SR’s FAB 5 column on the Bucs is presented by Gameday Men’s Health

Men – do you feel tired? Are you gaining weight despite working out… struggling with sleep, focus, or sexual performance? Did you know that 1 in 4 men over the age of 30 have low testosterone? And many men don’t even realize it – and I didn’t either, which is why I am on testosterone replacement therapy at age 54 and feel like I’m 10 years younger.

At Gameday Men’s Health, low testosterone is quickly diagnosed and treated. Gameday offers a FREE testosterone test and consultation – with results in minutes. Gameday specializes in testosterone replacement therapy, along with weight loss, ED treatments, and peptides — all designed to help optimize your health and performance.

With 6 Tampa Bay area locations in Westshore, South Tampa, Brandon, Palm Harbor, Largo, and Sarasota … getting started is EASY. Visit GamedayMensHealth.com today to schedule your FREE consultation. Feel better and get back in the game with Gameday Men’s Health!

INTRO: Bucs OTAs are over and mandatory mini-camp is up next week, followed by a six-week break for the summer prior to training camp, which begins the last week of July. This week’s SR’s FAB 5 is geared around my observations and insights from watching three open OTAs over the last three weeks this offseason. Next week’s SR’s FAB 5 column will be centered around my observations from three more open practices during next week’s mini-camp.

FAB 1. Bucs OTA Observations: Offense

After three open OTA practices in which the media got to attend, here are my observations about the Bucs offense.

RB Kenneth Gainwell Has Been A Standout For The Bucs Offense

The Bucs were excited to see Bucky Irving back on the field participating in the OTAs Thursday for the first time since his shoulder surgery this offseason. Yet the team is equally excited about new running back Kenneth Gainwell, who head coach Todd Bowles continue to refer to as running back 1B to Irving being 1A.

In other words, Gainwell, who signed a two-year, $14 million contract, is not going to be Irving’s backup like Rachaad White was last year. Teams don’t pay running backs $7 million per season to not carry and catch the ball.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White was not a 1B running back last year in Tampa Bay. He was clearly the No. 2 runner behind Irving, who was coming off a rookie season where he rushed for 1,155 yards and scored eight touchdowns. Look no further than the fact that White played in all 17 games last year, whereas Irving played in just 10, and he still finished 41 carries and 16 yards behind Irving on the year statistically.

Sources tell me that Gainwell and Irving have gotten along fantastically well so far. Not that there was any bad blood between Irving and White last year. It’s just that White was in a contract year and grew frustrated with his lack of touches down the stretch upon Irving’s return from injury.

Gainwell has quickly picked up Zac Robinson’s playbook and has excelled as a receiver out of the backfield as well as a runner with the speed to hit the edge in wide zone and to see the cutback lanes, in addition to being able to run between the tackles in Tampa Bay’s gap scheme. Bowles praised Gainwell for his toughness and physicality, which is more than his 5-foot-9, 200-pound frame would suggest.

Gainwell said he’s looking forward to running the Pony package, which is a two-back set that former offensive coordinator Liam Coen introduced in 2024, once Irving is healthy. Robinson ran some Pony package in Atlanta with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier on the field at the same time, and plans on incorporating that into this year’s offense, too.

Zac Robinson’s Offense Will Please Bucs Fans

As expected, there are some very similar features and concepts between new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s scheme and Liam Coen’s playbook from the successful 2024 season. Both Robinson and Coen, who are best friends, come from the Sean McVay coaching tree in Los Angeles.

Without revealing too much and getting into specifics, I am allowed to tell you that I haven’t seen any pistol formation, which Robinson ran a bunch in Atlanta. As Pewter Report has reported often this offseason, the Falcons had to run pistol because of the mobility issues that rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had with his previous knee injuries, and that veteran QB Kirk Cousins had coming off an Achilles injury at age 36 during the 2024 season.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson, pass game coordinator TJ Yates and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Baker Mayfield is quite mobile and operates very well under center, so there’s no need to run pistol in Tampa Bay. When Mayfield is under center, he can operate the play-action drop-backs as well as the rollouts and waggles. And that’s what Robinson wants to do – like Coen did – and that is get Mayfield involved in play-action from under center. Mayfield has also operated out of shotgun quite a bit.

There’s also been a good deal of motion and bunch formations, which are staples of a McVay-Rams-based offense. I would also say that Mayfield is going to see his completion percentage climb from last year’s 63.2% closer to where it was in 2024, which was a franchise-record 71.4% – and I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what that means.

