Dark Horses To Make The Roster, Enhanced Expectations

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Who are your dark horses to make the roster and maybe even some little splashes in the season?

ANSWER: I can understand Bucs head coach Todd Bowles’ hesitancy when it comes to saying which players looked good and stood out during the OTAs and mandatory mini-camp. After all, practices in the NFL offseason are closer to flag football than they are real football, which is a physical, full-contact, collision sport played in full pads. Of course that hasn’t stopped us from revealing which players have stood out – even in these watered down football conditions – because the team’s personnel department is evaluating the talent at all times of the year.

There have been plenty of offseason studs that have failed to deliver once the pads came on, the physicality was ushered in and the games were played under the lights in the preseason. Former Bucs wide receivers Kenny Bell and Jaelon Darden quickly come to mind. Both were fast receivers who were incredibly hard to cover in helmets, jerseys and shorts without any contact. But when the pads come on they wilted in real football conditions and ultimately didn’t last long as Buccaneers.

I do know there has been a lot of buzz surrounding undrafted free agent cornerback Ayden Garnes, who has impressed this offseason with some real sticky coverage and the ability to deflect passes. He’s fortunate that there aren’t any strong candidates for CB4 right now on the depth chart after Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison.

We’ll see how he fares in training camp when the pads come on and how physical he is. Tackling is a huge part of playing cornerback and that’s something he’ll have to prove he can do to stick around. But Garnes took full advantage of the extra reps due to Morrison’s hamstring over the last three practices before summer break.

On offense, the Bucs are curious about undrafted free agent wide receiver Eric Rivers, who missed some time during the OTAs with a hamstring injury. Rivers is the fastest receiver with 4.35 speed, and that’s something the receiver room lacks right now – a real burner – despite having tons of talent. The Bucs have always liked to have a receiver with the speed to go deep and stretch the defense – think Scotty Miller and Trey Palmer from yesteryear. So we’ll see if Rivers can step up and stay healthy during camp and the preseason.

Another dark horse to keep an eye on is undrafted free agent quarterback Jalon Daniels, who along with second-year outside linebacker David Walker will be featured in Pewter Report’s Camp Diary series later this summer. I don’t think veteran backup Jake Browning feels threatened for the QB2 job right now, but Tampa Bay absolutely loves the potential of the former Kansas QB, who has a live arm and 4.65 speed as a scrambler.

If Daniels impresses in camp and makes a lot of plays in the preseason, he could force his way on to the roster as a developmental QB rather than just being on the practice squad in that role. But first he’ll have to take on Connor Bazelak and prove he’s worthy of sticking around Tampa Bay.

QUESTION: Hey SR, always enjoy your content. In listening to your “Day 2 Mini-Camp” review podcast, and comparing your comments from the “realistic expectations” episode just a few days earlier, is it just me or does it sound as if you’re quietly raising the expectations bar for this team?

ANSWER: Yes, I think that’s fair to say. I’ve gone on record saying that the talent on this year’s Bucs team is significantly better than it has been over the past couple of seasons and I believe Tampa Bay is the most talented team in the NFC South and should win the division. I wrote that in a recent SR’s FAB 5 column this offseason.

However, in that realistic expectations episode of the Pewter Report Podcast, I said that the Bucs have yet to win more than 10 games under Todd Bowles, and until they actually achieve that, it’s going to be hard for me to believe Tampa Bay can get to 11, 12 or 13 wins – even with a more talented roster this season. The reason is that this team has had at least a three-game losing streak in each of the four seasons under Bowles dating back to 2022, and has had a four-game losing streak in each of the past three seasons.

So for me the realistic expectation is at least 10 wins this year, and it actually should be more with this more talented version of the Buccaneers. I am a really big fan of a lot of the moves that Bowles and general manager Jason Licht made this offseason from a personnel standpoint and even shaking up the coaching staff.

Bowles just has to figure out a way to win every winnable game and eliminate the “stub your toe” games against lesser opponents. For example, the Bucs had no business losing at home to a three-win Saints team last December. There’s no shame in losing to playoff-caliber teams like Buffalo and the Los Angeles Rams, especially with Tampa Bay scoring wins over San Francisco and eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle.

At this point, I think at least 10 wins should be the expectation for Bowles and the Bucs this year. Had Tampa Bay swept New Orleans and Atlanta that’s the number of wins the Bucs would have had last year. They were incredibly close to 10 wins even with all the injuries and far less talent on defense.

