Although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers don't necessarily have a Calijah Kancey problem, they certainly have a conundrum on their hands with the three-year veteran. When healthy, Kancey is one of the best and most versatile defensive lineman that the league has to offer and a great asset to have.
But that's the problem: In a league where your best ability is availability, Kancey doesn't exactly have that in spades. And without his pass-rush pressure up the middle last year, not only did Tampa Bay struggle to get after the QB, but the Buccaneers' lack of talent and depth on the edge was exposed.
Jason Licht and the Tampa Bay front office did the safe thing, as they tend to do, and picked up Kancey's fifth-year option. The former Pittsburgh Panther will be under contract in South Florida for at least another two years, barring some unforeseen circumstance.
It is not a stretch to say, however, that Licht and Co. haven't come together on a long-term prognosis for Kancey yet. But they seem to be high on UDFA defensive tackle Josiah Green, whose skill set mirrors Kancey's in a lot of ways, which could soon throw some extra variables into Kancey equation.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have UDFA gem (and Calijah Kancey contingency plan) in Josiah Green
Licht recently spoke on the Pewter Report podcast, and he got into breaking down some of Tampa Bay's promising undrafted players. While Jalon Daniels was the obvious focal point, Licht also went out of his way to shoutout Green.
"Josiah Green, I was going to bring up," Licht said. "Very good athlete from Duke; defensive tackle. (He was at) Dartmouth before that making a lot of plays."
Now, Licht pumped the brakes a bit on anointing him or any of the team's young players. But he did note that Green was one of the young players "impressing" the Buccaneers' coaching and personnel staffs in the early going.
This is so important for a Tampa Bay squad that is weighing Kancey's future. Both were undersized interior defensive lineman coming out of college with elite athleticism who excelled at getting after the quarterback and not necessarily eating up space to take on double teams or getting run stops.
At the most, Green will be a sub-package player who rotates in on passing downs, so he can't necessarily "fill" Kancey's role to a T if the Buccaneers decide to eventually go the other way with him. But Green can be that pass-rush specialist from the 3-tech if Kancey is injured or off the roster.
Assuming DeMonte Capehart makes the 53-man roster, Green will still have his work cut out for him. But if Todd Bowles believes he can develop him and the Bucs protect him on the practice squad, Green, who is already catching attention, could be groomed as Kancey's replacement.
In fact, just how much Green comes along, in contingent with how healthy and effective Kancey is over the next two years, may be key factors in the former first-rounder's long-term future in Tampa Bay. Ideally, Kancey rights the ship and Green also makes his mark and carves out a role.
For the time being, though, Kancey is a question mark and Green is a UDFA catching plenty of attention.
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