Other Offensive OTA Notes

• The Bucs have an embarrassment of riches at offensive tackle with starters Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, as well as two really good backups in veteran Justin Skule, who returns from a year in Minnesota, and Ben Chukwuma, last year’s undrafted free agent sensation. But the Bucs also have a very promising developmental tackle in Paul Rubelt, a 6-foot-10, 310-pound tackle from UCF.

Known as “Tall Paul,” Rubelt will make the team with a roster exemption as Tampa Bay’s IPP (International Pathway Program) player. Both he and Chukwuma will get a ton of work in training camp and playing time in the preseason, which will rapidly develop them. In fact, Chukwuma, who started two games in place of Wirfs last year due to injury, has been taking several first-team reps in OTAs when Wirfs or Goedeke take a series off to rest their legs. He’s been the first tackle off the bench rather than Skule, who has more playing experience.

• Rookie receiver Ted Hurst has really turned some heads in the offseason with his ability to catch the ball and makes plays at all three levels – underneath, intermediate and down the field. If his level of success continues once the pads on, the Bucs will truly be five-deep at wide receiver, as the team has really liked what it has seen from Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson, too.

• Bucs rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels has made some dynamic throws in practice. He has a live arm and shows really good accuracy throwing underneath on the run. Daniels probably has the second strongest arm on the roster behind Baker Mayfield. The rookie has been rotating with second-year QB Connor Bazelak for third-team reps this offseason and it will be one of the more interesting training camp battles to watch this August.

• Third-year tight end Devin Culp missed half of the Bucs OTAs practices with a hamstring injury, and that came at the worst time as rookie Bauer Sharp has looked sharp (pun intended) in practice this offseason. Culp is expected to miss the mandatory mini-camp but should be good to go for training camp where he’ll have the fight for his roster life on his hands going up against Sharp for the TE4 spot on the depth chart behind Cade Otton, Payne Durham and Ko Kieft.

FAB 2. Bucs OTA Observations: Defense

After watching the three open OTA practices in which the media was in attendance for, here are my insights about the Bucs defense.

Josiah Trotter’s Time To Shine Will Be When The Pads Come On

Rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter’s superpower is his strength and physicality, which is why he looks like a mere mortal running around in a jersey and shorts during OTAs. The offseason has been good for Trotter as it’s given the team’s second-round pick time to learn Todd Bowles’ complex defense and work on his pass coverage drops, which is probably his weakness right now.

Trotter looks a bit stiff in coverage and reminds me of another tough Bucs middle linebacker in Hardy Nickerson from back in the day. When Nickerson dropped into coverage it didn’t look pretty. The 6-foot-2, 233-pound Nickerson looked stiff and robotic in his drops across the middle, yet it didn’t mean he wasn’t effective. Nickerson had seven interceptions in seven years in Tampa Bay, including three seasons with two picks.

During Thursday’s practice Trotter went down to try to catch a very low pass from linebackers coach Mike Caldwell and couldn’t bring it in like new linebacker Alex Anzalone, who excels in pass coverage, can. That play was captured in the lead photo for this week’s SR’s FAB 5 by Pewter Report’s Adam Warren above. Where Trotter has shined is hitting the sled where he can demonstrate his power to stack and shed opposing offensive linemen.

Trotter may not be as fluid as Anzalone is or like Lavonte David, Derrick Brooks and Shelton Quarles used to be as top coverage linebackers. But if he can play middle linebacker and be a physical force like Nickerson was against the run and as a blitzer, that would just fine. Nickerson racked up nine sacks during his playing days with the Bucs, and Trotter could certainly get far more sacks under Bowles, who loves to blitz his Mike linebacker.

“He’s a great player obviously, and he has the pedigree,” Anzalone said of Trotter. “I grew up an Eagles fan, so I watched his dad growing up. … Obviously he is a great player, second-round draft pick. You know he has some learning to do and some growth to do. This is really good for him.

“I know he’s getting some team (11-on-11) reps now, and you know training camp will be really big for him and his development. As soon as he can pick up the playbook and just see the different concepts and routes and the things you need to do as a linebacker, he’ll be even better and ready once the season comes.”

Bucs Are Loaded At Nickelback

Jacob Parrish, last year’s third-round pick, had a heck of a season as a rookie playing nickelback. Parrish finished with Tampa Bay’s fifth-highest grade on defense among starters with a 68.5 grade, according to Pro Football Focus. The Kansas State product finished with 76 tackles, seven pass breakups, two interceptions, two sacks and a fumble recovery.

