Cover 3 is a weekly feature column written by PewterReport.com’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat writer Trevor Sikkema published every Tuesday. The column, as its name suggests, comes in three phases: a statistical observation, an in-depth film breakdown, and a “this or that” segment where the writer asks the reader to chose between two options.

Sikkema’s Stat of the Week

When the end of July rolls around, we all write the sentence, “It’s finally here” – football season, that is. That’s when training camps begins for most NFL teams, and though we are excited to have football back for the first time in months, that feeling of excitement is quickly turned into a sense of “let’s just get to the regular season already!”

Now, it really is here.

Week 1 is the grandest stage. It’s when every team in the NFL believes they have a shot of making the playoffs and perhaps winning a Super Bowl. It’s when coaches and general managers really find out what their decisions are made of, and it’s when we find out quickly which players are on the up and which players are overwhelmed.

Over the weekend, every NFL team, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, trimmed its roster from 90 players to 53 players. We here at PewterReport.com gave Bucs fans the news of each player’s release, as it was made known, and gave a final official roster count once the team released it. However, I didn’t really get into the details of what I thought of each position group as it was made final.

Thankfully, I have a column where I can do that, and the time is now.

In this week’s Cover 3, I’m going to be going through the Bucs’ roster position-by-position, give each a three-word motto headed into the season and then give some overall thoughts to round it out.

Let’s start with quarterback.

Quarterbacks (2): Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Griffin

Motto: “Survive The Suspension”

Go ahead. Ask me. Ask me what the percent chance is that Winston is the starter in Week 4.

“Trev, what’s the percent chance Winston is the sta–”

ONE HUNDRED.

Winston is starting Week 4. If there was any chance that he wasn’t, this team would have released him or traded him when his suspension/the details of his Uber incident came out. Period. Jameis Winston is the starting quarterback of this franchise. That is the choice they made, and that is why he will be the team’s starter when he returns no matter what. For you to somehow convince yourself that a 14-year journeyman quarterback would not only go 3-0, but also give you more long-term hope than your No. 1 overall quarterback, who you’ve stood by on multiple negative off-the-field incidents, who you need to perform well in a big year before his fifth year option, who needs all the playing time he can get to be worth the massive contract you might give him, is asinine.

If – and I mean if – the Bucs dream scenario came true and Fitzpatrick went, let’s say 4-0 headed into the bye week, he had maybe one or two bad games after that, the team switched to Winston and he balled out right off the bat and took them to the playoffs, you better not bet on any other luck/fate-based good fortune to happen to Tampa sports because that would use up all the good fortune they got.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Getty Images

Jameis is the guy.

Now, as for who is on the roster, specifically to start the season, they’re going to need Fitzpatrick to play as good as he can. They need one win out of these first three games. They cannot go 0-3. If they do, Winston comes back on a short week, then a bye week, then at Atlanta for Week 6. If the Bucs aren’t at least 2-3 by the end of Week 6 they’re in real trouble.

Fitzpatrick has looked pretty in control during the preseason. There is hope, especially with his 2-1 performance as a starter last season, that he could string a good game or two together and get at least one win in the stretch of the first three. The key is: He can’t turn the ball is over.

Running Backs (4): Peyton Barber, Ronald Jones, Jacquizz Rodgers, Shaun Wilson

Motto: The Pey-train Comin’

Most of the recaps won’t be that long, don’t worry.

I really do think this is the Peyton Barber show this season. Barber has looked as confident as ever this training camp. He’s still the physical north-to-south runner you thought he was last year, but this year he’s added a little patience to his game. If the O-Line holds up, he’ll be what they need.

It might be a long year for Jones, I really don’t know. The Bucs tried to get him in space with outside zone runs during the preseason, and the offensive line clearly couldn’t execute that. Perhaps the starters will fare better there, but if not, Jones will just have to find his yards between the tackles.

Rodgers will likely be the team’s starting third-down back. Expect him to be this year’s Charles Sims in terms of usage. Wilson making the roster was great to see. I think he’s the best kick returner on the team, and having him in the running back group gives them an element of speed beyond Jones.

Wide Receivers (6): Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Adam Humphries, DeSean Jackson, Freddie Martino, Justin Watson

Motto: “Gotta Get 6”

The Bucs ended up keeping six wide receivers this year, which was sort of expected since head coach Dirk Koetter said that was the toughest position for them to nail down.

Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and WR DeSean Jackson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Evans, Godwin, Humphries and Jackson were obvious, but Martino got the nod due to experience and Watson got the nod for upside. I can’t argue with that. Most people know I’m a fan of what Bobo Wilson brings to the receiver group with speed and special teams ability, but I knew it would wither be Shaun Wilson or Bobo Wilson, likely not both. They made their choice. I can’t say it was a bad one.

The motto is score the ball, and score in the red zone, most importantly. The #GottaGet6 movement is on them. They have to find the space to make it easy. They’re too talented to not be a Top 10 red zone unit.

Tight Ends (4): Antony Auclair, Cameron Brate, Alan Cross, O.J. Howard

Motto: “Draft OJ Howard”

I know that most of your fantasy drafts will have already happened by the time you’re reading this, but “Draft OJ Howard” is an easy three-word way to say that this guy is going to be really good in 2018.

