Bucs’ Embattled First-Round Pick Shines in Season Opener

Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

If you were running a poll about which member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the worst offseason — and excluded never-there outside linebacker Randy Gregory — then you’d probably have to say it was 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

No player on the roster was more pilloried than Tryon-Shoyinka, who not only saw his fifth-year option declined but was the subject of weekly trade rumors and essentially took a preseason backseat to second-year outside linebacker YaYa Diaby.

None of that seemed to matter to Tryon-Shoyinka in a season-opening, 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders in which he had 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 quarterback hit and 1 forced fumble in one of his best games as a Buccaneer.

Tryon-Shoyinka shined as the Buccaneers likely faced one of the more athletic quarterbacks they’ll face this season in rookie Jayden Daniels.

“It’s always good when you start the day off with a sack and a (win),” Tryon-Shoyinka said after the game in a video posted to X by Pewter Report. “Shout out to Coach (Todd) Bowles and the defense for executing that game plan. That’s a crazy athletic quarterback and it was hard to chase him around.”

The Buccaneers get a playoff rematch in Week 2 when they travel to face the Detroit Lions on Sept. 15 — the same place where their 2023 season ended in the NFC Divisional Round.

Tryon-Shoyinka Effective Where Diaby Wasn’t

The Buccaneers seemed depleted — or at least greatly reduced — at edge rusher headed into the opener. Offseason acquisition Gregory was an outright disaster and never showed up for minicamp or training camp before he was released. Diaby missed a month of practice before the opener after a high-ankle sprain suffered on Aug. 1.

Rookie Chris Braswell, a second-round pick (No. 57 overall) has been a non-factor through the preseason. The Buccaneers were also without 2 starters on the defensive front against the Commanders with defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and defensive end Logan Hall out with injuries.

Enter Tryon-Shoyinka, who has been looked at as a disappointment through his first 3 seasons and lost his starting job late in 2023 after Diaby led the team with 7.5 sacks as a rookie despite playing in less than half of the team’s sacks.

Diaby didn’t register a single tackle in the opener.

One Reporter Theorized JTS Could Be Sacks Leader

One outside-the-box thinking reporter, Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, theorized back in June that Tryon-Shoyinka might have a chance to lead the Buccaneers in sacks in 2024.

Reynolds took his inspiration from the Marvel comic books and animated series “What If … ?” that shows various different outcomes for the heroes and villains in the extended multiverse.

“With a defense boasting young pass-rushing talent like defensive tackles Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey in addition to outside linebacker Yaya Diaby, no one would have Joe Tryon-Shoyinka leading Tampa Bay in sacks on their bingo card in 2024,” Reynolds said. “But what if Tryon-Shoyinka finally put it all together when it mattered most – his contract year — and wound up with eight, nine or 10 sacks to lead Todd Bowles’ defense? What if Tryon-Shoyinka became the physical presence the team has implored him to be, and he teamed up with Diaby to form a potent bookend presence at outside linebacker?”