Position Group: Defensive Line
Players: Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, Logan Hall, C.J. Brewer, Greg Gaines, William Gholston, Adam Gotsis (Reserve/Future), Mike Greene (Reserve/Future), Eric Banks (Reserve/Injured),
2024 Evaluation: Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea and Logan Hall were the club's primary starters in the trenches. Over the course of the 2024 campaign, the Buccaneers generated the most unblocked pressures (64) and the 4th-quickest average time to pressure (2.59 seconds) in the NFL per Nex Gen Stats. The Bucs defense finished the regular season having recorded the 2nd-highest blitz rate (38.9%) and 8th-highest pressure rate (35.8%). Tampa Bay's defense was more effective against inside runs with Vita Vea manning the middle, allowing only 3.7 yards per carry, compared to 4.7 yards per carry when he was off the field. Vea also generated 47 pressures, the 7th-most among defensive tackles and his most in a single season in his career.
Kancey led the team with 7.5 sacks, while Vea (7.0) and Hall (5.5) finished second and tied for third on the team, respectively. Kancey and Vea are one-of-three interior tackle duos in the NFL with 5.0-plus sacks each (Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams). Kancey missed the first five weeks of the season but posted 6.5 sacks over the final nine games of the 2024 season. The Bucs run defense ranked fourth in the NFL, limiting opponents to 97.8 rushing yards per game.
Vea, the Bucs' menacing nose tackle, consistently demanded double teams and wreaked havoc with power. He overpowered centers/guards at the point of attack and imposed his will. Very few players – if any – at Vea's size and position are on the field on third down. However, as a result of Vea's rare athleticism, the Bucs kept Vea on the field in clear passing situations. He possesses surprising pursuit quickness and is the best in the game at what he does, routinely dislodging offensive linemen with ease.
With his elite first step and closing burst, Kancey provides an ideal complement to Vea's strength. Kancey became a mismatch for slower offensive linemen on twists/stunts and generated leverage with an effective and thorough rush plan. He tests linemen with a mental rundown of tells, then uses a variety of moves in his toolbox to bait at the line of scrimmage. Kancey became a focal point in Todd Bowles' pressure packages in 2024 with his explosion and twitchy feet. He terrorized the pocket for opponents and made an impact with his change-of-direction agility and high motor. In 2024, he created one of the most lethal tandems with Vea and excelled in one-on-one's.
Hall helped create push in the pocket and harnessed his athleticism, utilizing hand placement in the transition to power. In Year Three, Hall played faster after fully picking up the Bucs' complex system. His sack production (5.5) is even more impressive considering Hall traditionally runs off the field on third down as the team's outside linebackers join Vea and Kancey. With less pass rush opportunities, Hall made an impact and Bowles created a specific pressure package for Kancey and Hall to be on the field on third down together to maximize his ability to get after quarterbacks.
Greg Gaines, the primary sub for Vea at nose tackle, became a key cog in limiting the run game of opposing teams and became a fixture in limiting offenses during goal-line situations. He totaled 395 snaps and William Gholston, one of the Bucs' longest-tenured players, recorded 202 snaps and was adept at holding the line. With physicality at the point of attack, Gholston solidified the unit when his number was called.
2025 Outlook: Greg Gaines and William Gholston are unrestricted free agents, while C.J. Brewer is an exclusive rights free agent. Unrestricted free agents are players with four or more accrued seasons and an expiring contract and exclusive rights free agents have two or fewer accrued seasons. The Bucs retained Gaines last March as he inked a one-year deal with Tampa Bay and Gholston signed on for his 12th season with the Bucs in April of 2024. Last offseason's one-year deal for Gholston marked his third-straight.
