Player
Anthony Nelson
EDGE · Buccaneers
Anthony Nelson: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
7 seasons, 22.5 sacks, one team — a homegrown Buccaneers rotational edge.
TrendNelson defensive stats by season (all TB)
| Season | Games | Sacks | TFL | QB Hits | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2020 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| 2021 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 2022 | 18 | 5.5 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| 2023 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 2024 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| 2025 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
A 2019 4th-round pick from Iowa, Nelson has now spent his entire 7-year career with Tampa Bay — making him one of just a handful of mid-2010s draft picks still on the team that picked them. He won Super Bowl LV as a rotational edge in 2020.
The production curve: a quiet rookie year, then 2.0 → 5.0 → 5.5 sacks (2020-22) as he carved out a rotational pass-rush role under Todd Bowles.
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 5.5 |
| 2023 | 3 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 |
22.5 career sacks — and a Super Bowl LV ring as a 22-year-old rotational EDGE.
MilestoneAcross 98 career games, Nelson has accumulated 22.5 sacks, 30 TFL, 51 QB hits, and 7 forced fumbles. Half-season production from a full-time starter — but on the Buccaneers' deep pass-rush rotation (Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett, Yaya Diaby, Logan Hall), that's been the assignment.
Career-best sack year: 5.5 in 2022. Career-best QB-hits year: 13 in 2024.
7 forced fumbles in 22.5 sacks — a 0.31 FF/sack rate, well above league average.
SplitNelson splash play efficiency
| Stat | Career | Per Sack |
|---|---|---|
| Sacks | 22.5 | — |
| Forced fumbles | 7 | 0.31 |
| QB hits | 51 | 2.27 |
| TFL | 30 | 1.33 |
League average is roughly 1 FF for every 5-6 sacks for an edge rusher. Nelson sits at 1 FF every 3.2 sacks — a high-ball-strip rate that's part of why Tampa Bay keeps re-upping him on cap-friendly deals.
2022 was peak strip year: 5.5 sacks and 3 FFs. 2025 added 2 more on just 3 sacks.
13 QB hits in 2024 — best of his career, in his 6th NFL season.
RareNelson's 2024 line: 4 sacks, 6 TFL, 13 QB hits, 1 FF in 18 games (Super Bowl run). The 13 QB hits is the most of his career and 4 more than his 2020 ring-year total.
It's the pressure-without-finishing profile that pass-rush analytics circles like — a player whose pressure rate sits higher than his sack count, suggesting positive regression if more rushes go his way.
7 TFL in 2021 — most by a TB rotational EDGE that year, even outpacing JPP.
AnomalyIn 2021 Nelson posted 7 tackles-for-loss in 14 games as a rotational pass-rusher — a season where he was the 3rd EDGE behind Shaq Barrett (10 sacks) and JPP (2.5 sacks in 12 games). His 7 TFL led TB's EDGE group that year.
That was the breakout year that earned him the long-term Buccaneers commitment — and despite the lack of starter snaps, he's been a fixture on the Bowles defense ever since.
Same team since 2019 — one of the longest tenures at any EDGE spot in the NFL.
ComparisonPass rushers move teams. Top 2019 draft EDGE picks: Nick Bosa has been on one team. Brian Burns moved. Montez Sweat moved. Josh Allen (JAX) has been on one team. Anthony Nelson has been on one team — and he wasn't a first-rounder.
7 seasons, 1 team, 22.5 sacks, 1 ring — the kind of resume that wins a 'most-loyal' award even if it never gets a Pro Bowl.
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