This year he’s also in the mix to start at outside cornerback where he’s battling with Benjamin Morrison for the right to replace Jamel Dean, who departed in free agency. Parrish, who has added 10 pounds of size and muscle this offseason and is over 205 pounds, played outside cornerback almost exclusively at K-State, so this isn’t a foreign assignment for him. But he’s not the only one who is playing in the slot in practice this offseason.

Bucs CB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“He splits it between corner and nickel,” Todd Bowles said about Parrish. “Zyon [McCollum] gets a lot of nickel reps as well. So we kind of flip them every two or three plays. One goes in and one goes out, so he gets all of his reps at corner and he gets all of his reps at nickel.

“Depending on the packages and who’s healthy and who isn’t, we know we can play him in two spots and possibly three if it’s an emergency type of situation. We’re happy with that right now. We’ve got to keep mixing them and see what we come out with at the end of training camp.”

Also in the mix at nickelback is Keionte Scott, the team’s fourth-round pick. That gives Bowles three legit starting-caliber slot defenders, making the nickelback spot one of the deepest positions on the team. And with Morrison, the Bucs really like the fact that they have three starting-caliber outside cornerbacks.

Other Defensive OTA Notes

• While the cornerback position is incredibly deep in Tampa Bay this year, the deepest position on defense is actually at defensive tackle. Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and A’Shawn Robinson are locked in as starters in Todd Bowles’ 3-4 base defense, but there will be an absolute battle royale in training camp for the three remaining roster spots on the 53 – primarily between Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Elijah Roberts, DeMonte Capehart, this year’s fifth-round pick, Jayson Jones and Elijah Simmons. Newcomers Haggai Ndubuisi, Deshawn McKnight and Josiah Green will also be in the mix. This will be the most competitive group to watch in camp.

• Rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst isn’t just helping Tampa Bay’s offense with his 6-foot-4 frame, speed and big hands. He also plays a big role in helping Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks get reps against a bigger receiver in practice. The Bucs have three starting-caliber receivers that are all around 6-foot-1, 200 pounds in Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan. But without 6-foot-5 Mike Evans on the roster this year, Tampa Bay’s receiver room lacked height until the team drafted Hurst in the third round. The second-biggest receiver on the team is newcomer David Sills V, who is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, and having him also helps give the cornerbacks a different look in coverage.

Bucs ILB Alex Anzalone – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Speaking of size, 6-foot-3, 234-pound Alex Anzalone is one of the bigger linebackers the Bucs have had in recent years. Also joining him in Tampa Bay are newcomers Josiah Trotter and Christian Rozeboom, both of whom are 6-foot-2. The starting inside linebackers over the last three seasons were Lavonte David, KJ Britt and SirVocea Dennis, all of whom were 6-foot. Buccaneers inside linebackers coach Mike Caldwell believes this year’s taller linebackers will make it more difficult for opposing quarterbacks to complete short passes across the middle, which have plagued the team in coverage in recent years.

• After having a really good showing during the offseason workouts and the OTAs, second-year cornerback Benjamin Morrison missed Thursday’s OTA practice with what head coach Todd Bowles called a leg injury. I asked Bowles if it was a hamstring injury and he declined to discuss what part of the leg was bothering Morrison.

“He’s nicked up,” Bowles said. “It’s just a leg injury.”

Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come for Morrison, who missed the last day of mandatory mini-camp last year due to a hamstring injury, followed by a month of training camp and all three preseason games and seven games during his rookie season with an injured hamstring.

FAB 3. It’s A Good Thing The Bucs Have Been “Too Physical” During OTAs

The fact that the NFL took away Wednesday’s OTA practice came as some big news during Thursday’s post-practice interview with head coach Todd Bowles. Because of the high practice tempo of the team’s other OTAs and the intense work that the Bucs have put during their ramped-up offseason program, Bowles had planned to give the players the day off from OTAs on Tuesday. But the elimination of Wednesday’s practice was dictated by the league.

“We gave them off Tuesday,” Bowles said. “Tuesday was their day off. Wednesday, by the league, looking at the first practice, we had too many guys on the ground. So they took a practice from us. So Wednesday was by their doing. Tuesday was already set in motion by our doing. We cleaned it up after that and we understand that. We’re not trying to get anybody hurt. That was the basis of it.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Too many players on the ground means too much contact during the OTAs, which are supposed to be non-contact per the rules set forth in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. For a Bucs team that wasn’t terribly competitive in practice last year and wound up being too soft on defense on gamedays, this is actually a welcomed sight.