QUESTION: Is there a chance the Bucs bring in Cam Gill from the UFL? He was the Defensive Player of the Year and was with us in 2020. He certainly has produced in the UFL and I would love to see him get a shot on squad again.

ANSWER: In a different year I could maybe see that. But not this year – not after the team signed Al-Quadin Muhammad in free agency, drafted Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round and is getting David Walker back from injured reserve. In one offseason, the Bucs have completely turned the outside linebacker room from a weakness to a perceived strength. I think Bain has star potential.

With all of these new additions at the top of the depth chart it’s going to be very difficult for Chris Braswell, who was OLB4 last year and a former second-round pick, to even make the team this year. And veteran Anthony Nelson, who was OLB3 on the depth chart last year behind Yaya Diaby and Haason Reddick, will likely be OLB5 this year.

Cam Gill was signed by the Bucs out of Wagner as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and he was on the team for four years as a depth piece. Tampa Bay got quite a long look at him, but he ultimately didn’t make the team following the 2023 season. And while he recorded 10 sacks in the UFL was quite an accomplishment this year, it is a lower level of football and would be hard to replicate that level of success in the NFL.

Gill is also undersized at 6-foot2, 232 pounds. He’s built more like Reddick, and Todd Bowles wanted to get bigger this offseason. Muhammad is two inches taller and 15 pounds bigger than Reddick, and Bain is about 30 pounds bigger as well. If the Bucs were truly desperate for pass rushers I could see the team being interested, but not with the current pieces on the depth chart.

And the buzz is back regarding Walker, as well. He had an incredibly strong finish to the offseason program and two fantastic practices in the mini-camp. Walker will duke it out with Muhammad for the right to be OLB3 this year – the first edge rusher off the bench.

QUESTION: With crazy depth and talent at wide receiver, will Zac Robinson dial back the 12 personnel usage? Last year seemed like a bit of an anomaly as he hadn’t used it that much before.

ANSWER: Yes, I agree. I think Zac Robinson leaned into heavy 12 personnel (two tight end sets) usage in Atlanta last year out of necessity rather than out of desire to use it. Top receiver Drake London missed five games towards the end of the season and the Falcons didn’t really have a deep receiving corps. Tight end Kyle Pitts was heavily involved in the passing game and functioned more like a receiver than a tight end at the end of the year, especially against Tampa Bay when he hauled in three touchdown receptions in a 29-28 win on Thursday Night Football.

Robinson’s receiver room is flush with talent in Tampa Bay, so I expect him to play to that strength this year. He’ll go from being the second-most 12 personnel play-caller to probably one of the top 11 personnel (three receiver sets) users this season with the Bucs. Tampa Bay is a legit five deep at wide receiver with Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan, rookie Ted Hurst and Tez Johnson, and even some of the depth pieces can really play, too.

Now that won’t prevent Robinson from calling some plays that deploy 12 personnel. It’s going to be based on matchups and attacking opponents’ weaknesses. So if a team isn’t big up front and doesn’t do a good job of stopping the run, Robinson might be inclined to use 12 personnel and hammer the ball on the ground if that’s the best strategy.

Tampa Bay also has a strong running back room that is three deep with Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell and Sean Tucker. The Bucs are also expected to use more of the 21 personnel (two running back sets) Pony package that former offensive coordinator Liam Coen used in 2024. Robinson and Coen are best friends and deploying more Pony package has already been talked about between the play-callers this offseason.

QUESTION: What do players do between mini-camp and training camp? Are players required to track their weight, meals and activities on a daily basis?

ANSWER: No, the Bucs players are on vacation until they report for training camp on Tuesday, July 27 and aren’t obligated to do anything team-related until then. Any weigh-ins will happen when the players after training camp. Now some players will elect to stay in Tampa for the summer and continue to work out at the team facility, and that’s their prerogative.

There’s been some talk that Baker Mayfield will organize a few throwing sessions with the wide receivers, tight ends and running backs that are around town this summer. But otherwise, the players will spend time with their friends and family and doing some traveling over the six weeks between mini-camp and the start of training camp.

Speaking of summer break, there are a lot of Bucs questions that need answers over the coming weeks before training camp and the start of the season – questions about Baker Mayfield, Vita Vea, the Bucs Ring of Honor, the Buccaneers uniforms and even Gene Deckerhoff. Check out my thoughts on these topics and what I think might happen in a new Pewter Pulse video on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel.