Welcome to Buccaneers Inside on Live presented by Miller. Like Casey Phillips and Scott Smith here come into you live during this time of us working for moment, but we were so excited, we have figured out a way to do this so that we can still take some of your questions. So if you're not already watching on Facebook, make sure you've got on over there and in the comments section of the video on Facebook, you can leave
your questions. We also love hearing where everybody's watching from, and we know with the draft just happening this last week, there are going to be so many questions and we have so much to talk about, which is great, so as we give people a chance to start submitting some of those questions on Facebook, Scott, I just wanted to hear your overall initial thoughts about the draft as a whole. We'll get into each of the draft picks, i'm sure, but for now, just what you thought of the Buccaneers
draft class as a whole. Well, I can talk about it as a whole, but I think the most important takeaway is that the Bucks got their man in the first round. I think after we've seen what we've seen, after we've heard talk afterwards. I don't know if you
saw the Peter King piece. He got to actually uh watch in for a lot of while Jason was Jason Lightlewis conducting his draft, and it became clear from all the evidence that priority number one, the biggest thing that needed to be accomplished was to get that offensive tackle
and particularly Tristan Worse and uh admission accomplished. And if Jason Light was at least contemplating trades with every team from about seven on down, that's what it sounded like in the Peter King piece, then he was at least considering, I don't know if you can pull the trigger or not, but at least considering trading anything up to our second
round pick. So it's really it's it's awesome that the Buckaneers got there, man, But it's also nice the way it fell out, and a trade up to eight, nine, ten wasn't necessary, or maybe in this case just wasn't possible, but it fell out. Okay, the Bucks only had to move up one, only had to give up their fourth round pick. I'm sure they would have loved to have kept that fourth round pick, but I think keeping the second and the third was really a win and still
getting Tristan worse. So to me, that was the biggest takeaway. Okay, I thought that was really interesting about the trades that Um, some people were speculating that there weren't as many trades happening, you know, because of the virtual side of the draft, that they were afraid it was just gonna be difficult for teams. But it sounds like that wasn't it. For Jason, it sounded like it was just teams were happy with
who they thought they were going to get. Yeah, based on the conversations in that piece, Uh, he would talk to a guy and then that that for the GM for another team, and the GYM would eventually just decided not to do a trade because they wanted to take the player that was there. You know, the Panthers wanted Derek Brown, and the Cardinals were ecstatic when Asaiah Simmons fell into their lap at eight. They didn't really expect
that to happen from what their GM has said. And then, uh, the Jaguars wanted to take C. J. Henderson and so on, so, uh, you know, it could have been it easily could have been that the Buccaneers didn't get the man they really wanted. Unfortunately they worked out right. Nathan had asked, why you think they didn't want to trade for Leonard for Nett, either you know, before the draft or during that process.
I think that probably had a lot to do with the fact that they felt they could meet that need in the draft, which I think they believe they did with Keishaw Vaughn. Remember, we do already have Ronald Jones, and they have said many, many times that they like Ronald Jones. He broke out to some extent last year top two thousand yards from scrimmage, and they think he could do more. So maybe you don't need a Bell
cow back. And a lot of not a lot of teams in the NFL right now in this day and age who actually just go with going Bell cow back. You know, your Christian Caffres and your sa Kwan Barkley's Ezekiel Elliott. There's a few, but most of them employe a roster off facts, and so maybe you don't need
to put assets in cap space. It wasn't huge cap space from Lyard for it, but it was some folks don't have a lot after the Rob Gronkowski trained in particular, so I just think they felt it was a need they could meet more easily and more effectively and more
cost effectively in the draft. And Vaughan, what were your thoughts on on him and what he could bring, especially to compliment Ronald Jones, and what are the skill sets there and how he could be to Lloyd, Well, he's a guy that they think can be a pass catcher out of the backfield. He didn't have huge receiving numbers in college. They're gonna try and they're gonna see what they can get out of them. That now, Um, Bruce Arians did say that Keishaan j Von is not David Johnson.
