Bucs OTAs Observations, Insights And Standouts

INTRO: This edition of my SR’s FAB 5 column is a collection of some of the random thoughts I’ve had throughout the week encompassing the Bucs OTA I watched on Tuesday and some information from the Wednesday and Thursday practices that I was able to glean from some sources, in addition to some observations and insights about the Bucs preseason and regular season schedule. Enjoy!

FAB 1. SR’s OTA Observations, Insights And Standouts – Bucs Offense

• This year’s passing game very well could be more vertical in nature. That’s something that new Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard has said he would like to see. It’s hard to imagine Tampa Bay generating even more explosive plays than the offense did a year ago when the unit ranked fourth in points scored per game (29.5 avg.), third in total offense (399.6 avg.), second in first downs (395), third in passing yards (250.4 avg.) and fourth in rushing yards (149.2 avg.).

The Bucs became the first team in NFL history to have an overall pass completion percentage of at least 70% and average at least five yards per carry in rushing. With Grizzard wanting to throw the ball a little deeper down the field, look for Baker Mayfield’s completion percentage to drop a bit from a career-high and franchise-record 71.4% in 2024 to perhaps just under 70% in 2025.

Mayfield averaged 7.9 yards per attempt, which tied for ninth in the league. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson led the NFL with an 8.8-yard average, followed by Detroit’s Jared Goff at 8.6 and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy at 8.5. Mayfield has the arm strength to push the ball downfield, and it appears the Bucs have been pursuing more intermediate throws with more depth. Think routes that are 12 to 15 yards in depth rather than eight to 10 yards.

I don’t see Grizzard calling for more vertical shots like lower percentage go routes down the sidelines that were staples of Dirk Koetter’s and Bruce Arians’ schemes. These are deeper slants and crossers with more depth that are within the Rams-style offense that is yards-after-catch based.

With two more receivers who have the speed to gain ground quickly in rookies Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson, in addition to the development of speedy second-year tight end Devin Culp, it makes more sense to try to push the down the field a bit more in 2025 as the offense evolves under Grizzard’s watch. There will still be plenty of screens to backs and receivers and quick slants and quick outs designed to have Mayfield complete an incredibly high rate of passes and get the ball in the hands of Tampa Bay’s playmakers as soon as possible.

But mixing in a few more deep routes is smart considering the amount of weaponry the Bucs have on offense. While Tampa Bay led the league in third down percentage, which happened to be the down that Grizzard was responsible for in Coen’s offense, the best way to be successful on third downs is to avoid them all together. Nothing beats a play of 10 yards or more on first down, and that appears to be Grizzard’s line of thinking as he takes over play-calling duties this year.

• While I reported that last week’s OTA featured several standouts on the defensive side of the ball, including starting inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis, rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison and rookie inside linebacker John Bullock, the second week of OTAs was ruled by the offense. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was particularly sharp, and not just on Tuesday when Pewter Report and other members of the media were able to watch. Mayfield continued to impress on Wednesday and Thursday.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

On the receiving end of Mayfield’s big plays and scoring strikes throughout the week were first-round pick Emeka Egbuka and second-year receiver Jalen McMillan. Egbuka is so polished and competitive. He looks like a pro already. McMillan has risen to the occasion with the addition of Egbuka, and it’s truly become a friendly “iron sharpens iron” situation at wide receiver.

Egbuka’s arrival safeguards the team from a potential sophomore slump from McMillan. We saw Trey Palmer, who was WR3 as a rookie in 2023, go through that and regress last year, losing the WR3 role to McMillan. This year, McMillan seems improved and more focused than ever. Don’t be surprised if he picks up where he left off last year as a touchdown-scoring machine who gets overlooked in an offense led by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin – and now Egbuka.

• The Bucs are absolutely thrilled with their running back room and believe they have the best and deepest depth chart when factoring in Sean Tucker, who is RB3 behind Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Detroit’s 1-2 punch of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs rivals Tampa Bay’s, and Atlanta’s tandem of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier is quite formidable, too. But the Bucs feel Tucker is a starting-caliber back too, and there just isn’t another team that has a 1-2-3 punch like the Bucs do.

