Last year the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dealt with one of the more egregious Pro Bowl snubs we've seen in recent memory. Antoine Winfield Jr., who was arguably the best safety in the entire league, was left off the Pro Bowl roster in favor of Budda Baker and others.
Baker's inclusion at the expense of Winfield was the powderkeg, as the gap between the two players couldn't have been any wider yet the wrong guy was getting honored. Winfield eventually ended up with All-Pro honors and a contract that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, but the snub still stung.
A year later, the Bucs are dealing with yet another player who should have gotten Pro Bowl honors but was instead snubbed. Baker Mayfield played like an MVP all season but was left off the roster despite scoring 44 touchdowns and throwing for over 4,000 yards.
It was a brutal snub, but it wasn't the only one according to head coach Todd Bowles.
Todd Bowles thinks Calijah Kancey was a Pro Bowl snub
While discussing the defense, Bowles pointed out that defensive end Calijah Kancey probably should have gone to the Pro Bowl based on the season he had.
“Kancey’s really been unbelievable. Vita went to the Pro Bowl; Kancey should have been there as well," Bowles said, via JoeBucsFans. "And I thought Logan had an excellent year making the jump from last year in the run game and the pass game. And those three guys are pretty much three of the top four guys in sacks on our team. So, they really carried us and they had a heck of a year.”
Bowles isn't wrong, Kancey was a wrecking ball for the Bucs' defense this past season. He finished with 7.5 sacks -- more than any other player on the roster and in the entire NFC South -- and 17 total quarterback hits. It was a tremendous step forward in his development over a rookie season that was also impressive even though it was cut into by injuries.
Kancey also dealt with injuries this season, but it didn't stop him from being the best defensive player on the team and a game changer at times during the year. The Bucs struggled to establish a pass rush, which was a fatal flaw of the defense, but none of that is on Kancey who was routinely in the opposing backfield and looks like one of the best picks of the 2023 NFL Draft just two seasons into his career.
What's also notable in Bowles' praise is that he singles out Logan Hall, who was up against a tough challenge this year. Kancey was draft in large part because Hall hadn't totally panned out as the pass rusher the Bucs needed him to be. He was drafted back in 2021 after Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl and Hall was viewed as someone who could potentially take the torch from Shaq Barrett while establishing an edge presence on the defensive line.
That didn't happen, but he did take some strides this year that suggest he could breakout in 2025. He finished with more than ten times the amount of sacks he had last year and more than doubled the total he had his rookie season. If Hall can continue to develop, Kancey's rise as one of the best young edge rushers in the league will be even more valuable to the Bucs.
Who knows, maybe we'll finally see the defense get some respect in the Pro Bowl voting next year if that all happens.
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