For the first time in his young career, Peyton Barber is coming into training camp as the number one running back.

He is normally accustomed to battling for his roster spot since coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and that hasn’t stopped his mentality now.

“I definitely feel like I have a lot of expectations of myself,” Barber said. “There’s a lot of things I feel as if I didn’t accomplish last year that I definitely want to accomplish this year. Definitely a lot of expectations for myself.”

Even after receiving praise from coach Bruce Arians during the offseason, he continues to train like nothing has changed, and that he still needs to make the team.

“That definitely meant a lot to me,” Barber said after Arians singled him out. “But still at the same time I consider myself to be the underdog. There’s four or five other guys fighting for my job and I don’t plan on giving it up.”

Bucs RBs Ronald Jones II and Peyton Barber – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

One thing that has changed other then coming in as the top guy is a new offense for him. He expressed that there will be more usage of running backs in the passing game, and that’s something that he’s excited for, since he can showcase his pass catching prowess.

It’s an offense more complex than he’s played in before, and Barber is looking forward to the challenge of playing in this system.

“It’s definitely more complicated than it was last year and the previous year,” Barber said. “Definitely more complicated blocking schemes. They ask more of us in the pass protection and they’re going to split us out a little bit in the wide receiver game.”

Following the completion of last season Barber became a restricted free agent but still to wanted to remain on the Bucs. He’s happy to be in Tampa Bay for the 2019 season with a chance to build on where he’s gotten to.

“It definitely meant a lot for me to come back here,” Barber said. “Like I said, I definitely feel like I have a lot of unfinished business that I can definitely improve on. I love this city, this is a great place, I actually just bought a house not too long ago so I definitely like it down here.”