Bucs RB Josh Williams – Photo by: USA Today

Undrafted free agent Josh Williams is also turning heads. The 5-foot-9, 203-pound rookie out of LSU ran a 4.45 at his pro day and had a 42-inch vertical jump. The Tigers rotated a lot of backs and Williams ran for just 482 yards and six touchdowns in 2024 while averaging 4.1 yards per carry. But he also caught 31 passes for 263 yards (8.5 avg.) and has good hands.

Simply put, he’s a fit in Tampa Bay’s offense. Williams has superb run instincts, really good contact balance and quick, active feet. We won’t see a lot of Irving and White in the preseason, but we will see a lot of Tucker and Williams this August.

Speaking of White, he’s in phenomenal shape. Like the best shape of his career and he looks ready to ball in his contract year. White is leaner and quicker than he was last season.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

FAB 2. SR’s OTA Observations, Insights And Standouts – Bucs Defense

• The defense didn’t have the week in practice like it did in the first week of OTAs. Having a healthy back and forth between the offense winning some days and the defense winning some days is ideal, and it shows the makings of a complete football team.

But one defender who continues to impress is third-year defensive tackle Calijah Kancey. The 2023 first-round pick constantly wears two compression sleeves on his calf to try to prevent the calf injuries that have robbed him of the first quarter of each of the last two seasons in Tampa Bay.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I asked Kancey earlier this offseason what would happen if he was healthy enough to play in all 17 games this season. His answer was that he believed he could lead the league in sacks. On Monday’s Pewter Report Podcast, Bucs head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles said he thinks Kancey could come close.

Since 2020, the average number of league-leading sacks is 18.5. That’s just over a sack a game. Kancey had 7.5 sacks in 12 games last year. Could he possibly reach 12 or 13 over 17 games? Bowles thinks he could.

• The well-documented mid-air duel between first-round receiver Emeka Egbuka and second-round cornerback Benjamin Morrison was a sight to behold. It was great to see the two rookies being so competitive for the football in a meaningless OTA practice in June.

I’m sure the Bucs coaches didn’t like to see Egbuka take a hard fall when he landed on the ground, but if Tampa Bay, which had a terrible pass defense last year, wants to get better in secondary and break up more passes and pick them off, that starts in practice. In case you missed Pewter Report’s reporting on the play, which took place on Tuesday, Egbuka skied up to catch a jump ball above his head and he had possession of it for an instance.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But before he could land, Morrison jumped up and batted the ball out of Egbuka’s hands at the catch point. And he did so without drawing a penalty by playing the ball instead of the receiver. It was a very polished play from the pro-ready rookie cornerback.

What was great about that play was that it didn’t take a veteran receiver or a veteran cornerback to show Egbuka and Morrison how to compete at a very high level. These two are intrinsically competitive from the start, and each seems poised to make an impact as a rookie. Morrison could wind up starting sooner rather than later in Tampa Bay.

FAB 3. SR’s Observations And Insights – Bucs Preseason

• Bucs head coach Todd Bowles broke some news on the Pewter Report Podcast. He said that the team is looking to have joint training camp practices with the Titans in Tampa Bay and the Steelers in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Joint practices are nothing new under Bowles. The Bucs have held joint camp practices with the Dolphins (2022), Titans (2022), Jets (2023) and Jaguars (2024) since he took over as head coach.

Tampa Bay will be the first team to get a look at Tennessee rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who was this year’s first overall pick, as the Bucs and Titans play each other in the first preseason game. The next week, Tampa Bay will face a far different quarterback in practice on the other end of the spectrum in 41-year old Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, who just announced he’ll be signing with Pittsburgh.

Bucs OLBs coach Larry Foote and head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Speaking of Pittsburgh, Bowles suggested that outside linebackers coach and run game defensive coordinator Larry Foote might call the plays against the Steelers in Week 2 of the preseason. Foote played in Pittsburgh as an inside linebacker from 2002-08 and again from 2010-13 and certainly would relish that opportunity. He called plays at Cincinnati against the Bengals in Tampa Bay’s 17-14 win in last year’s preseason opener.