He said the running back we got in the seventh round, Raymond Klai, is more like a very small, much smaller, but suped up version of David Johnson. Meaning he's a guy that you can split out wide and run actual receiver routes with. So I'm not sure they see the keyshaw Von having like a d catch potential, but I think they are going to find out what he can do in the in the passing game, and they think he can play on all three downs. So him and Ronald Jones that should give you what you need in
the backfield. Okay, and yeah, I think is how you say this name asked? Is there a need for more depths on the O line now that we at least know we got Tristan Works and I mean, but just overall the depth of the old line where that stands, I think there may be some need for interior depth. I think you saw the Tristan Worst will probably be. I'm sure he'll have to compete for the right tech full job, but that's obviously who they want to be
there on day one is Tristan Worst. But he did sign Joe Heg who has made a number of starts at both tackle positions, so he's kind of an ideal swing tackle with And there are a couple of guys like Brad Seaton that they like, Younger guys that haven't really had much of an opportunity yet, but I think they like as a chance to make it as that eighth or ninth offensive lineman. But I think they could
use some depth on the interior line. And we haven't announced any of our undrafted free agency yet they I'm sure some fans have seen some names. Uh, we can't really talk about him until the Bucks announced it, but there's probably gonna be some offensive line candidates in there because they didn't hit it again after you know, after the first round in the draft. I thought they might try to take a guard or a center somewhere along
the way, but there were just other players they had targeted. Okay, and Rodney asked about our kick return, punt return special teams, So, um, I wanted to get your thoughts on if any of these draft picks do you feel like could fill the actual position of the return in and then where they might also fit in terms of just being on the coverage teams just overall where you see our special teams
units in that area. Well, yeah, if you're a third day pick, you should expect to be playing special teams and you should be hoping to play special teams because it's your way to make the roster and and and get some exposure and maybe get a bigger job as time goes on. So like um chappelle Russell as an example, the linebacker in the UH in the seventh round. He's
a fast guy, he's not a huge guy. Um he I wouldn't expect him to unseat Devil White or Levante David or maybe even you serve Kevin Minter for the main backup spot right away. But that's a guy who's athletic traits profile would be a pretty good, UH special teams player off the right off the bat, I think there are some There are a couple of our draftees who could factor into the return game. Uh t J. Logan will be back to so uh there's gonna be
some options there. The return game definitely needs to get better. In fact, the Bucks Special teams overall need to get better. That doesn't Um that we need necessarily need more additions. Just you know, when you look at Matt Gay's final field goal percentage, it wasn't where you wanted it to be, but that was mainly just because of like a three game slump right at the end of the season from one to thirteen. You loved his numbers overall, So I think we have what we need. We just need to
get better numbers this year. Yeah, that's a good point. Um Brandon asked, do you think o J will be on the team Week one at this point? Yes? Um. If there was gonna be a trade for o J, I think the more likely time would have been before the draft, because you would have liked to used that as an possibility to move up in the first round and and you know, take away some of the tension of getting the guy you wanted or getting some mid
round picks. Um. You know, I think the Ravens got h a second and a fifth for Herst who they traded to Atlanta. So we certainly could have done that and really helped ourselves because obviously the Bucks are in win now mode. Uh So getting that trade done before
the draft would have made a lot of sense. And I'm not saying it's impossible, and you can look to the future, but um, I think at this point, the way they're talking about how they do believe they can use all those tight ends, I think it's more likely that he's on the on the field on the team on Week one. Yeah, okay. Um Eddie asked would we consider signing another quarterback as a backup? He gave Cam Newton as an example, but just overall, what do you
see as the quarterback situation? Do we have the guys on the roster we're gonna have what are your thoughts there? Well, we have three guys are on the roster that we
know of. Obviously Tom Brady is your starter. Um, and you you like Um playing Gabet of course because he's familiar with the system, which is important, and Ryan Griffin for that matter too, which is important in this offseason when you don't know when you're going to get back on the field, you don't know how much work you're going to have before you're playing games, So I think
they probably value that. And then right after the draft, when asked about the fact that the Bucks didn't draft developmental quarterback, say on Day three, Bruce arians said they did have their eye on a guy and undrafted free to see who they think has a lot of ups And again, we haven't announced names yet, but I'm sure fans can see on social media some of the names of potential undrafted free agents that are out there. So once we have our undrafted free agents in the fold,
