The Buccaneers are betting on a different kind of future up front, and three of their key young defenders were already in the room working on it.
Rueben Bain Jr., Calijah Kancey and David Walker all attended this year’s Sack Summit, the annual gathering that brings some of the NFL’s top pass rushers together to trade ideas, techniques and ways to sharpen their game. For Tampa Bay, that kind of participation says plenty about where the team wants its defense to go.
The Bucs have spent years trying to find more reliable pressure off the edge, and this group is a big part of the answer they’re chasing. Bain, the team’s first-round pick, arrives with the kind of profile Tampa Bay has been missing: power, athleticism and nonstop effort. He was one of college football’s top pass rushers at Miami, and the hope is that learning from established NFL veterans can help him pick up the finer points quickly as he heads into his first season.
Kancey brings a different kind of urgency to the picture. The former first-round pick has flashed the ability to wreck plays from the interior, but injuries have kept him from being on the field enough early in his career. If he can stay healthy and keep growing, Tampa Bay could have a real problem for opposing offenses right in the middle of the line.
Walker is another name worth tracking. The former fourth-round pick missed his rookie season with an ACL injury, but he’s now trying to get back on track and carve out a role in Todd Bowles’ defense. He was known for his pass-rushing ability in college, and 2026 gives him a chance to show it again, this time in the NFL.
Taken together, Bain, Kancey and Walker represent a major piece of the Buccaneers’ defensive rebuild. Their presence at the Sack Summit makes one thing clear: Tampa Bay isn’t just banking on talent. These guys are putting in the work to become the kind of pass-rushing core the team has been looking for.
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Even so, there is plenty here to argue about once camp opens. The receiver group, the back end of the secondary and a few reserve spots on both lines all look like they could shift quickly, and the competition at cornerback is especially worth watching with a new arrival in the mix. For a team trying to sort out its best 53, the real intrigue is not at the top of the chart, but in the spots where one strong week in camp could change the conversation entirely. [Read more 🡒]