• In the third preseason game, which is when the starters typically play a series, a quarter or perhaps even an entire half, the Bucs will host the Bills, a team that they will face later in the regular season. Tampa Bay travels to Buffalo in Week 11 on November 16, so expect a really bland game plan from Bowles and offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Even more vanilla than preseason games typically are.

• As I mentioned on Pewter Report’s X account on Thursday, don’t worry about new outside linebacker Haason Reddick. Despite missing the two weeks of OTAs he’s been working out on his own and is expected to attend the mandatory mini-camp next week.

FAB 4. SR’s Observations And Insights – Bucs Regular Season

• Pewter Report’s Matt Matera brought something up on the Pewter Report Podcast this week that made an awful lot of sense. Perhaps part of the reason why the Bucs have been a perfect 3-0 in season openers under Todd Bowles is because the team has had a new offensive coordinator in each of the last two years.

At Bowles’ direction, returning offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich featured Leonard Fournette, who ran for 127 yards on 21 carries. Bowles wanted the Bucs to be more balanced on offense, but that sentiment didn’t last as Leftwich shied away from the run for the rest of the season and Tom Brady led the league in pass attempts at age 43. That led to Leftwich’s firing after the 2022 season.

Yet the Bucs came out against the Cowboys and showed a different look offensively in the season opener and won in Dallas, 19-3. Rookie play-caller Dave Canales took over the next year and the Vikings didn’t know what to expect from the Bucs, who prevailed in the 2023 season opener, 20-17. The same was true for new offensive coordinator Liam Coen last year, as his unit led the way in trouncing the Commanders in Tampa Bay in Week 1, 37-20.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While the Bucs are expected to keep using Coen’s playbook under rookie coordinator Josh Grizzard there will be some new wrinkles that Grizzard will implement that might catch the Falcons off guard in Week 1 that allow Tampa Bay to remain undefeated in season openers under Bowles.

• Bowles made an important point during his appearance on Monday’s Pewter Report Podcast. When asked about the schedule, Bowles indicated that he loved it, especially the bye week in Week 9, which falls in the middle of the 2025 season. But he did mention that the Thursday Night Football game versus Atlanta in Week 15 is the latest Thursday game that the franchise has ever had.

That may be a bit of detriment because Thursday night games come with a mini bye week that can help the players rest their legs and bodies afterwards with the weekend off. Despite Bowles being 0-3 in Thursday night games as a head coach, they have come earlier in the season, which offers a bit of a reprieve for the team coming off training camp and the start of the season in the hot and humid conditions in Florida.

Bowles’ teams have excelled later in the season, finishing 6-1 in December and January in 2024 and 5-1 in December and January in 2023. The team really hasn’t shown the need for a late-season mini bye, so it will be interesting to see what happens this year with such a new phenomenon.

FAB 5. Jason Licht Will Appear On The Pewter Report Podcast On Monday, June 9

Pewter Report’s amazing offseason continues with regards to getting several Bucs guests to appear on the Pewter Report Podcast. We’ve welcomed outside linebacker Yaya Diaby, quarterback Michael Pratt, rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts, VP of player personnel Mike Biehl, cornerback Zyon McCollum and head coach Todd Bowles on so far.

On Monday, we’re excited to have Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht join the Pewter Report Podcast for a second time as our guest at 4:00 pm ET. You can watch that episode live on PewterReportTV on YouTube as well as it being streamed live on our @PewterReport channels on X and Facebook.

As we did with Bowles, we will take a handful of questions from Bucs fans who tune in live and superchat us (as it’s much easier to have those questions stand out among the hundreds of questions and comments that we’ll have in the live chat). The ground rules are that the questions must be respectful in nature and deemed appropriate by the Pewter Report staff.

We may not be able to get to every question that we get via superchat depending on how much time we have with Licht answering our Pewter Report’s own questions. But Matt Matera and I will try our best to at answer the ones we may not be able to get to on the program.