Expect Brate to still be heavily involved in the offense, and Auclair looks more comfortable in his second year, as well. But, this unit is going to run through the former first-round pick, and he’s been putting on a show in preseason and training camp.

Offensive Linemen (10): Caleb Benenoch, Alex Cappa, Demar Dotson, Adam Gettis, Ryan Jensen, Mike Liedtke, Ali Marpet, Donovan Smith, Evan Smith, Leonard Wester

Motto: “I Am Worried”

I believe the Buccaneers’ 2018 season will run through their offensive line – the good or the bad. Quarterback will obviously be important, but I think if the offensive line is up to what this team believes they can be, that will be enough to at least give them a chance in their first three games and could be what sustains success beyond that.

Bucs RT Demar Dotson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

However, here we are going into Week 1 and the “best five” on the roster haven’t had much time with one another. Donovan Smith might not be ready for Week 1, Ali Marpet is still new to left guard, Ryan Jensen is new to the line as a whole, Caleb Benenoch is first-time starter at right guard and Demar Dotson … well, okay, Demar will be good no matter what.

The offensive line has to be the best unit on the team for the Buccaneers to achieve the success they want in 2018, and right now, it’s a big bet to say that will be the case.

Defensive Linemen (10): Beau Allen, Vinny Curry, Will Gholston, Gerald McCoy, Jason Pierre-Paul, Noah Spence, Mitch Unrein, Vita Vea, Jerel Worthy, Carl Nassib

Motto: “Just Get Sacks”

Well, I had something else written in here and then Jason Licht just had to go claim Nassib on waivers on Monday and make me re-type everything (obvious playful sarcasm here).

Before Nassib, the cast of McCoy, Allen, Pierre-Paul and Curry looked great on paper. But, we all thought the Bucs defensive line looked pretty decent on paper last year, too.

The bottom line is the defensive has to be a near 40-sack unit, if not above. I understand that’s a big jump form a league-low 22 sack last season. But the money has been spent, the coaches have been changed, and it’s time to put up or shut up. This is by far the best defensive line the Buccaneers have had in years.

No excuses this season.

Linebackers (5): Kwon Alexander, Jack Cichy, Lavonte David, Cameron Lynch, Adarius Taylor

Motto: “Thank God For Nickel”

Yeah, yeah I used four words that time, get over it.

We all know that Alexander and David are the heartbeat of the Bucs’ defense, and it’s a great heartbeat to have. Those two bring some serious energy and emotion to a game where both are needed. I expect David to have another excellent season, and Alexander to make enough splash plays around him for that group to really shine.

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Getty Images

The reason I say thank God for nickel, though, is because the experience is green around them. Taylor, whom I like, will be getting starter reps for the first time on a regular basis, and Cichy is, of course, a rookie. Lynch showed good things on the second and third team units during the preseason, but like I said, all those guys will be relatively new to the fire of the regular season.

Cornerbacks (6): Carlton Davis, Brent Grimes, Vernon Hargreaves, De’Vante Harris, Ryan Smith, M.J. Stewart

Motto: “Aggressive. Aggressive. Aggressive.”

The Buccaneers defensive backs have to be more aggressive in 2018. Off coverage in a quarters formation, as a base defense, needs to stay in 2017 for the Buccaneers. They didn’t draft players like Davis and Stewart to be soft on the line. They drafted those guys to help change things around One Buc Place, and are pieces that should allow defensive coordinator Mike Smith to get more aggressive. He needs to call the game as such.

This is also a big year for Hargreaves. He, too, must pay as aggressive as he has since his days at Florida. He needs play press coverage on a regular basis in the slot and become one of the bets nickel defenders in the league.

Safeties (4): Chris Conte, Justin Evans, Isaiah Johnson Jordan Whitehead

Motto: “Speed Over Experience”

To piggyback off the cornerback section, it appears the Buccaneers made their statement with the safeties they chose that they want to be fast at all levels in the defensive back room. The four safeties chosen were the four most athletic they had on the roster. Let’s hope that means more Cover 1 and Cover 3 single-high looks paired with man coverage and aggressive play at the line of scrimmage and on the back end.

Bucs Safety Chris Conte – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The releases of Tandy and Robinson were the most shocking. Tandy was a catalyst for this team’s winning streak at the end of 2016, but never really got his chance after that. Robinson, though hasn’t seen much starting action at cornerback or safety, and was a special teams ace for this group for years. Both guys are gone now. We’ll see how well their details can be replaced with younger talent.

Specialists (2): Bryan Anger (punter), Chandler Catanzaro (kicker)

Motto: “Do Your Job”

Kicking and punting should be the lowest execution above replacement positions on the roster, meaning you should be able to find someone to do both jobs relatively easy.

Instead, both units were straight up bad in 2017.

Anger has Pro Bowl-caliber ability. He needs to get to that level again. Catanzaro has the leg, he just needs to prove the consistency. They’re paying him enough to. So far he’s on his way to earning his keep.

On the next page we’ll take a deeper dive into the Buccaneers’ most recent roster addition, defensive end Carl Nassib.