Buccaneers
Buccaneers third-round OLB Yaya Diaby is in a position to play meaningful snaps as a rookie.
“When you look at the defense as a whole, we have a lot of competition across the board and YaYa is right in the middle of that at the outside linebacker position,” DL coach Kacy Rodgers said, via Tampa Bay Times. “All those guys have unique traits. YaYa is really strong and powerful. Shaq (Barrett) has elite pass-rushing skills. Joe (Tryon-Shoyinka) is super fast and athletic. ‘Nelly’ (Anthony Nelson) has the jack of all trades. You’ve Cam Gill and other guys. It’s a very competitive group right now.”
Diaby is eager to prove himself worthy of earning a spot in the rotation.
“I just want it. I just want it real bad,” he said. “I’m learning from guys like Shaq, Joe, ‘Nelly,’ so, it’s been really fun. I’m just trying to prove to (those) guys that I can be in the rotation with them and that we can be a good front.”
- Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles on the quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask following the first preseason game: “I thought Kyle made some good throws as well, he commanded the offense just the same. We’ll continue that next week.” (Pro Football Talk)
Panthers
Before Panthers LB Frankie Luvu arrived in Charlotte, he already had a connection to the team. Luvu’s position coach in his rookie year with the Jets in 2018 was the late Hall of Famer Kevin Greene, who played three of his last four seasons in Carolina in the late 1990s. Greene still holds the single-season team record for sacks and won NFL defensive player of the year in 1996.
“I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for him,” Luvu said of Greene via ESPN’s David Newton. “He saw something in me that I didn’t even see myself. He was on my ass constantly.”
In another full-circle moment, Greene’s head coach from back in those days, Dom Capers, is back with Carolina as a senior assistant. He sees a lot of his former player in Luvu.
“He’s going to go 100 miles per hour every single play,” Capers said. “He throws his body around with disregard and just has a very aggressive mindset. Kevin had that same mentality.”
Greene was a full-time edge rusher for most of his career while Luvu plays further off the ball. But Panthers GM Scott Fitterer says Luvu could see more time in pass-rushing situations in 2023.
“He might be playing a different position, but his instincts, his reckless style, his pursuit of the ball, that follows everywhere on defense,” Fitterer said. “And we’ll still use him outside. He’s not just going to be solely at inside linebacker. There’ll be some situations where we put him outside and blitz him and do different things with him.”
Saints
- Per USA Today’s John Sigler, Saints HC Dennis Allen doesn’t expect new LB Jaylon Smith to play in the first preseason game after just signing: “I wouldn’t expect for him to play. You know, he’s only been here 24 hours. We’ll have him ready in an emergency situation if we need him, but I don’t expect him to play Sunday.”
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