The Tampa Bay Buccaneers recognized that in 2025, whatever they were doing on defense wasn’t working.
That’s despite the defensive “genius” of head coach Todd Bowles, who knows so much about putting together an elite defense that he doesn’t even employ a defensive coordinator.
The results — an 8-9 finish and no playoffs — showed maybe it’s time to try something or someone new on that side of the ball.
Tampa Bay’s 1st preseason game against the New York Jets seemed to bring 1 of those new names to the forefront in 6-foot-4, 258-pound undrafted edge rusher Jack Pyburn, who wowed with 2 sacks in his unofficial NFL debut.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper singled out Pyburn as 1 of the NFL’s top “roster bubble” players making a push to land on the actual 53-man roster.
“Pyburn signed with the Bucs this spring as an undrafted free agent out of LSU,” Popper wrote on August 18. “He had two sacks Friday in Tampa Bay’s 24-16 win over the New York Jets, including one in crunch time in the fourth quarter. Pyburn is undersized, but he is strong and plays with an unrelenting motor. He threw a variety of moves, including a rip for his first sack in the third quarter and an inside spin move that needs some additional polishing. Pyburn also looked dominant at certain moments in the run game, including a rep late in the third quarter when he was matched up against Jets tight end Chase Curtis.”
Jack Pyburn Flashed Upside at Florida & LSU
Pyburn, a Jacksonville, Florida, native, played 3 seasons at Florida before transferring to LSU for his final college season in 2025.
Over his last 2 seasons at Florida and LSU, Pyburn showed glimpses of his potential.
In 2024 and 2025 — 1 season at Florida and 1 season at LSU — Pyburn racked up 112 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery in 24 games with 19 starts.
NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Pyburn as a 6th-round pick.
“Pyburn is a muscular outside linebacker with short arms and unremarkable athleticism,” Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “He’s been a non-factor as a pass rusher during his career, but he gets after it as a run defender. Pyburn has some heat in his hands, jarring blockers and playing off of them to make tackles in his vicinity, but his lack of length will make it tougher to set edges against longer NFL tackles. As a backup with a lack of rush and cover talent, special teams will need to become his money-maker to stay in the league.”
Pyburn alluded to off-field and concentration issues as factors in him going undrafted.
“Former Gators and LSU OLB Jack Pyburn said he’s worked harder on the mental side of the game and when he wasn’t drafted, took responsibility for it,” Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on August 17. “He got off social media. He had 2 sacks Friday vs Jets.”
Bucs Made Seismic Move at Edge Rusher in Offseason
The biggest move the Buccaneers made on the roster this offseason came at edge rusher, where they may have landed the NFL Draft’s best pound-for-pound player when Miami All-American Rueben Bain Jr. dropped to them at No. 15 overall in the 1st round.
Pyburn singled Bain out as 1 of the biggest reasons he’s been able to excel to this point.
“Working with Bain, I can’t stress to you all how talented that guy is, and I cannot wait to watch him play,” Pyburn said. “Tremendous person as well.”
‘Unrelenting’ Edge Rusher Could Crack Bucs’ 53-Man Roster