On the day I saw the Bucs, they were scheduled to have their second day of joint practices with the Jets. Plans changed. So instead, I hooked up with them at the Giants facility, in the shadows of MetLife Stadium. Here’s what I saw …
1) The competition to replace Tom Brady should be coming to a head soon, and Baker Mayfield’s final push has come. The six-year vet has come on over the last week, his best since arriving in Tampa, with more consistency in his play and fewer turnovers against the Bucs’ aggressive veteran defense. Kyle Trask has done all the right things to stay in the running, looking limber and more refined (particularly with his footwork), but it’s fair to think, at least to start, Tampa might want to give the proud vets at the core of their roster a veteran leader. A focused, dialed-in Mayfield can give them that in new coordinator Dave Canales’s varied offense, which is a blend of the different systems Canales worked in with the Seahawks.
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2) The offensive line in front of Mayfield has some moving parts, to be sure. The most visible change would be the group’s best player, Tristan Wirfs, flipping sides, going from right to left tackle. The switch, admittedly, took some getting used to—learning to punch with his left hand rather than his right was an adjustment. But after a full camp, the Bucs are pretty confident he’s ready to roll. Another spot to watch would be right guard, where rookie Cody Mauch has turned some heads with his blue-collar style of play.
3) There’s no question that the loss of Russell Gage is a significant one for the Bucs, but they have a potential answer in-house to complement Chris Godwin and Mike Evans (who’s in great shape and looks lean going into Year 10) in rookie Trey Palmer. A true burner, the sixth-round pick certainly got the Jets’ attention on Wednesday, when he blew past Sauce Gardner for a 60-yard touchdown in the teams’ joint practice. Palmer is one of a number of young skill players who’ve flashed in camp, with a bigger, more put-together Rachaad White in that category too (and undrafted free agent tailback Sean Tucker gives them a dark horse there too).
4) One name that came up pretty consistently was that of rookie edge rusher YaYa Diaby, a freakish third-round pick out of Louisville. Internally, he’s drawn comparison, at least athletically, to Jason Pierre-Paul, and he has a motor to match. With Shaq Barrett back healthy and having had a solid summer, Tampa’s pretty excited about the depth of its pass rush and all it’ll open up for Todd Bowles, who’s among the NFL’s most aggressive defensive play-callers to begin with.
5) I’ll say this to wrap up—there’s still a lot of pride in that locker room. Yeah, Tom Brady’s gone, and the Bucs did choose this year to eat the cap debt from the Brady Era in an effort to come out of 2023 with clean financials. That said, we mentioned Evans came in looking like he had something to prove, and he wasn’t the only one. Barrett, Lavonte David, Will Gholston, Antoine Winfield and Carlton Davis were among those that Bucs folks noted as having had really good summers. All those guys were pillars of the championship contender of the last three years. And my guess would be they’re pretty aware that a lot of people think they’re gonna go away now. Which should be (and really already has been) a pretty nice motivator for a prideful bunch.
