Bucs Rookie Class May Make Minimal Impact

We already know that rookies face an uphill climb for playing time in a year with very little on-field offseason activities and no preseason games. In the case of the Bucs, two of their top four picks may see minimal playing time in 2020 if they don’t show out often over the next three weeks.

Bucs WR Tyler Johnson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Fifth-round wide receiver Tyler Johnson would have likely competed for the No. 3 receiver job with Justin Watson and Scotty Miller, but has missed all of training camp due to a soft tissue injury. That’s a ton of ground for any player to make up before Week 1, especially as a rookie playing a spot with one of the toughest learning curves of any position.

While wide receivers need reps and experience to learn the position at the NFL level and gel with a new starting quarterback, running backs are typically expected to hit the ground running. But when third-round pick Ke’Shawn Vaughn’s time on the COVID list put him a little behind in picking up the offense, it allowed others to move past him in the current pecking order at running back.

T.J. Logan has drawn a lot of praise from Arians for his play, while Dare Ogunbowale has had an impressive camp and is still a vital part of the Bucs’ special teams units. With Ronald Jones II and LeSean McCoy already figuring to get the bulk of the work out of the backfield, Vaughn could have a tough time seeing snaps unless he begins to clearly outplay his competition in camp. That hasn’t happened so far, and without preseason games to prove himself, it’s hard to see Vaughn making a big impact early on in the year.

Even defensive tackle Khalil Davis, who for awhile looked like he could compete to be the first sub off the bench along the interior defensive line, will probably see a smaller role than first anticipated after the Bucs signed veteran free agent Kyle Love. Combine that move with Rakeem Nunez-Roches having a great start to camp, and Davis might also not factor heavily into the team’s 2020 plans, barring injury of course.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The exceptions to the rule will be right tackle Tristan Wirfs, to a degree, and safety Antoine Winfield, the team’s first two picks in the 2020 draft. Wirfs has been up-and-down to begin camp, as will likely be the case this season when he faces a murderers’ row of pass rushers at a position that typically struggles to acclimate quickly to the NFL. Still, Wirfs has received plenty of work with the first team offense and Joe Haeg hasn’t done a lot to show he’s more worthy of playing time.

Winfield has consistently splashed, not just during the two padded practices but also in his football intelligence in the meeting room. Arians indicated on Monday that Winfield would push for a starting spot quickly, and I’d expect him to solidify that role by Week 1. Wide receiver Mike Evans raved about Winfield’s positional flexibility on Tuesday: “Our safeties, they’ve been playing great. I’ve been really impressed with Winfield, he’s very versatile – nickel, safety, be in the box, he can do it all.”

WR3 Battle is Hot

Every Bucs fan and fantasy football fan wants to know who is gonna win the Bucs No. 3 wide receiver job, Justin Watson or Scotty Miller? The jury is still out, and it might even be out by the time Week 1 rolls around.

Bucs WR Justin Watson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Arians has been effusive in his praise of Watson this offseason, while Evans said on Tuesday: “J-Wat, he improves every single year – like quickness at the line of scrimmage, his routes. He’s more physical. He’s running faster. He catches the ball better.”

Watson figures to be the favorite to “start” in 11 personnel packages (three WRs, one RB, one TE) Week 1, but expect he and Miller to predominantly spit time if both stay healthy through camp. As I’ve written before, Miller simply has a trump card in his 4.3 speed that Watson can’t match. The Bucs love Miller’s ability to play inside and out, and they are predominantly an offense predicated on vertical speed. Regardless of how impressive Watson is in other ways, that’s one area of impact he won’t be able to surpass Miller.

Edwards Is Flashing

The Bucs desperately need better safety play in 2020, and the team’s greatest hope for that lies with Winfield and second-year safety Mike Edwards. At this point, we know what Jordan Whitehead and Andrew Adams are bringing to the table, and it isn’t much in the way of splash plays or shutdown ability. Edwards was ho-hum last season as a rookie with one sack and a fumble recovery, but with a year of experience under his belt, the arrow could be pointing up in 2020.

The Kentucky product was the first defensive back to pick off Tom Brady in practice on Monday, and followed it up with a near-pick of the all-time great the next day. He also lowered the boom on Gronkowski after the big tight end hauled in a deep pass from Brady.

Tommy to Roberto 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Nz07fpREaN

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 18, 2020

“The one [interception] was about five yards out of bounds, but it was a good catch,” Arians said. “[Edwards] made a great break on the ball, and Tom put it where only we could get it. It was a heck of a play by Mike. He’s shown some good range. Last year at this time he did that too. Just stay away from those injuries, but he has good hands and he can catch the football as well as anybody back there.”