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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Monday Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Monday Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Just want to play hypothetical here and have a little fun. Let’s say things don’t go as planned for the Ravens in re-signing Lamar Jackson and he walks. Tom Brady retires and moves on. The Bucs G.M. and owners are all in with Jackson. Do the Bucs have what it takes to land Jackson, or what would they need to do for him?

ANSWER: This is a very interesting question and something I have been pondering for a while myself. If Bruce Arians was still Tampa Bay’s head coach, I don’t know if Lamar Jackson is a great fit for his scheme. Jackson is an elite scrambling quarterback that posted back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2019 and 2020. He was on pace to post a third 1,000-yard season before an ankle injury caused him to miss five games down the stretch last season. Jackson has a healthy 6.0 career rushing average, and his legs are a main part of what makes him such a dangerous weapon to defend.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson – Photo by: USA Today

But Arians is no longer calling the shots. Todd Bowles is the new head coach and he may have a different philosophy when it comes to the quarterback position. Bowles is certainly a fan of great pocket passers. But is he open to a different kind of threat like Jackson, who can hurt teams throwing and running the football? Possibly, given the fact that Bowles has to defend dual-threat QBs like Jackson from time to time in the NFL. It should be noted that the Bucs host Jackson and the Ravens on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 27 this year.

Jackson can also make big plays with his arm, but he’s not the most accurate downfield passer. That’s an attribute that Arians has all but demanded in his offensive scheme before. In 2019, Jackson was the NFL MVP while throwing for 3,127 yards and a league-high 36 touchdowns with just six interceptions. Jackson completed 66.1% of his passes that season, but his completion percentage has slipped to 64.4% in each of the last two years. And the Ravens call for a lot of short and intermediate throws.

There is no denying Jackson’s talent. And without many weapons to throw to outside of Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews, he may want out of Baltimore. Jackson also wants a huge payday and will likely become the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL with the Ravens or another team. If Baltimore doesn’t want to pay him, the Ravens may turn to a much cheaper option in Tyler Huntley instead. I’m not saying the Bucs would or would not pursue Jackson if he makes it to free agency in 2023. But with the team’s weapons at wide receiver, the Bucs could have what it takes to lure another great quarterback to Tampa Bay if Brady decides to leave or retire.

QUESTION: How much say (if any) do you think Tom Brady had regarding which wide receivers the Bucs keep?

ANSWER: Not much. Tom Brady wasn’t consulted in terms of which wide receivers the team wanted to keep on its 53-man roster this year. However, Bucs general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles also understood the rapport that Brady has with veterans Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman.

Miller turned in several big touchdowns during the Bucs’ Super Bowl run in 2020. None were bigger than his last-second, 39-yard touchdown before halftime at Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game. That gave Tampa Bay a 21-10 lead at halftime.

Perriman came up big for the Bucs at the end of the 2019 season, with three 100-yard games to close out the year in Bruce Arians’ first year in Tampa Bay. After he was re-signed in 2021, Perriman caught the game-winning, 58-yard touchdown to beat Buffalo in overtime.

The Bucs had a trio of talented undrafted rookie free agent receivers in camp this summer. But the team knew that Deven Thompkins, Jerreth Sterns and Kaylon Geiger didn’t do enough in the preseason to warrant other teams poaching any of those receivers. So, the Bucs were able to stash Thompkins and Geiger on the practice squad for the future. But right now, with Brady likely playing his final season in Tampa Bay, the Bucs wanted to go with experienced receivers, even if Miller and Perriman didn’t shine in the preseason. It’s hard to blame the Bucs’ decision-making process.

QUESTION: Is Scotty Miller going to be playing gunner? Special teams coverage looked awful in the preseason and wasn’t special last year. Miller actually made some plays when he was in there last year.

Bucs WR Scotty Miller – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I asked that question to Todd Bowles last week and he said that Scotty Miller would indeed have a role on special teams. As the Bucs’ fifth wide receiver, he’ll have to play on special teams in order to dress on game days. Miller often practices as a kick returner and punt returner, but has yet to field a punt or a kick in any game. Even in any preseason game, which is kind of crazy.

Miller has blazing straight-away speed, and it’s always been curious to me why he has not been given a shot to return punts or kicks in the preseason. But I don’t understand everything that special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong does.

What I do know is that Miller was pressed into service as a gunner last year on special teams on two occasions and made two impact plays. Miller forced a key fumble in the Bucs’ comeback win over the Colts in Indianapolis. That was a huge turnover that keyed the turnaround in that game. Miller also forced a fumble against the Eagles in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

While he’s not the biggest Bucs receiver, he is one of the fastest. Miller has also added about 10 pounds of muscle this year, which may help him become even more effective as a gunner. Tampa Bay didn’t have any one really stand out as a gunner during the preseason. Why not give Miller a crack at it in Week 1 at Dallas?

QUESTION: I have been really impressed with Ko Kieft and his willingness to block. With an inexperienced interior O-line, will we see the return of a fullback this season?

ANSWER: I already think we have seen the return of the fullback. That’s one of the roles that Ko Kieft is playing for the Bucs’ offense right now. Bruce Arians didn’t use a fullback in his offense. That’s a big reason why former H-back/tight end/fullback Alan Cross didn’t stick with the Bucs in 2019.

But Byron Leftwich is the play-caller now and head coach Todd Bowles has wanted Leftwich to venture outside of Arians’ playbook and get more creative. Having Kieft on the field as a lead-blocking fullback in addition to playing in-line tight end is one of the ways the Bucs can get their ground game going this year.

I don’t know if Kieft will be taking any fullback dives from Tom Brady this year. But don’t be surprised if there are a couple of passes to the fullback off play-action fakes this year. Kieft has pretty good hands despite logging only 12 catches at the University of Minnesota.

QUESTION: Is there an update on wide receiver Chris Godwin?

ANSWER: Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin was seen running at full speed without a knee brace on during Monday’ practice. So, that’s an encouraging sign.

The guess here is that Godwin is listed as questionable all week for the Bucs’ 2022 season opener at Dallas on the injury reports. Godwin missed all of the preseason games as he recovered from his torn ACL, which he suffered last December. Then, head coach Todd Bowles tells the media that Godwin will be a game-time decision on Sunday night.

I suspect Godwin will play with a limited pitch count against the Cowboys. But the Bucs will engage in some gamesmanship all week to keep the Cowboys guessing as to whether or not Godwin will play in Week 1.