Bucs’ 3 Young LBs Are Special

Bucs TE Payne Durham – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Pewter Report’s Camp Diary series, a popular training camp exclusive feature on PewterReport.com, returns in 2025. We are excited to have two very intriguing players to profile in veteran tight end Payne Durham and rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts due to the unfortunate season-ending injury to outside linebacker David Walker, the Bucs’ fourth-round pick.

Durham is the Bucs’ backup tight end behind Cade Otton and serves primarily as a blocker in 12 personnel (two-tight end sets). He scored his first two NFL touchdowns at the end of the 2024 season and enters his third year in Tampa Bay trying to fend off Devin Culp for the TE2 duties. Payne has quite a personality, and Pewter Report readers will love getting to know one of the hidden gems in the Bucs locker room.

Roberts comes to Tampa Bay after a stellar two-year career at SMU where he was one of the nation’s top pass rushers in college football. Now Roberts is transitioning from an edge rusher for the Mustangs to a defensive tackle for the Buccaneers. Get to know Roberts, who will get plenty of playing time in his first preseason – and could pile up the sacks as a result.

Look for Durham’s and Roberts’ Camp Diary installments each week throughout training camp and the preseason.

Payne Durham Camp Diary 1: I Want To Become A Dominating Blocker
Payne Durham Camp Diary 2: Super Cool Moment To Score My First TD
Payne Durham Camp Diary 3: Coverage Is 100% Tighter From Our LBs, DBs

Payne Durham Camp Diary

Payne Durham was one of the best receiving tight ends in college football, catching 21 touchdowns in four seasons at Purdue, including eight his final year with the Boilermakers in 2022. The Bucs selected Durham in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and he’s beaten out Ko Kieft for the TE2 job behind starter Cade Otton. While primarily a blocking tight end, Durham scored his first two NFL touchdowns in Week 17 against Carolina and in Week 18 versus New Orleans.

Our Three Young Linebackers Are Special

By Payne Durham as told to Scott Reynolds

Our three young linebackers – [Nick] Jackson, [John] Bullock and [Antonio] Grier – are special. They’re special because of their work ethic. A lot of guys come to the NFL from college, myself included, and it’s a shock coming here to the next level. It took time for me to find a routine that works for me. Those guys just got here and shut up, took notes and asked good questions when they had them. All three of them – they’re always in the right spot on the field. We do a missed assignment board and you don’t see their names up there much at all. They play hard and are fun to be around. All three of them are good guys and have the chance to be special players.

Nick is a stud. I guess that would be the word. Always in the right position and when he’s there, he’s going to thump you. He’s also athletic enough where he can cover. He makes the right decisions, and he has good eyes. You saw that with his interception. He’s good in the run game and had a sack when he filled. Just a smart, tough player. He’s going to play in this league a long time.

I went to Purdue so I’m allowed to talk trash to Nebraska. Bullock is the prototype Nebraska linebacker where he’s gritty and plays hard, but … I don’t want to give Nebraska too much credit … but he’s more athletic than Nebraska guys normally are. He can cover, but when he fills a gap you are going to know it. He’s smart and another guy that doesn’t talk a lot, but like Nick, he just makes plays. Plus, he’s on cloud nine playing with Lavonte [David] here. I don’t know how he’s not being a Cornhusker.

Antonio has worked his tail off since he got here. All offseason, all camp, he’s one of the first guys here in the building. He’s always working. He’s a real student of the game. He sits in front of me in meetings and his notes are insane. It’s impressive how much he loves football, and he’s an athletic freak on top of it, too. He’s big, strong, fast and plays fearlessly. It was great to see him get that interception for us in Pittsburgh.

Another young player  who is really impressive is [outside linebacker] Warren Peeples Jr. Peeples is my guy! We’re from the same county. I’ve known of him for quite a while now. He looks like he’s built in a lab. He’s so rocked up. He’s a good dude and he’s funny. I mean this in the best way possible, but he’s like a little kid out there having fun playing football. He’s super studious in the meeting rooms, but when he’s out on the field it’s fun watching him play football because he’s having fun. He loves football. He’s also built like a Greek god.

Bucs Defense Is Developing A Killer Instinct

Our defense is really developing that killer instinct – 100%. You can see it in practice, and that all comes from Todd Bowles. He’s a defensive mastermind and he was running some coverages [on Wednesday] where I was like, “Guys, c’mon. Seriously?!” Todd must have had some random dream and woke up and just drew it up from his dream. He’s a genius. He’s a mastermind. The turnovers, the takeaways – it’s so huge. If we get a few of these each game we’re not going to lose.

Look at the Pittsburgh game. They’re doing such a great job – Nick, Antonio, Zyon [McCollum] and all of those guys. It’s so fun to see and gets our offense juiced. We’re sitting on the bench and all of a sudden we get a turnover and we’re back in the game because we have the ball now.

We’re seeing these in practice, too. Lavonte and [Antoine] Winfield [Jr.] had two interceptions in practice. Two playmakers just making plays like they do for us. I was trying to chase Winfield down after his interception and he is faster than me. Just in case the people were wondering! Just two high I.Q. football players that know where to be and make plays because of it.

Bucs Get Good Work, Good Outcome In Pittsburgh

It felt really good getting out there in Pittsburgh last week. It was my first time in that city and it’s a pretty cool place. I was pretty surprised. The joint practice went really well. I think we showed that we traveled well. We had the practice at Carnegie Mellon before the joint practice and everybody showed up and we didn’t let the travel or the hotel get in our way. It was all business. We showed up and we executed how we were supposed to and I think that carried over into the game a little bit. Definitely some stuff we need to clean up, myself included. But I think it was a good experience.

We’re a young team, but also a veteran team. We have a lot of guys in their third and fourth year now like me. I’m a third-year guy. A lot of young guys can lead – not by yelling and screaming, but by example. Just watching how guys work. Even Baker [Mayfield] feels like a young guy. It’s just the energy everyone brings. No one on the team is down or negative at all. Someone always finds a way to get us going. That’s what I appreciate about this team. It’s always positive and we know what we’re all chasing and that keeps us motivating.

We need to run the ball better against Buffalo than we did against Pittsburgh. We are a running team and that’s our identity. That’s who we established ourselves as last year. Pittsburgh did a great job. All of the credit to them. Their interior is good and their ends were stout. But we also had some self-inflicted wounds at times. We need to clean up some things and try to get back on track this week and get it going. That’s something we need to rely on.

I haven’t gotten any targets in the first two preseason games. Grizz [offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard] must be saving all those for the regular season (laughs)! My number hasn’t been called, but I don’t mind. I enjoy blocking. I have no problem with that. As long as the Bucs are winning – that’s all that matters.

Follow Payne Durham On X: @pdurham22

Follow Payne Durham On Instagram: @payne_durham