Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Next Step for Calijah Kancey: 17 Games

Third-year DL Calijah Kancey, the Buccaneers' sack leader in 2024, has put together two impressive seasons despite dealing with calf injuries, but the team hopes he can stay healthy throughout 2025

Jul 28, 2025 at 05:33 PM

Scott Smith

Senior Writer/Editor

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Calijah Kancey almost made it to the starting gate on time last season.

After the former Pitt defensive lineman was drafted with the 19th overall pick in the 2023 draft, he suffered a calf injury early in training camp, which wiped out most of his preparation time for his rookie season. He did get back in time to start the regular season but immediately reaggravated the injury and missed three games and most of a fourth. Kancey admitted that he was rusty upon his return and it took him some time to get into a groove.

It looked like things would be different in Kancey's second season. He had no health issues in training camp or the preseason; however, near the end of the very last practice before the season opener, Kancey again strained a calf, and this time he would miss five games. When he has been on the field through his first two seasons, he has looked very worthy of that high draft pick. He 11.5 sacks, 29 quarterback hits and 70 QB pressures in 26 games, and he led the Buccaneers last season with 7.5 sacks in just a dozen games. He was 10th in the voting for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Of course, what the Bucs want to see now is that sort of impact from the beginning of the season to the end, without interruption. As such, the team is paying extra attention to how Kancey goes about his work on the field in an effort to avoid the same sort of injury.

"It would be great for him to start the season and not miss any time," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "The past two years, I think he missed five games apiece and still came back and played. We're monitoring that every day. Obviously, you can't put a handle on it. He's feeling great right now. As time goes forward, we've just got to make sure we continue to monitor the things he does and how he gets warmed up and everything else, and that it doesn't boil over into that. That'll be very important for us."

Like his fellow 2023 draftee, Yaya Diaby, Kancey made clear improvement from Year One to Year Two. Even though he played 40 fewer defensive snaps in 2024 than the season before, he increased his sack total by 3.5 and had 37 pressures, four more than in 2023. Kancey had the sam exact number of run stops despite the fewer snaps and the exact same number of "quick" quarterback pressures (11). According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Kancey's pressures came at an average of 2.77 seconds after the snap, better than the 3.07 mark he had as a rookie.

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TAMPA, FL - July 28, 2025 - Safety Christian Izien #29 and Defensive/Special Teams Assistant Keith Tandy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during 2025 Training Camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Tori Richman/Tampa Bay Buccaneers