Cold, hard facts prove Bucs' Yaya Diaby was one of the best in the NFL in a key area in 2024
2024 was a season of mixed reviews on the defensive side of the ball for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite a relatively solid showing against the run, the team struggled against the pass, getting gashed far too often across the season. However, one player who proved to be a bright spot was second year outside […]
2024 was a season of mixed reviews on the defensive side of the ball for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite a relatively solid showing against the run, the team struggled against the pass, getting gashed far too often across the season.
However, one player who proved to be a bright spot was second year outside linebacker Yaya Diaby. The young edge rusher had a productive season beyond just what the typical stats say.
Diaby totaled 4.5 sacks on the season. Not great on its face. However, when you dig a little bit deeper, you can see that he did his job of getting into the backfield and affecting opposing quarterbacks.
Yaya Diaby was in the top ten in the NFL in total pressures in 2024
According to Pro Football Focus, Diaby totaled 70 total QB pressures for the season. That had him tied for tenth in the NFL with Micah Parsons of the Cowboys and Greg Rousseau of the Bills.
While Diaby's sack total dropped from 7.5 to 4.5 from year one to two, his pressures more than doubled. He had 30 in 2023 in 342 pass rushing snaps. That ballooned to 70 in 2024 in 472 pass rushing snaps. That's an increase in pressure rate from 8.7% to 14.8%, which is obviously a huge jump.
Sacks are obviously the golden goose in the league, but pressures are also very valuable. They force incompletions, interceptions, quarterback scrambles for little or no gains, etc. They're something that matter to the coaches in the league, and Diaby has been one of the best in the NFL at generating them in 2024.
The goal now is to get better in the middle and on the back end of the defense. The Bucs simply have to cover better in 2025 than they did in 2024. If they can, and if they can force QBs to hold the ball longer, then a larger number of pressures should turn into sacks for Diaby in 2025.
And sacks are what get players recognized in the league, something the Bucs' talented young edge rusher deserves more of after a solid 2024 season.
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