Breaking Down the 53-Man Roster & Dissecting the Depth Chart | Bucs Insider Live

to today. And again, if you're not already watching on Facebook, make sure you hit over to there, and if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, all of that, leave that for us in the comments section underneath our live video and as we give people a chance to do that. Um, I just want to hear your initial thoughts on now you've seen the fifty three man and who's on the practice squad and what are some of the biggest things that stood out to you of either who did make

it or who didn't make it. I like the way you said we know who the bucks are now, because that's kind of what Bruce Aaron said he told the team in his first meeting with them after they came back. Because it was a long weekend while those cuts and roster tweaks were being made, and he told them we weren't the Bucks until now now we're the Bucks, right. That's kind of that was the message to the team as well. There really wasn't a ton surprising. I don't

think did you think so? I know we were. We were wondering if Tanner Hudson had done enough to make the team. I thought that they would keep a fourth tied in, and they did. I think they did that initially by going a little light on running back with only three of them. But now we're back to four because we picked up uh t J Logan as a waiver claim. That was a guy that coach Areans really had his eye on. He was kind of hoping he'd get cut no offense TJ in Arizona, but it all

worked out for everybody. Obviously. Uh didn't really think he would because he had a nice preseason over there. It's a guy that he really wanted to get in here, specifically to get the kickoff return job. And I'm kind of excited about that because we haven't had much in

the kickoff return game. Actually, we've been pretty much last in the league the last few years at kickoff return, So any spark in that part of the game would be useful and and maybe as time goes on, t J can help us more and things like punt returns and being a gunner run and maybe even fitting into the offense a little bit, right, I know, Noah Spence was one that seemed to kind of catch some people's eye that he did not make the team, So overall

thoughts on that and and let's just go through what our defensive line will look like. That was one of the big questions we had all preseason, was what that was going to look like in this new three four. So looking at who made the team and who didn't,

what did we learn about the defense? I can't go so far as to say that I would have predicted that Noah Spence would be waived, But in retrospect, it's not terribly surprising when you look at the fact that he played every snap on defense in the third game. He played pretty much the whole first half of the of the fourth game, which is really rare for a guy who's listed as a starter. He was basically the only starter who didn't who played in that game, and

they clearly just they needed to see. They had a feeling that this wasn't working out, but they wanted to give him one last extended opportunity, and coach Arean said that he said nothing but positive things about Noah Spence's approach. How hard he worked, He said, nobody worked harder. It's just a simple fact of the production per snap was

not as good as the guys they kept. Just wasn't producing the same way that Patrick O'Connor, who was subsequently then waved and signed back to the practice squad and Demone Harrison, guys like that. So you know, it eventually comes down to product, and you know, hopefully I saw I got a trout in Buffalo, hopefully gets another shot somewhere.

But it wasn't terribly surprising. I guess in the long run, you wish that a second round, high second round draft pick would be on your team longer than he was, So that didn't really work out. Now you're talking about the defensive front. Obviously no was in that group called outside linebackers, but I know what you mean. They land up on the line for the most part. It's a

little I think they only kept five right now. I could see this evolving over time, but they only kept five down Linemen and Dominckensue and Vita van all that. That seems a little light to me. I would have expected six. But I think that's probably good news regarding Vita vias health. He wasn't practiced yesterday, and I think they would have gone a little deeper on that line if they thought he was gonna be out for any extended time. And we did have a question from Robbie

who asked, was a Vita limited in practice at all? Well, we didn't get a practice report because that was a bonus practice day. I mean an injury report. We'll get our first injury report today and that's how they do it. On Wednesday and Thursday they say full practice limited or no practice at all. Um, you know, I can't really report on anything beyond what the media is allowed to see, which is the first twenty minutes or so, and individuals.

During individuals, he was doing everything that everybody else is doing. Whether or not he was limited in the remainder of practice isn't really open to reporting right now because that part's closed. But we'll have a better answer for that at the end of practice today when we get an injury report. Okay, Eric said, I know you always hate these questions about asking about our record. But Eric said, is it wishful thinking that the Bucks could finish eleven

and five? Well, it's yeah, I mean I think it by definition it's probably wishful thinking, but not outrageous wishful thinking. I think it. What it's going to come down to is is this defense fixed the defense? The results on defense last couple of years have been very, very bad. Let's be honest about it, right. I think last year, had the Buccaneers had even the middle of the road defense, they probably wouldn't won eight games instead of five. I think we want you know you you lost a number

of games by three points. Your average about twenty five points a game that you should win most of your games if you're averaging points a game. So if you get that defense improved, even just league average, I think you're looking at least five. Because the offenses, I don't see how it's any worse than it was before. It's pretty much intact basically, and I think Bruce is a good offensive mine and Byron Leftwich, so the offense should

be fine. Now. If for some reason the defense doesn't improve, then obviously you can see where you get the same results. If it's better than even I expect, then maybe you can get to double digit victories. I think it's all gonna all hinge on that. It's a little hard to predict at the moment. But like I said, I think it's not outrageous, but yes, a little bit of wishful thinking, right, Um, we had someone asked who technically took Noah Spence's spot,

would it be Shack Barrett? No. I think Shack Barrett was gonna make the team regardless, and you were gonna have a rotation among the outside linebackers anyway, so I think it would be more like Demone Harris that took a spot. Um Scott asked, should we have kept Spencer Schnell over Scottie Miller? Well, no, and I don't think so. And if they had really really thought that Spencer Schnell was something they really didn't want to lose, I'm sure they would have. Had they would try to sign into

the practice squad, and that didn't happen. They signed Emmanuel Hall instead. Listen, I'm not saying anything negative about Spencer Snell, but he had one really good quarter in the first game, and and that guy people really excited for good reason, and good for him and everybody that was excited for him. But um, I don't think that that meant he was

all of a sudden a better prospect than Scotty Miller. Okay, Um, we had a few different questions about the safeties, and especially now that Justin Evans is back, who the starters will be and how that safety rotation could look. That's going to depend a lot on injuries and how those guys are coming back. Mike Edwards is you know, he hasn't played in about three weeks. Is he ready to go?

