Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie should be grinning from ear to ear after NFL owners vote on Wednesday
The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the "tush push" play into a revolutionary one in the league, literally bowling over opponents on their way to their second Super Bowl championship last year. While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been one of few teams to stop it on the field, other teams tried to stop it this […]
The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the "tush push" play into a revolutionary one in the league, literally bowling over opponents on their way to their second Super Bowl championship last year.
While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been one of few teams to stop it on the field, other teams tried to stop it this offseason off of it, with the Green Bay Packers putting forth a proposal to the league owners to have the play banned. That proposal was shot down on Wednesday, as it didn't receive the necessary 24 of 32 votes to pass it. As such, the Eagles will be free to use the play again in 2025.
One Buccaneer who should be thrilled with the outcome is rookie undrafted free agent defensive tackle Desmond Watson. The former Florida Gator defender weighed in earlier in the offseason at a scale-crushing 464 pounds. He's since dropped to 437, or so he's said, but he's still as much of a mountain of a human being as there is in the NFL. The Bucs met with Watson before the draft and reached a deal with him shortly after.
Naturally, that much mass and strength – his 36 bench press reps at his pro day would have topped the combine – comes in handy when trying to stop a group of men going from point A in front of you to point B behind you. And while the Eagles have perfected the play, it wouldn't be surprising to see other teams try to either duplicate it or come up with their own offshoot.
In any event, being able to line up Watson and Vita Vea over the center would make it all but impossible to get the kind of push necessary to move the ball, and that's something that can help swing games though a key turnover on downs. Or, perhaps, persuade a coach to go away from going up the middle on short yardage altogether.
And that value should continue to keep Watson at least in the back of his coaches' minds through the rest of the offseason and during training camp.
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