Todd Bowles sees a future captain in Calijah Kancey, a young defensive anchor poised to lead the Buccaneers' defensive front for years to come.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have nobody to blame but themselves for collapsing down the stretch in 2025, and coach Todd Bowles knows this better than anybody.
With that said, injuries to key players can never be overlooked entirely.
The injury bug bit the Bucs worse on offense, with key players such as receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, running back Bucky Irving and offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs all missing games.
On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey missed all but three of Tampa's 17 games with a pectoral injury.
Kancey returned for the team's regular-season finale against the Panthers, which the Bucs won to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Those hopes went up in smoke the next afternoon when the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, thus making the Carolina Panthers the NFC South champs due to a tiebreaker (Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa all finished 8-9).
In an interview with the Nothing But Bucs podcast after the season, Bowles said that Kancey's return lifted the whole team up, not just on gameday, but throughout the entire week leading up to it.
“Just physically having him back really brought the practices up to another level, and it was more intense in practice and had those guys ready to play on Sunday," Bowles said. “He is one of our true leaders on the team.
"Although he is not a captain yet, I’m sure he will be in the near future, and everything starts and ends with him up front, with him and Vita [Vea]."
Vea, who has been with Tampa since 2018, is 30 years old.
Although that isn't ancient -- Cam Heyward of the Pittsburgh Steelers is 36 and still playing at a high level -- Vea is at the age when people wonder how much he has left in the tank.
Vea is also a team captain, so considering Kancey is only 24 years old, it's fair to think of Vea passing the torch down the road.
Along with leadership, Bowles made it clear that Tampa missed Kancey on the field, too.
“Just the interior pass rush, you know, an extra pass rusher that can push the pocket, and also quickness and the games that we run up there," Bowles said. "We really missed that type of speed and that type of power."
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