Entering 2025, Calijah Kancey is on an upward trajectory. Last season, the Pittsburgh product led the team with 7.5 sacks, disrupting offensive rhythms at the line of scrimmage. In 2024, Kancey and his linemate, Vita Vea, became one-of-three interior tackle duos in the NFL with 5.0-plus sacks each (Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams). Kancey missed the first five weeks of the 2024 campaign due to a calf injury but posted 6.5 sacks over the final nine games of the slate.
In 2023, Kancey started off his rookie year on a similar note. He aggravated his calf in Week One and returned after a four-game absence. When he returned, he became the first interior defensive lineman in team history to win Rookie of the Month honors in November, recording 10 tackles (seven for loss), four quarterback hits, 2.0 sacks and one pass defensed in that four-game span. Following that month, Kancey was the only rookie with 25-or-more pressures on fewer than 350 defensive snaps per TruMedia data.
Kancey concluded his rookie season with 10 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits and 4.0 sacks and in 2025, he is chasing the NFL sack title. He knows that journey begins by being available and he spent the offseason focused on a strict training regimen to keep his body right for the toll of a 17-week season. Following practice on Wednesday, Head Coach Todd Bowles attributed Kancey's understanding of blocking schemes to his ascension.
"Just of how they are setting and blocking him, quick-setting or whether they are coming off the ball and how to use his hands, really how to work with Vita and set each other up for pressure is when they go across the ball," said Bowles. "He put in a healthy camp and cross our fingers he starts the season off for the first time since he has been here. We look for big things from him. He is very tough. Everybody thinks he is small, but he is extremely tough and he can hold a double team and do all the little things for us."
Kancey pairs rare first-step quickness with a relentless motor to wreak havoc in the trenches. The "undersized" narrative followed Kancey throughout the pre-draft process, but his twitchy feet and forward-charging attack made him a commodity for the Buccaneers and Bowles' defense. Kancey plays with discernment and is adept at making in-game adjustments to set up blockers. Kancey can alternate between speed and power moves and has learned to perfect his technique at the point of attack to not get beat on double teams with proper leverage. He has shown his ability to impact games by exploding off the line and with a clean bill of health entering 2025, the sky is the limit for Kancey.