Because before he got his minor injury, he was clearly locking down that starting spot, and Jordan White had has played very well. So I would suspect that those two would be the starting safeties to begin the season at the very least if health is not an issue. But then you also have Justin Evans. He just came back and he didn't really get a chance to play in any of the games. He was going to play in the final game, and then they got there in Dallas and he I guess he had a little bit of

irritation and Achilles. That's what coach Aaron said after the game. So they decided to hold him out, So is he ready to go? I totally would not be shocked if if for some reason, Mike Edwards isn't fully ready to go. If actually Darren Stewart starts the first game opposite Jordan Whitehead or along with Jordan Whitehead, just because Stewart is a ten year, tenth year veteran, he really knows what he's doing, and I think they probably feel comfortable putting

him in there. So it really comes down to injuries. But I think it's Edwards and Whitehead if there are no injuries involved. Okay, Stevens had asked about what our backup center situation looks like generally you have if you look at our depth chart or backup center situation as

a blank. Yeah, that's and I think that's kind of their Their actual question said, why do we not have a backup so you know you're you're just nine is a normal number to keep of starters and four backups, and you keep two of those guys in active usually on game day to have them active and too inactive. So all you're really doing by leaving that blank is not putting a name that you're you're only putting every

name on their once. Some teams will make sure that they list a backup at every spot, and some teams will just put every name on their one. So if there's an open spot, there's an open spot, right, So the backup center is probably could be you know, I would guess one of the main options would be Alex Cappa. If Ryan Jensen can play, Alex Cappa slides over to center and somebody like Earl Watford or Zach Bailey comes in. But every team cross trains three or four guys so

that they have options at center. You'll see that at the beginning of every practice. You've got I guess we probably have four quarterback three do we have a quarterback on the Yeah, we got next fixt deral and practice squad, So we've got four quarterbacks on the team right now, counting the practice squad. And at the beginning of practice, they do that little drill where they have the quarterback center exchange off to the side, and you'll probably see

four different guys snap in the ball. It could be Earl Watford, he apparently can play all five positions. I think Alice Apple would be one of them. Obviously, Ryan Jensen I don't really know if the rookie Zack Bailey's a scener yet, but I suspect they would try to train him in that. And in relation to the office of line, Jacob asked, do you think we can expect better offensive line play than last year? Yeah? I think so. Um, it's a different scheme and that could make a big difference.

And uh, you know, I thought that the past protection in the preseason wasn't great. It was pretty good in the first couple of games, it was it was it was very poor in the third game they really made a bunch of mistakes. But all of that, even the good and the bad is a small sample size. I think the team is very, very you know, solid with Diamond Smith and Ali Mark Patt and Ryan Jensen. Uh, Damar Dotson in the last three or four years, whenever he's been healthy or you know, it's healthy as a

guy who's been in LEAs song can be. Uh, he's been pretty good. And so the question mark and the really the weak spot last year was right guard and that's Alex Cappa now and they had high hopes for him all offseason and he took that job and never let it go. So I think a lot of it's gonna hinge on Alex capp on how well he plays. It's it's that whole only as strong as strong as your weakest link. Thing. Um. I think it will be improved, but that's definitely a unit that has to prove itself. Okay.

Kyle asked, was this a surprise that m J. Stewart is listed ahead of Sean Murphy Bunting. No, and it was actually a little. The only reason it wasn't switched earlier is because teams don't really put much attention into their depth chart during the preseason when you got ninety guys and there's all kinds of shuffling going on. But when you make your first one for the regular season,

you try to make it reflect reality. And the reality is m J. Stewart is you're starting nickelback right now, and therefore he has a job where he's gonna be on the field for fifty sixty percent of the snaps, Whereas of the moment, I don't think Sean Murphy Bunting has that role. I'm sure you will at some point, but it's Carlton Davison, Vernon Hargraves, and then MJ's your third guy, so he should be listed ahead of him.

And uh, we'll close with this one. Eric said, how do you think time will be split between Peyton and ro Joe? Getting a lot closer to at this point, I think, um, I would have not said that going into the off season. I would have thought more like maybe seventy thirty and that was hopeful that Rojo was going to have a bigger role. But he just looks like a guy that if you needed him to be, could be in every down back I'm talking about round

Jones at this point. He's he ran well in between the tackles during training camp, and he also has that explosiveness out on the edges that I think he's the only guy that gives you that right now. So I think, as Coach has said on several occasions, if somebody has a hot hand, they're going to stick with it. And so I could see Rojoe having a good game, being in the middle of a good game, and and Coach deciding just to keep feeding him, and then you're getting

a lot closer to right. All right, Well, thank you so much for joining us on this edition of Buccaneers and Sider Live, presented by Miller Lite will have another live show forty five minutes before kickoff on Sunday. We hope to see you guys there at the stadium, or at least watching online. See then,