All NFL teams tape their OTAs and turn them into the league for supervision where an NFL compliance officer reviews them. If too many players hit the ground due to contact in the offseason the league can step in and dock teams OTA practices and even fine the organization and even the head coach. The Bucs didn’t get fined in this instance.

“Yeah it was about three or four plays where they reported us,” Bowles said. “We’re trying to practice safety as well. We’ve got a lot of new guys trying to learn how to practice, but we cleaned that up and took care of it.”

Training camp is a different story once the pads come on. Players are allowed to hit the ground as much as possible, but there is a fine line between being too physical, which can put players at risk for injury. That’s why there isn’t any live tackling during camp.

The guess here is that we may be on the verge of seeing a much more physical training camp, especially with some new defensive players who play with edge like defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and middle linebacker Josiah Trotter. And that would be a very good thing in Tampa Bay this year.

FAB 4. Bucs Will Have All Hands On Deck For Mandatory Mini-Camp Next Week

The Bucs have been absolutely thrilled with not just the attendance in their voluntary offseason workouts and OTAs, but with the amount of hard work the team has put in. Some are calling it the best offseason have had in years, which could be a precursor to a rebound season from Tampa Bay on the field following last year’s disappointing 8-9 season.

“We’ve always had great attendance,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “Right now it’s just one or two [absences] as opposed to four or five. It’s always been great attendance, but the guys have been sharp.”

One of those notable absences has been new outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad, who has skipped the on-field OTA practices. But don’t think of Muhammad, who is always in great shape and well conditioned, as Haason Reddick 2.0.

Bucs OLB Al-Quadin Muhammad – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Junfu Han

Instead of working out on his own until mandatory mini-camp like Reddick did last year, Muhammad has been regularly participating in the team meetings and individual meetings as well as working out at the team’s AdventHealth Training Center. At age 31, team sources tell me he’s just electing to save his body for the mandatory mini-camp and training camp, rather than getting some wear and tear from the voluntary on-field reps during OTAs.

“He’s been great in the classroom,” Bowles said. “He works out. He’s in the weight room and everything else. He’s doing very good there, so get him back out on the field will be a bonus. We just have to be careful next week and not give him too many reps.”

Muhammad, who was signed to a one-year, $4 million contract, which is $10 million less than Reddick made in 2025, is expected to fully participate in the mandatory mini-camp.

Also returning to action next week will be 31-year old nose tackle Vita Vea, who has been working out in the northwest again with former Bucs defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh for the third straight offseason. The 6-foot-4, 347-pound Vea has reported to mandatory mini-camp in the best shape of his career as a result of those workouts.

“Suh has done a great job with him,” Bowles said.

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Due to injuries along the defensive line, Vea had to play more snaps last year than he ever had before. And even at the age of 30, Vea managed to play in all 17 games for the first time in his career, finishing with 34 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Being in incredible shape certainly helped Vea’s health and availability last season.

“I thought he had a heck of a year,” Bowles said. “He played more snaps than he ever played. He’s been taking up one or two blocks since he’s been here. He single-handedly takes care of some of the run game for us regardless of who was injured. There were a lot of guys out last year. Vita’s a critical piece to our defense.”

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• The Bucs have spent a lot more time on special teams periods this year than in years past. It seems like with former special teams coordinators Keith Armstrong and Thomas McGaughey that special teams was more of an afterthought in Tampa Bay. But with poor special teams play literally contributing to losses against Philadelphia and Buffalo especially, there has been a renewed emphasis on special teams with the arrival of new coordinator Danny Smith.

It seems like the special teams practice periods are longer and the tempo is higher, resulting in more reps for the different phases of special teams. And there are some noticeable areas of emphasis, such as more punt and field goal blocking sessions. Smith also focuses on the little details like having all of the defensive linemen hold padded blocking shields above their heads to help Chase McLaughlin avoid lower trajectories on his field goals.

• Mandatory mini-camp is just an extension of OTAs. There’s still no contact allowed, and the players will be in jerseys, shorts and helmets once again. But it will be the practices before training camp, and three more days of individual drills to sharpen skills as well as offensive and defensive play installation. Here’s what head coach Todd Bowles has said about the upcoming mini-camp.

“The continuation of everybody getting the system down and all the little things again,” Bowles said. “The execution part comes when pads come on. The preparation part comes now.”

• For more Bucs OTA observations from Thursday’s open practice, be sure to watch the latest episode of the Pewter Report Podcast on PewterReportTV, our YouTube channel. Click the video below for that episode.