Tampa Bay needs pass rush like charcoal needs lighter fluid. 

Welcome to the Tampa Bay Bucs largest remaining offseason need— pass rush, more specifically, an edge rusher. Jason Licht has received high marks for his offseason moves thus far. Faced with the seemingly insurmountable task of re-signing a handful of high-caliber stars from Antoine Winfield Jr. to Mike Evans, the Bucs were able to bring back a majority of their free agents, including all of their “key” ones. The single most glaring need the team has left largely unaddressed is edge rusher. Tampa actually took a step backwards at one of their roster’s weakest position groups, parting ways with Shaq Barrett. Barrett hasn’t been the Shaq Barrett of 2019, 2020, or 2021 (where he amassed 37.5 of his 59 career sacks), over the past few seasons— Barrett’s brought the quarterback down just 7.5 times. He was still a consistent starter for the Todd Bowles’ defense, playing 80 games in a Tampa Bay Bucs’ uniform since 2019.

Tampa has some youth and depth lined up to step in, however, no player on the team’s roster has a double-digit sack season on their résumé. Yaya Diaby did boast a very promising rookie season posting 7.5 sacks but, the projected starter opposite Diaby would likely be either Anthony Nelson, Joe Tryon, or the newly acquired Randy Gregory. Both Nelson and Tryon have been Bucs, receiving rotational playing time, for multiple seasons and haven’t been able to lay claim to a long-term starting position. Gregory is an NFL veteran, drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015 who hasn’t gotten to reach the full potential Dallas saw in him as a prospect out of the University of Nebraska.

Enter draft projections of the Tampa Bay Bucs selecting an edge defender early in this year’s NFL Draft— And enter Laiatu Latu.

Who is Laiatu Latu?

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Laiatu Latu is an edge defender out of UCLA. Latu is coming off two consecutive impressive seasons at the collegiate level. In 2022, Latu introduced himself to the college football world with a 10.5 sack season. Last year, he was able to follow that up with a 13 sack outing. Saddled along with those 23.5 sacks were five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and two interceptions— Showing Latu has a knack for playmaking.

A main, or rather the main, cloud hovering above Laiatu Latu’s draft stock is his injury history. In 2020, when Latu was still a member of the Washington Huskies, he missed an entire season due to a neck injury. The following season in 2021, University of Washington doctors again refused to clear him to play. After his transfer to UCLA, Latu was medically cleared and began making a name for himself.

NFL Scouting Combine

At the NFL Combine, Latu measured in at 6’5” with the scale showing 259 lb. The former Bruin ran a 4.64 40-yard dash with a 1.62-second 10-yard split. He jumped 32” vertically, 9’8” horizontally, and had this to say about his own performance—

How does Laiatu Latu fit with the Bucs?

—Very well.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have fluctuated between having a good defense and a very good/elite defense throughout Todd Bowles’ tenure with the organization. Bowles thrives on the defensive side of the ball and that has shown in the overall success he has had with the unit. During his time in Tampa, the heights the Bucs’ defense have been able to climb to, have been largely dependent on the group’s pass rush. The ability of Tampa’s defense to get the quarterback has varied, since 2019 and has been the largest determining factor in the ceiling of the unit as a whole.

Projections read out that Yaya Diaby should grow and build upon his rookie season, developing into a reliable edge defender. In that scenario, pairing a young talent like Diaby with another potential young star like Laiatu Latu could blossom into a top young-pass rushing duo in the league very quickly— Giving the Bucs two building block edge defenders— Both on rookie deals.

On the clock…

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