I think you're gonna have four quarterbacks. And really that's to me. Adding a fifth guy, like a veteran like Newton to that doesn't make a lot of sense, right um Sean asked, do you have any guesses on how many primetime games we might get when the schedules released? Oh a lot? What is the limit? Is it? Five? It? Maybe? Maybe five? Um? It's it's gonna be a whole new day around here, even back in the it would take
us back to the Super Bowl era. I think the year after the Super Bowl we might have had three Monday night games. Wouldn't shock me, you know, especially if you had in a Thursday. We even played a Sunday night game in forever. But I'd be one the bet we get one now, so four maybe five, I would think, Yeah, that's gonna be. That's gonna be crazy to speak. It's gonna be a lot of late night flights for us if that's the case. Um Rich asked, do you see there being any kind of moves they need to make
to help the salary cap? Well? Probably, um, but those aren't always guys being cut or traded. Um, you can make ross I mean a contract restructuring pretty simply and free up some cap space pretty easily. A lot of times, the way you restructure a contract to free up cap space as you convert some salary into uh a signing bonus or just a bonus that the player gets right then, which then spreads the cap hit out over the remainder
of the contracts. So and the players always like that because it means they're getting money right then that they would have had to wait for, So a contract restruction is pretty easy to do. Um, I don't know exactly which guys would be the top candidates for that, but you know, you do have to devote a certain amount
of money. I think it maybe about seven million to get in your draft picks signs, So there may need to be some maneuvering, but I don't think it would be anything fust okay, and Yage asked, do you see any more moves being made to how with the secondary or are we good with who we have now? Well, now we've got Antoine Winfield. Um, I think we're probably good. I mean, I wouldn't expect any major moves. You'll probably have some undrafted free agents added to the mix, maybe
a guy that's on the street right now. Usually have a handful of signings between the draft and training camp. But if you're talking about a name guy, I don't think so. I mean, it may have something to do with if Justin Evans is ready to get back on the field, and I don't know when we're gonna know that and when we're gonna be back on the field. You do have basically your three cornerbacks that you think will start in place and some depth behind them, and
Ryan Smith and m J. Stewart. So it looks to me like the pieces are in place. I wouldn't expect any kind of big damage. Okay, and uh, we all sad a question from Eric who asked, is there any concern with the size of our safety room? I believe all our five ten or under m hm. Uh. I believe that's true about Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield US Mike Awards. Yeah. I don't know about Justin Evans, But in any case, I don't think they're drafting these guys
if they think their height is a concern. Um. Yeah, if you can have everything, If you could have everything Antoine Winfield brings to the field and he's also six for two, then great. But then maybe he's a mid first round pick, right, So um, you know, some guys just play bigger than they are. I don't think there's a big concern about Okay. Rob asked which of the new pickups, whether it's from draft or free agency, will have the biggest direct impact Week one. Well, the one
that's most likely to start is obviously Tristan worse. I know it's an easy answer. Wait, do you mean all the free agency? Yeah? I think he was including free agency as well. So if you want to give an answer this draft picks and then a free agency answer, that might be best. I gotta go with Tom Brady. I mean, I know I'll get dange for making the obvious choice, but how can you not talk? How can it not be the quarter? How about your second choice? Then?
Since we knew that was just uh so if re signings count, um, maybe in domin Quin Sue, I mean, Shack Bett was the big priority there. But you know, sacks are kind of a fickle stat and go up and down. But a guy that's constantly eating up double team blocks and creating opportunities for pass rush for other guys, uh, that would be a big a guy who's probably making
an impact on snaps. Um, if we're talking just new guys and they're not talking about Tom Brady, it's probably Tristan worse because he should be starting there in an offensive lineman play every snap generally barring injury, and uh, he's helping keep the pass rush off Tom Brady. Everything else has that has to happen first before you can utilize all these new weapons that you have. I give the quarterback in the first round draft pick as the answer.
But it may be obvious, but it's also true, So well, that's how you want it. I mean, that's it would probably be a problem if you didn't feel about um. Sevastian, who's watching from Germany, wanted to know if we're sort of in the second wave of free agency now that the draft is over and there are any more potential free agents that might be signed now that we know who we've gotten in the draft. I think the second wave of free agency is actually late March and early April.
