The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a key goal in free agency this past spring, and that was to get nastier and more experienced on defense, especially up front. In all honesty, though, the Tampa Bay defense has been a pretty big disappointment in the trenches, and a lot of that has to do with Vita Vea, who has gone MIA to the point where a lot of Bucs fans are wondering if they should have traded him to, say, the Buffalo Bills instead of paying him - or if they should even trade him now before the trade deadline ends, especially with the Bucs struggling to win games.
One player who is shining in the trenches is A'Shawn Robinson, who was one of the big free agency additions, coming from none other than the Bucs' Week 7 opponent, the Carolina Panthers.
Buccaneers' Week 7 clash with Panthers is a homecoming for A'Shawn Robinson
So far, Robinson has been one of the Buccaneers' best defensive players. The veteran has 19 tackles and a sack, as well as two interceptions. Pro Football Focus currently ranks him as the NFL's second-best defensive tackle, and he boasts the second-highest run defense grade.
One area where he could pick up his game as a pass rusher. His one sack and seven pressures this year are nothing to scoff at, but he had 5.5 sacks for the Panthers back in 2024. If he can get back to that production as a pass rusher in addition to his run-stoping prowess, he can reach truly elite status this season.
The Buccaneers need that nasty A'Shawn Robinson to make an appearance, and a trip to face his former team is a great place for that to start. This is Tampa's first big divisional rivalry game of the season, and it's against the very same team that embarrassed them by swiping the playoff spot from them at the end of the season.
Carolina leads the league in passing yards per game with Bryce Young at quarterback, but the corollary to that is they are a pretty weak team at running the football. The Panthers have a quality No. 1 guy in Chuba Hubbard with four touchdowns and 4.8 yards per carry, but nobody would call him a superstar - and the backs behind him are all pretty dreadful, carrying the rock for less than three yards per carry.
It's time for A-Rob to give them a taste of doom and show them what they're missing, and why the Bucs spent a whopping $10 million per year on his services up front.
Add us as a preferred source on Google