The Headline From Camp Today: Succop Struggling In Camp

Last year couldn’t have gone more perfectly for Ryan Succop. The Bucs signed him off the street shortly before the regular season, and the veteran kicker quickly won the job over second-year kicker Matt Gay. Like everyone expected, Succop then went on to have one of the greatest seasons for a kicker in franchise history.

The 13-year pro set the franchise record for points in a single season with 136, making over 90 percent of his field goal attempts on the season. Succop was even more brilliant in the playoffs, hitting all nine of his field goal attempts and going 12-of-13 on extra points.

Fast forward to 2021 Bucs training camp, and Succop has looked like a shell of himself. Yes, it’s just training camp. Succop could go out during preseason action and bang in every kick and be fine moving forward. But right now, his rhythm and timing are terribly off. He doesn’t look confident kicking the football, and Friday’s practice was the most dire indication that Succop’s slump is real.

Bucs K Ryan Succop – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A few days after going 5-of-7 on field goal attempts, Succop dropped to 3-of-7 on Friday. He missed kicks from 32, 32, 42 and 42 yards, including hitting the upright twice. With no rush and no adverse conditions to work through, the misses were troubling to say the least. Succop made kicks from 27, 37 and 47 yards, the last two on his final kicks of the day.

Is it time to panic? No, definitely not.

Still, Kicker is such a mental position that it is difficult not to wonder how quickly Succop can get his confidence back. We’ve seen plenty of great kickers derailed by the mental hurdles formed from consistently missing kicks, and Succop has to be able to overcome that. The Bucs re-signed the 34-year old to a three-year, $12 million contract this past offseason to be their kicker in this Super Bowl window. Succop’s early struggles are concerning, but head coach Bruce Arians isn’t worried.

“He’s a 13-year vet,” Arians said after Tuesday’s 5-of-7 performance. “He doesn’t need any (extra reps). But he’s been up-and-down, to put it mildly. But we’ve got all the confidence he’s going to figure it out real quick and get his timing back down and speed his operation up just like he did last year. He’s in really good shape, best shape he said he feels in the last four or five years. So I don’t have any questions about [that] he’ll get it ironed out.”

Many believed the Bucs’ kicking woes were behind them after last season. And maybe they are. It is far too early to bury Succop, especially as a veteran kicker with a long history of strong play. But Succop’s start to camp has been bad, and things looked like they were getting worse – not better – on Friday.

Bucs Players Out Of Practice

Veteran left tackle Donovan Smith had a maintenance day on Friday, so Josh Wells took snaps with the first team. Wide receiver Cyril Grayson missed his third straight practice and outside linebacker Quinton Bell missed his second consecutive day as well. Outside linebacker Cam Gill has missed most of training camp with an injury, and remained out Friday. Rookie center Robert Hainsey also missed his third straight practice. Arians referred to him as “day-to-day” on Friday.

Bucs Practice Notes

• It was a rough start for the first-team offense on Friday after a sloppy Thursday practice. Working in three-play series, Ronald Jones II was stopped after a short gain on first down, then Tom Brady found Mike Evans for a couple yards on second down. Sean Murphy-Bunting was glued to the receiver and nearly broke up the pass. On third down Giovani Bernard knocked the ball out of Brady’s hand on a play-action fake, resulting in a fumble.

On the second three-play series, O.J. Howard dropped a quick out in the flat from Brady, before the quarterback sailed one too high for Evans over the middle. On third down Brady received great protection, but Tyler Johnson dropped a late progression throw that probably would have picked up a first down.

• It’s not hyperbole to say defensive back Ross Cockrell has had a better training camp than any other Buccaneers player. In two weeks at safety, Cockrell has at least six interceptions in practice, including four this week. With Blaine Gabbert trying to connect deep with a streaking Scotty Miller, Cockrell broke on the ball perfectly from his deep safety position, skying for an interception with exceptional timing and ball skills. On his birthday, no less!

Bucs WR Josh Pearson and DB Ross Cockrell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like Cockrell’s play this past week, at 30 years old while manning a brand new position. I know it’s just practice, and he could get exposed in games for his run defense and tackling. But what Cockrell has done in practice as a coverage safety is jaw-dropping. All of the Bucs safeties have been brilliant in camp, but Cockrell has looked like the best of them. If he were a first or second-year player, Cockrell would be the talk of Tampa Bay right now. That’s how exceptional he’s looked in camp. We’ll see how he handles stiffer tests in the preseason.

• After a bad beginning, the first-team offense found their rhythm for most of the rest of practice. During red zone work from the 20-yard line, Brady was on fire, hitting Evans for a first down after the receiver beat Murphy-Bunting. Brady then rifled a deep out to Jaelon Darden at the front pylon for a touchdown. The rookie receiver broke off his route sharply to leave Murphy-Bunting in the dust.

But Brady’s best throw of the day may have come in a more extended 11-on-11 period. Miller ran an over route to the far sideline, and Brady dropped a perfect long toss in the bucket despite tight coverage. Crispy stuff from the GOAT.

• Second-year running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn had one of his best practices as a Buc on Thursday. Vaughn made a couple nice catches on the day, none better than grabbing an underthrown wheel route for a big gain. Kyle Trask didn’t get enough on the deep ball after Vaughn had blown by Grant Stuard, but the running back came back to the ball and caught it through contact anyway.

• We are starting to see the winners of camp really pull away from the field. Darden, Cockrell, Joe Tryon and Jaydon Mickens have scarcely had a bad moment in practice all week. Mickens has secured a deep ball in team periods of three of the past four practices, and hasn’t dropped a single pass. On Friday, Mickens raced by the defense for another bomb from Gabbert. He’s making it really, really hard to cut him.

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: USA Today

• After a strong practice on Monday, Trask has really struggled. On Friday in limited reps, Trask threw two near interceptions while targeting T.J. Simmons. On an out route to the right sideline, Cameron Kinley jumped a late throw by Trask and nearly took it to the house. Then on a post pattern to Simmons later in practice, Kinley undercut the route and dropped an interception thrown right into his stomach.

A good day for Kinley, a bad day for Trask. But if you’re Kinley, you gotta catch one or both of those to make a mark.

• I watched Tryon for three straight reps against camp standout Nick Leverett, and the edge rusher won all three times. He blew through Tanner Hudson and Leverett for a pressure on the first play, splitting the two pass protectors perfectly. On the second play Tryon worked around Leverett’s outside edge and would have had a real shot at a strip sack. The third play was a better effort from Leverett, but Tryon’s bull rush still carried the left tackle deep into the pocket.

It remains to be seen how quickly Tryon can develop into an all-around starter, but he should make an impact as a pass rusher this season.

• After an early drop, Johnson rallied for several nice grabs in traffic during the team periods of practice. He hasn’t been as impressive as Darden or Mickens, but he’s still having a really strong camp.

• Two guys having good camps that you probably haven’t heard much about: defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter and offensive tackle Josh Wells. Both have had strong weeks of practice, and Wells looked good with the Bucs first-teamers on Friday. On Thursday, Wells had several wins in OL/DL 1-on-1’s, including stone-walling Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett. Ledbetter looks bigger, and had a key tackle-for-loss during the first team period of practice.