the Buccaneer rookie pass rusher has gotten to the quarterback with ease while using various techniques through two games.

It is important to remember that Tryon-Shoyinka isn’t a starter on this defense. At the end of the season, when a player like Micah Parsons wins Defensive Rookie of the Year with crazy stats, that doesn’t make him a better player than JTS. An award like that just means Parsons played more.

Compared to the rest of his defensive peers across the league, Tryon-Shoyinka is in the best position. He not only joins a great franchise that is still the best in the league, but he has a clear path to starting down the road and can earn some excellent reps this season in defensive formations that will put him in the best position to succeed. Think Mike Edwards, only with more reps.

Edwards was one of the best safeties in the NFL last season when he was on the field, but his reps were few and far between. Regardless, Edwards was able to leave an impact on several games despite his limited use, and Tryon-Shoyinka has the opportunity to leave twice the impact.

There may be other rookies across the league that the NFL loves to talk about on social media to feed into the hype, but anyone who ignores what Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is doing right now in live situations is willfully ignorant of the start of a great NFL career in Tampa.

It wouldn’t be the first time that someone slept on a Buccaneers player, and it certainly won’t be the last.

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