The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the offseason determined to create more competition and depth along the edge. After watching Jack Pyburn throughout the preseason, they may eventually wonder whether they let one of their more intriguing young pass rushers get away too soon.
Tampa Bay waived Pyburn as part of its final roster cuts despite the undrafted rookie putting together one of the strongest preseasons on the team. Pyburn finished with four sacks, including two against the New York Jets and another two in the preseason finale against Jacksonville. His four sacks were tied for the most among edge defenders during the preseason. A numbers problem was always going to exist. The Buccaneers spent significant resources rebuilding the position,
adding first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. and veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad to a group that already included Yaya Diaby, David Walker and Anthony Nelson. With only so many roster spots available, Tampa Bay was eventually going to have to make a difficult decision. The gamble was likely that he would clear waivers and potentially remain available to the organization. Instead, the Kansas City Chiefs claimed him almost immediately, placing Pyburn on their 53-man roster and preventing Tampa Bay from bringing him back.
Preseason sacks don't automatically translate to the regular season, and Pyburn was often working against backups. Still, he did exactly what a young player is supposed to do with limited opportunities. Todd Bowles praised his work ethic and production after his two sack performance against New York, noting that Pyburn had taken advantage of the opportunities he received despite being buried behind a deep group of edge rushers, as Pyburn has a 21.4 percent pass rush productivity rate on true pass sets and a 23.8 percent win rate during the preseason.
The Buccaneers couldn't keep every promising edge defender, and their revamped group should be significantly deeper than it was a year ago. But if injuries strike or Pyburn develops into a contributor for Kansas City, this move will become much harder to defend. Tampa Bay spent the offseason searching for young players who could get after the quarterback. Pyburn showed legitimate signs of being one of them, and now the Buccaneers won't get the chance to find out what he could have become in their defense.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Did the Buccaneers make a mistake by waiving Jack Pyburn?
