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Bucs defensive tackle Elijah Roberts has gone a bit under the radar this offseason. But his play on the field through two preseason games should not be ignored.

Tampa Bay placed an emphasis on their defense in the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting two cornerbacks and two pass rushers with their second through fourth picks. And while nickelback Jacob Parrish has stolen the show, cornerback Benjamin Morrison has been slowed by injuries and outside linebacker David Walker has been lost for the season, it is Roberts who has low-key given some hope for true depth on the defensive side of the ball.

Bucs Are Hoping To Improve Their Four-Man Pass Rush

With the additions of David Walker and Elijah Roberts, both pass rush-first players in college, along with the signing of outside linebacker Haason Reddick, Tampa Bay made investments in getting to the quarterback this offseason. Despite being second in the NFL in pressures and seventh in sacks, the team struggled to create consistent havoc unless head coach Todd Bowles was sending extra rushers.

Without the benefit of five or more pass rushers on a play the Bucs fell to 23rd and 25th, respectively, in those two markers.

Part of this was due to a lack of juice coming from most of the team's depth players along the line. Taking out the top four linemen – Yaya Diaby, Anthony Nelson, Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey – the Bucs' backups generated just 85 pressures all season despite rushing the quarterback a combined 1,275 times per Pro Football Focus.

That's a pressure rate of just 6.7%. The addition of Reddick should have a cascading effect. He knocks Nelson back to a reserve role where Nelson is best suited. Nelson is coming off of in many ways his best season as a pro. He set career highs in pressures and pressure rates, and his forced fumble in overtime in Carolina in overtime led to a crucial win for the Bucs down the stretch.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: USA Today

Nelson should be more productive than Tryon-Shoyinka was, creating a second upgrade. But Roberts should provide more production on the inside to help as well. While Logan Hall has many fans excited after a 5.5-sack campaign in 2024, I am much more skeptical of his progress. Sacks are notoriously volatile year-to-year, and his pressure rate, which is a much more stable indicator of future performance, was still only 6.4%. Enter  Elijah Roberts.

Elijah Roberts Is Having A Strong Preseason

Take a look a Pro Football Focus' pass rush win rate metric. Among qualified players (minimum of 25 pass rush snaps), he is second in the NFL right now at 32%. If you believe in PFF's grading model, he is tied for sixth in pass rush grade at 85.6, just one spot behind the much-ballyhooed edge rusher Mike Green in Baltimore. Roberts is winning as a pass rusher where his quickness and hands have been helping him give opposing offensive linemen fits.

Roberts has been flashing real promise as a pass rusher with burst off the snap that gets him into creases before offensive linemen can engage. He compliments that quick first step with fast, powerful hands that keep opponents from grasping onto his frame to get control. Those quick movements translate into forceful power as he routinely crashes into the pocket and creates uncomfortable situations for quarterbacks.

https://t.co/kPJ9ok3uOb pic.twitter.com/wB7cW2cxT3

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 18, 2025

A converted edge rusher out of SMU, he's the definition of a tweener of an interior spot. At just under 6-feet-4-inches and weighing less than 290 pounds, Roberts will have a hard time finding a permanent spot. It's not impossible. Calijah Kancey is doing it at a lower weight (280), although he's shorter (6-foot) allowing him to win the leverage gambit routinely.

At SMU Roberts played on the outside as an edge rusher. This is the first time he has been asked to play inside. It's a similar transition Logan Hall made when entering the NFL when he was an edge rusher at Houston.

Last year in college Roberts only played eight snaps out of 590 inside the guard's shoulder. Because of that he's not been asked to fit the run much. In Todd Bowles' system that will be a core skill he is asked to develop. And here's the good news. It looks like he's starting to develop it already.

In his first preseason action against the Titans, Roberts struggled to maintain his pad level and anchor against the run. He got blown up on a couple of double teams and generally learned a lot.

One of his better run defense snaps on the night. Elijah Roberts was able to hold the POA against the double team. On a lot of other snaps, he wasn't able to stand up as well. This is going to be one of the biggest areas of adjustment for him as he moves inside. pic.twitter.com/uqkZGbCSOt

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 10, 2025

But last week against the Steelers he showed improvement already. His strength played and he gave up less ground against double teams. If he can continue show progress in this area there is no doubt that he will start to take snaps away from Greg Gaines and possibly Hall. But with what he has already shown as a pass rusher, he is certainly carving out a role to get on the field come the regular season.

Bucs DT Elijah Roberts – Photo by: USA Today

In two seasons at SMU Roberts generated 131 pressures and 17.5 sacks. His pressure rate was 17.4%. He won't be able to keep that up with the position switch and the jump in competition. But based on his reps so far in the preseason there is a good chance he can beat the 6.7% the Bucs' depth rushers generated last year. And that progress should help the defense improve overall.