The first wave is just the first couple of days when all the really coveted guys get contracts right away because teams know they have to act right away. But then there's generally some pretty decent signings in the back half of March and the early days of April. I would call this the third wave of free agency. And this is when UM teams get done with the draft and realized, not realized, but know that there was They may have had six things on their shopping list and
they only got five. They didn't know what that's that one they missed was gonna be before the draft. Now they know, and so some team might need a fourth receiver or another safety for some death or something like that. So I think we're in the third wave of free agency right now. We've already talked a little bit about that. The Bucks have been so aggressive and they really were fortunate to meet what were there obviously biggest needs in
free agency. I mean the draft right down to Tyler Johnson in the fifth round, the third receiver candidate there. So I think at this point for the Buccaneers the third wave is just about depth. Okay, and Devin asked, do you see Donovan Smith moving to right tackle and Works playing left tackle? I wouldn't think so, not this year. It could happen down the line. I would suspect Donovan Smith's days of left tackle for UM, the remainder of at least the remainder of this contract, which has a
couple more years on it. Um. You know, Tristan Works has demonstrated that he can play right tackle. We already know that. Um. Again, we have to say this a lot of times when we talk about Donovan Smith. I think Pete fans and and and and people that cover the team maybe don't know the extent to which Diamond Smith is valued inside the building. I think that our coaches think he's very good. I think they think he
had his best season last year. I don't foresee them making that move because then you basically have two new guys at two spots rather than one guy one new guy. And I know that it's it's not as easy to switch sides as everybody makes it seem, which you know, I know, it seems like, oh, they're both tackle positions,
you just switch sides. But I've talked to multiple guys that had played tackle, including Donovan and other guys, and asked about it, and they're like, yeah, I mean everything is about muscle memory, and you've trained your body to be doing everything in this one direction. There'd be a learning curve as were just says, yes, it's the same position, but your body doesn't just automatically adjust to to doing everything is reactionary as it would have on the other side.
So I don't think that's quite as easy as a switch as people seem to think it is. Um Rodney, that was that was a good explanation of what I was trying to say. Thank you, Yeah, and it's funny because I I also if people want to google it. Tristan Works was asked about this and had a very funny answer about what it's like to try to switch sides, that it's it's a it's a rather colorful answer that I'll just let people go google on their own, but it is very funny. Rodney asked, what do you think
about Tyler Johnson? Well, I know that they absolutely loved him. Um, you know, he was available in the fifth round for for two reasons. One, there was just so much depth in this draft at wide receiver. I think he probably would have been a second or third round pick in a normal draft. Uh, in a normal draft class of receivers.
I did a little look at and did a story on buccaneers dot com about how the receivers fell in that draft and and as expected, there was a big run on just blue chip guys in the first round, and then there was the run continued all through the second round. I mean, the receivers were just flying off
the board. But when you look at it, you probably had most of the teams that had receiver like a guy they need to be one of their top two starters as a need they were able to meet that in the first and second round, so then there was a lull on receivers. Only I think six more went in the third and fourth round combined, which isn't very
many at all compared to most years. And my theory is that's because all the teams that really felt like they had to get a number one or two receiver had met that need in the first and second rounds because there were so many available. But then there's a lull, and then the fifth round came and the Buccaneers got the second receiver in that round, and then six more went.
There were eight receivers taken in the fifth round, and you could hear the analysts on TV going, I mean about three or four him just I can't believe they got this guy in the fifth round. But that's just because what was available. That's the most receivers that have ever been taken in in any fifth round since the
nineteen seventy merger. So I just think the draft fell right for the Buccaneers to get a guy that they wouldn't be able to get in normal years if they wanted to get that safety in that running back in the second and third round, and then there are some parts of his testing that don't jump off the page
at you. And he didn't get to run at combine, so uh, you know it was probably that because from a production standpoint, from a route running standpoint, uh, from an ability to get to get open, the Bucks loved everything about him. So I think I think the Bucks are absolutely real about this pig announced. Marco asked what holes do the Bucks need to fill at this time if any? I don't think there's a starting job that
really needs to be filled. Um, you know, we got the whole front seven backup and Karl Nassevuh, yeah, I don't. I don't think there's a starting hole. So it's just a matter of depth. You could maybe use a little more depth as we talked about earlier on the interior line. Um, I don't know. Okay, see I don't. I don't think there's a lot of holes on this on this dep tart, which is it's a really great point. I mean, that's that's what you that's what you want to hear. It's
a it's an optimistic way to put it. You're you're hoping that everything you did works out and probably if you get your moves to work out. You're in great shape, but right now it's hard to look at the depth chart on paper and see if they which is that's what Bucks fans want to hear. I'm sure well that's gonna do it for us on this edition of Buccaneers Insider Live, present it by Miller Lte. Thanks to all of you for joining us. We'll see you back here next week. M M m