Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis III has always been one that likes to go up against the best of the best. That makes training camp a joy for him when he plays against the talent that the Bucs have at receiver.

Davis gets a new challenge this camp with two new additions to the group. Julio Jones has been a popular figure in the NFL. Now he’s looking to capture a championship ring before his career is over. Russell Gage is an up and coming receiver that will play a pivotal role in the Bucs’ offense.

In a week of practice already, Davis has been wildly impressed by both as he watches them every day. He even sees bits and pieces of his other teammates in the two.

“[He’s still the] same guy,” Davis said of Jones. “Still a freak, huge, looks like a tight end, runs like Scotty [Miller], and stops on the dime like Jaelon Darden, so it’s like the whole package. He’s bringing back memories of playing him in Atlanta before he was hurt. It was a tough match-up, but having him on our team, being able to compete with him, going to war with him this upcoming season – it’s exciting for me.

“I always love a good competition in practice that gets me ready for the season. So adding him to the mix on top of the talent we already had is just amazing. It’s fun. It’s fun to come to practice and go against three or four Hall of Famers everyday and knowing that if you can win here, you can win anywhere.”

Gage is a slightly different receiver than Jones. But still has all the traits to be a great receiver in this NFL.

“He is so shifty,” Davis said of Gage. “His releases – it’s so crazy. He’s underrated, but that guy is a problem when it comes to game planning and understanding your leverage because he plays in the slot. And that position in particular is a quarterback’s favorite go-to just because it’s so close and so convenient. He’s a guy who likes to win – he wins. And that’s one thing about him, he wants to win every rep and going up against him in practice, man, I got to say it, this receiver group that we have now has just been fun just to go up against every day. You never know what you’re going to get.

The Talent Doesn’t Stop For Bucs WRs

Davis was extremely complimentary of the entire wide receiver room. It’ll only make for better competition this training camp.

“You got [Jaelon Darden], Mike [Evans], you got Julio [Jones], Chris [Godwin] coming back, you got Tyler [Johnson] – you just got so many different guys who can do so many different things well – Scotty [Miller], you know – at any given moment someone could take the top off the coverage or they could just beat you with speed. So, it’s great for me as a corner to just get that overall look from everybody, from the speed to the power and [Gage is] one guy that brings the shiftiness and the subtleness and the quickness to it and I love competing against him.”