Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Yaya Diaby is expected to miss a couple of games, according to Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report. Reynolds’ source noted that the severity and whether Diaby will end up on the IR will be determined on Monday.
However, right now the Bucs starter is expected to miss a couple of weeks and not end up on the IR.
“Sources tell Pewter Report that the team is optimistic that it’s not a long-term injury and that Diaby might only miss a few games, but there is no certainty until he undergoes medical testing on Monday,” wrote Reynolds.”If Diaby does wind up on injured reserve, the hope is that it would be short-term I.R. where he would only miss four games.”
Diaby has three sacks this season, but all of them came in Week 7.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Expected to Be Without Yaya Diaby for A Couple of Weeks
Diaby is a free agent at the end of the season. Tampa Bay might not want to extend him, especially when he got off to a slow start. Combining that with the fact that the Bucs started the season 1-4, the team was likely to trade Diaby.
Diaby is a young edge rusher who can defend and brings seven-sack potential. So, he had some value on the trade market. Still, if Diaby even misses two games, he is not going to be healthy through the trade deadline.
He is going to lose any value he had. Beyond that, the Bucs are not going to be looking to sell at the deadline now. They are 3-5, and they have two wins over the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers are 3-4 because they already had their bye week. The Falcons are 3-5, and the New Orleans Saints are 2-5. Tampa Bay already beat Carolina and Atlanta, so the team is right back in the mix to win the division and host a playoff game.
Considering how wide open the NFC East is, the Bucs are in contention for the number three seed right now.
It is going to be hard to sell in that state, so the Bucs would not be fielding calls for Diaby anyways.
Bucs Need Edge Rusher Help Without Diaby
Tampa Bay is likely to see some internal help step up while Diaby is out. Second-year rusher David Walker started to get more snaps in the Bucs’ Week 7 win over the Panthers. In Week 8, he was second on the team in snaps from the edge, behind rookie Rueben Bain.
Walker could end up starting, or at least getting starting snaps, with Diaby out. The team will likely lean on Al-Quadin Muhammad as their run defender, and Walker will take on more passing downs. Beyond that, they have veteran defensive end Anthony Nelson.
Losing Diaby will mostly mean more work for Muhammad and Walker, though.
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