Buccaneers: It's easy to see why 2023 is a huge year for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
Former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka may have led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 46 total pressures in 2022, but it's clear the third-year player still has a ways to go before he reaches his full potential. The key to reaching that potential is simple: finish the play. We saw JTS whiff on sacks far too […]
Former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka may have led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 46 total pressures in 2022, but it's clear the third-year player still has a ways to go before he reaches his full potential.
The key to reaching that potential is simple: finish the play. We saw JTS whiff on sacks far too often last year and that can't happen anymore. He has to learn how to finish plays at the top of the arc.
"We liked what he was doing last year – he was kind of missing at the top of the pass rush," head coach Todd Bowles told reporters Tuesday. "He probably missed more than he made, so, if he can wrap up and tackle those, he'll be right where we want him to be."
Per Pro Football Focus, Tryon-Shoyinka finished with 26 total pressures against true pass sets in 2022, which was 37th out of a possible 50 EDGE players with at least 337 pass rush snaps. His 3.0 sacks tied for sixth-worst and his pass rush productivity tied for 12th-lowest. JTS' win rate, however, was a respectable 16.2%, which ranked 21st among the aforementioned qualifying players.
"It's not leaving your feet so early and it's going through/pushing through with your shoulder and understanding when you can go for the ball and when you can't go for the ball," Bowles said when asked how Tryon-Shoyinka can finish on a consistent basis.
In an effort to get more from the outside pass rush, the Buccaneers brought in George Edwards during the offseason. Edwards is a proven coach that has worked with some of the best pass rushers in the league. If anyone can get JTS to reach his ceiling, it's Edwards.
"He loves the game," Tyron-Shoyinka told reporters Tuesday. "Just being able to pick his brain in meetings and on the field has really accelerated my learning process… He's a knowledgeable person and he's been in a lot of schemes. He's been around the game a long time. It's been a pretty good process."
In all, 2023 is a big year for the former Huskie. The Bucs will have to decide whether or not they want to approve his fifth-year option next year and it's safe to say another subpar year causes the Bucs to move against approving the option. Another subpar year would easily have him on the path to a bust label, as well.
"It's just mental at that point," Tryon-Shoyinka said when asked about his lack of finishing. "You have to just have that willpower to finish. Being in position isn't enough. You want to make those plays. You're going to rewind those plays that you missed every time and be sick thinking about what could've been. But at the end of the day, you have to move on and try to improve and that's all I'm going to do."
Fortunately, JTS has the ability and the pieces around him to have said year. We'll just have to see if it happens.
Featured image via Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
