Bucs rookie defensive tacke Elijah Roberts played just nine snaps in his NFL regular season debut in Week 1 at Atlanta. And I was excited to see what he looked like in those nine snaps. You see, Roberts had a fantastic preseason. He was one of the best pass rushers in the league among a group that admittedly comprised mostly backups and practice squad players.
But still, it was a promising showing from the fifth-round pick. And it had me openly wondering what he could be as a part of a pass rush that needed more juice along the second wave.
Solid Debut For Bucs DT Elijah Roberts
Elijah Roberts didn’t disappoint in his limited snaps in Tampa Bay’s 23-20 win at Atlanta. Now there wasn’t some super high-end wow stuff. But Roberts was active and looked good in the area that was his biggest question mark – fitting the run.
The Vikings ran the ball four times when Roberts was on the field. Often, they ran to his side. Roberts did not have the benefit of Vita Vea clogging up extra lanes to assist him. It didn’t matter.
The Falcons netted just four yards on those four runs and a success rate of just 25%. Roberts displayed quick movements and real power and strength to hold up at the point of attack. He helped kill a Bijan Robinson run with an unexpected step down that froze left guard Matthew Bergeron and freed up a lane for Tykee Smith to fill from depth.
Elijah Roberts (#95) with the step down that prevents Bergeron from picking up Tykee on the frontside. pic.twitter.com/v4M7Vua2s9
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 15, 2025
Roberts faced one double team as a run defender against the Falcons – an Atlanta team that currently has 141 rushing yards on 21 carries against the Vikings at the time of this writing. I was pleasantly surprised as he held up against that double team, yielding very little ground, as he held the point of attack. At one point he showed his impressive upper body strength with a late club/throw of guard Chris Lindstrom.
Bucs DT Elijah Roberts – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
As a pass rusher, nothing jumped out as a “wow” moment, but the traits were still present. His hand usage was quick and violent, forcing opponents to retreat in their engagement and enabling Roberts to get his initiate contact in their chests and lock out on long arms before driving forward with power.
Next Gen Stats credited him with a pressure, but it was more of a hustle/clean-up where he got close to Michael Penix Jr. late, but I wouldn’t qualify it as a pressure. But the physicality he displayed in knocking into the double team to create a path for Greg Gaines as a looper, followed by him using his length and hands to push the double team back and eventually get around to get near Penix is a promising display from the rookie.
What I thought was most exciting was how well he maintained his pad level while still utilizing his length.
Moving Forward
Juxtapose Elijah Roberts’ solid – if unspectacular – performance, with that of fellow defensive lineman Logan Hall. Counting his roughest reps:
- A Matthew Bergeron pancake early in the game.
- Getting knocked backwards on a fourth-and-1 by Elijah Wilkinson
- Another pancake in the second quarter – this time from Chris Lindstrom.
- Getting truck-sticked by Tyler Allgeier on another fourth-and-1 after getting into the backfield unblocked and having Allgeier dead to rights for the defensive stop.
In order for Hall to succeed with his shorter arms he has to play with a strong base combined with a sharp tilt to maintain lower leverage. But he struggles to do this, staying upright. This causes two big problems for him.
He has to use more steps, often choppy in nature slowing his path forward. It also leaves him top heavy and easy to knock off path while also sapping him of any semblance of power to his rush. Hall lacks pop in his hands and power in his core leaving him as a liability in almost every facet of the game.
Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Hall rarely dictated terms to offensive linemen because he was slow off the snap, letting his opponents latch onto him consistently. Hall could not for the life of him disengage from those latches and became a non-factor. The lone bright spot from the Falcons game for him was his work as a crasher creating opportunities for others.
With Hall struggling and Roberts showing some promise it begs the question – will Todd Bowles and the Bucs start to trade snaps between the two players? Hall logged 36 defensive snaps last week to Roberts’ nine. Based on their play those numbers should be much closer to 50/50 going forward. And as long as Roberts continues to show promise, by years end it would not surprise me one bit if the two have completely inverted roles.
The more opportunities Roberts gets the quicker his learning curve will accelerate. Considering how fast he has gone from liability as a run defender in week one of the preseason to now, that’s a huge opportunity for the Bucs to add another positive piece in their quest for a dominant defensive front.