Will YaYa Diaby Get Defensive Rookie Of The Year Consideration?

Looking at multiple places that have gambling odds for defensive rookie of the year, including Fox Sports, Covers.com, Sportsbettingdime.com and NFL Rookie Watch, Diaby unfortunately isn’t even close in the running. The general consensus is that Philadelphia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, a Top 10 pick, is the far and away favorite, followed by Houston edge rusher Will Anderson, Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon, Detroit safety Brian Branch, Minnesota middle linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and Pittsburgh cornerback Joey Porter Jr.

Even Diaby’s own Bucs teammate, first-round defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, has a higher chance of winning the award than he does. Kancey barely rounds out the Top 10, getting odds between +15000 to +20000 depending on the site. The odds aren’t always the answer to what will happen, but they typically are a good indicator for these types of awards to see what the outcome will be.

YaYa Diaby Is Having A Stellar Rookie Campaign

The other candidates in contention for the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award each have a good case and this isn’t meant to besmirch their name. It’s just utterly ridiculous that YaYa Diaby can’t even get into the conversation. Not only does Diaby lead the Bucs with 6.5 sacks on the season, he’s tied with defensive tackle Kobie Turner of the Rams for the overall rookie lead when it comes to sack. Even when he’s not sacking the quarterback Diaby is making an impact, as he is second amongst rookies with nine tackles for loss.

Diaby has 1.5 more sacks than Philly’s Jalen Carter, and two more tackles. What stands out the most is that Diaby has had far less playing time than Carter or any of the other rookies for that matter. Diaby was a fourth-string outside linebacker for the first 10 games of the season. He’d get playing time that ranged from 31% of the snaps to 43%.

What Diaby did was let his play do the talking. He was named a starter in Week 11 and now ranges from 51% to 66% of the snaps at outside linebacker. He may have had his best game last Sunday against the Jaguars where he recorded 1.5 sacks, five tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

“He’s settling in,” head coach Todd Bowles said of Diaby. “He’s settling in – he’s feeling comfortable. We kind of let him go a little bit. He’s adding to the tools he had in college and he’s making it own.”

Yaya Diaby Gets A Shout-out From GMFB

If YaYa Diaby is going to get into the Defensive Rookie Of The Year discussion with just two weeks to go, he’s going to need some outside help. Luckily, he has Peter Schrager of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football in his corner. Schrager personally gave Diaby a shout-out on X, saying that he is his pick for the rookie honor.

That week in particular, YaYa Diaby ended up fourth on Schrager’s top rookie performances for Week 16. Only Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson (third), Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs (second) and Los Angeles receiver Puka Nacua (first) were listed ahead of Diaby, who was the highest-ranked defensive player.

“How about YaYa Diaby?” Schrager said. “If you watched this Jags-Bucs game, number zero, Yaya Diaby was all over the field tackling another number zero right there. YaYa Diaby was in the backfield just harassing Trevor Lawrence. (He) was one of the best defensive players in all of football this week. Listen to this – Yaya Diaby’s numbers – you ready for this? Five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

“We talked about it before the season, his story is awesome. He once worked at Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport and his job was pushing individuals in wheelchairs onto the flight. You know those folks, on the jetway. That was what YaYa’s job was as he was trying to get his grades back up and get back onto the playing field. He went to Georgia military and then would later transfer to Louisville where he was a star.

“YaYa Diaby – it’s not just a one week thing. This guy right here has been one of the best rookies in all of football this season. Leads all rookies in sacks right up there with the nose tackle Kobie Turner out in L.A. Sorry, I know we love Jalen Carter. And yes, Will Anderson’s gotten a ton of love. The best pass rusher of all these guys is Yaya Diaby. Buccaneers, if you’re watching, I will gladly accept a YaYa Diaby jersey. Zero – Diaby – I will wear it on the show this week.”

Diaby was in agreement that Schrager should get a jersey.

It’s great to see Diaby get some attention on a national platform. Hopefully it continues because he at least deserves to be in the conversation for the best NFL rookie this season – despite only emerging as a starter over the second half of the year.