We Can Use The Heat To Our Advantage

Bucs DT Elijah Roberts – 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-injury to outside linebacker David Walker, the Bucs’ fourth-round pick. Walker was originally going to be Pewter Report’s defensive rookie subject.

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

Elijah Roberts Camp Diary

Elijah Roberts had 131 pressures over the last two seasons at SMU, which ranked No. 1 in the FBS. His range was inconsistent when working off contact against the run, but he certainly holds his own at the point of attack. And while power is the focal point of his game, he has good short-area quickness, which helps him against the run, too. He was a Second Team All-AAC selection in 2023, a season that saw him post 10 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed. Then, after SMU made the move to the ACC in 2024, he finished his career in Dallas with 7.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a pass defensed.

We Can Use The Heat To Our Advantage

By Elijah Roberts as told to Scott Reynolds

Over the summer I went back home to Miami to prepare for camp and did a lot of learning the playbook and learning the techniques of what’s being asked of me. Then it was stuff I usually do – a little bit of conditioning here and there. Of course I really try to make sure I’m in shape. I’ve always heard about having to be in shape for NFL camp because of how hot it is.

I’ve lived in Florida my whole life, and I played in Texas the last two years. I honestly don’t think there is ever getting used to heat. There’s no getting used to Tampa heat. You just have to adapt to it. It’s going to be hot regardless in training camp. Eventually it gets to the point where it doesn’t affect you as much, but 100 degrees is still 100 degrees.

I feel like we can use the heat to our advantage because we practice in it. It was the same way in college at SMU. We would put them in the sun and you would start seeing people cramping by the third quarter. This heat is no joke, so I could only imagine if a team from the north and didn’t have the same type of heat came down here – it’s definitely going to be an advantage for us for sure.

I was really excited to put the pads on in camp. I felt like I had a pretty good first week. I felt like I was able to hold my own.

Coach [Charlie] Strong has been great to work with. It’s kind of weird because he was the linebackers coach at Miami while I was there a few years ago. We crossed paths a lot. It’s great to have a familiar face as a coach for me in year one. And it’s great to have a guy that has coached football so much because he has so much knowledge about the game.

He wants me to be really nitpicking about everything – about my feet, about my stance, about my hands. Hand placement, handwork, hand speed – all of it. He’s nitpicky about all the little things and I can see how that’s going to turn me into a better player if I can make all of those things align. At the same time, he’s told me that nobody is perfect and just to go out and play football and continue to do the things that got me here.

Coach [Todd] Bowles is so cool. He’s probably the calmest head coach I’ve been around. He’s the most chill. He’s real cool and he’s a players coach. All the vets love him. There’s a reason he’s been here as long as he has. Whenever I talk to him he’s always giving me great feedback and tells me to keep going.

Elijah Roberts Hurts For Injured Bucs OLB David Walker

My heart hurts for David Walker because he was going to be a guy that was going to be on the field every game. He’s my roommate. David’s a great guy with a passion for the game and a passion for his faith. He’s very religious and I’ve learned stuff from him that I didn’t know on the faith side of things.

He’s a guy that you can learn from on and off the field. David will be back, but it sucks because he was killing it on the field. He was doing great from the first day he was out here.

In college, if this was his last year and he got hurt, it would sting a lot more. But this is his first year in the NFL, and he was a draft pick, and he was a guy they were going to lean on this year and expect a lot from. It’s not the end of the world and he’ll be fine. This isn’t college where he has to go to class. He’ll be in the film room and learning the defense so he’ll be ready to go next year when he’s rehabbing and gets back.

Elijah Roberts Is Adjusting To The Move To DT

I’ve been playing the 4i technique in our base defense and the defensive tackle role in sub packages like nickel defense. I’m playing the same position that Logan Hall, Eric Banks and Adam Gotsis is playing and I’ve been learning from those guys. For me it’s being able to stay at 290 pounds to hold up inside.

I’ve really only been 290 since after last season leading up to Combine prep. I knew I had to get a little heavier coming into the league. People expected that I would move inside from playing defensive end in college. Honestly, I played last year at SMU from 275-280 pounds. So I’ve stayed up around 290 and it’s new for me.

It’s not too hard. I feel like I have the same twitch, the same explosiveness and the same power at the higher weight. The first few days of rookie mini-camp were a little rough at that weight, but it’s good now. I’m used to it.

When I was at SMU I played some D-tackle, but that was primarily on third downs and in pass rushing situations and I would occasionally get some double teams from guard-center. It’s the same kind of double team I would get from a tackle and a tight end, just a lot more weight and you have to anchor down in there. I just try to use my length – my length is my friend – and have good footwork.

Everybody has been helping me from Calijah [Kancey] to Logan to CJ Brewer, who has been big for me since day one. They’ve all been great on and off the field, leading me in different directions from recovery to coaching points. Not just me, either. It’s all the vets helping all the rookies. This is honestly the best situation that I could’ve landed in. It’s a great group of guys for sure.

Watching bigger, taller guys like Logan, EB and Gotsis is so helpful. They have similar body types and to see how they play a certain block.

All those guys on the offensive line are really, really good and they’re very technically sound. Of course they are big, huge human beings and they’re very strong and have great hands and great fit. But they are just so technically sound. You really have to be on top of your game when you go in there against our O-line. I can’t wait to take some more L’s from them, whether that’s in a team setting or in 1-on-1s – being able to take my losses from them and then use it to get better to make myself a better D-lineman when I go up against our opponents.

“I Can’t Wait For This Preseason Game”

I can’t wait for this preseason game. I’m a ball player. This is still new to me, being in this defensive scheme, but once we line up and play, I’m a ball player. I can’t wait to be on the field and play a game again. This is probably the longest it’s been since I’ve played football because in college you have a spring game. I’m excited to play in the preseason and I’m ready to go.

I’m excited to get my first sack, but to be honest, I’m just ready for the next one. Each time I get a sack I feel like there is more food to be eaten. Get a sack – boom, you celebrate it. Then it’s on to the next one. After the game I’ll re-watch my sacks and get happy about them, but during the game it’s on to the next play. If you dwell on one sack you could’ve had two or three.

Thank you guys – thanks to all the fans who have come out to see us in training camp and taking time out of their day to cheer us on. It’s hot, and I can’t thank you guys enough. This is a team that is going to be ready to win. We’re getting ready for the season. I haven’t been here long, but this feels like an actual team – not just a bunch of guys that come to work. There’s a real brotherhood here and a real camaraderie here.

Growing up I heard a bunch of stories about how NFL locker rooms are, and this experience has been everything opposite of that, which is great. I can’t wait for fans to come out and see us on Saturday night and see how together we are.

Follow Elijah Roberts On X: @E1ijahRoberts

Follow Elijah Roberts On Instagram: @elijah.roberts