Every team has a player that only their fans seem to appreciate, while the other 31 fan bases forget about them.
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, PFF has chosen edge rusher Yaya Diaby as that man for the team. Third-year player out of Louisville is excited to be apart of a Bucs defense that is looking for new faces to lead it as he knows the pressure that is facing him in 2025 and beyond. While PFF makes him an underrated player, if it were up to him he would be a national name at this point.
PFF writes, “Diaby didn’t explode in the sack column in 2024, which kept his play under the radar, but his underlying pass-rush metrics suggest he had a breakout season in 2024.”
There is one part of Diaby’s 2024 season, though, that isn’t seen on a box score, which leaves them excited for his 2025 season and beyond.
“Perhaps most impressive about Diaby’s past season is that he delivered an 18.1% pass-rush win rate, which was a top-10 mark for the position, as were his 70 total pressures. Sacks are often what makes headlines, but Diaby is well on pace to regress positively in that regard, which will likely keep him from remaining underrated.”
Diaby hopes to be the long-term answer to the Bucs pass rush problems while they add veterans and rookies alike this offseason.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: PFF sees a defender as Tampa Bay’s most underrated player
Reporting by Andrew Harbaugh, Buccaneers Wire / Bucs Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
