The Tampa Buccaneers have nearly 800 pounds on the interior of their defensive line. They have veteran Vita Vea and now undrafted rookie in Desmond Watson out of Florida. You don’t have to know anything about Watson other than he’s nearly 450 pounds and a literal brick wall on the defensive line.
Todd Bowles tried to avoid tipping his hat to the Bucs’ plan to stop the tush push, which was proposed to be banned last week, but failed to go through. The Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay play in Week 4. Bowles said they didn’t sign Watson to counter the impossible-to-stop rugby style play.
But let’s be real, you don’t fortify 800 pounds of interior lineman for every day usage. They have a win-win situation. They can develop him to be a useful piece in run defense while also having him as a literal tush-push stopper.
The tush push ban failed to get approved so the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting creative in stopping it
A common cliche: If you can’t beat it, join it; applies directly to the tush push. Several teams have tried to mimic the play the Eagles have perfected and none have had any success. So maybe in this scenario, you can’t actually join it. That means you have to get creative to stop it.
That’s what the Bucs are doing with the addition of Watson to their defensive front, even if they don’t want to admit it. The Eagles get so much leverage in their offensive line to push opposing teams back, maybe the only way to stop the overpowered play is to have 800 pounds of defensive line.
Even that might not be enough, which is why Bowles has a point they have to figure out how to get the most out of Watson as more than just a tush-push stopper. He has to have elite technique and quickness on a play like that too.
He won’t just simply be able to clog the running lane because the Eagles use the leverage of the offensive linemen and push from the backfield to have success. Often the low man wins in football. That’s the key to the tush push.
Watson will have to find a way to get his 440-pound frame low enough to even have an effect on the play. That said, the play will probably only exist for the next season. After the 2025 season, the NFL should have enough votes to ban the play for good.
Then again, if Watson proves to be the secret weapon to stop the Eagles’ most successful play, the market for him and 400-plus pound defensive lineman will skyrocket.