Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Was the limited use of Chris Braswell last year due to him not being ready yet? Or because the team was trying to get as much out of Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as possible? A second-round pick is rich for a player who barely saw the field. Hoping to see much more of him and Devin Culp this year.

Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I think it was a combination of both last year for Chris Braswell. He was a little slow to develop, but showed some promising signs of life over the second half of the season. And both head coach Todd Bowles and former outside linebackers coach George Edwards were also infatuated with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s athleticism and versatility to drop into coverage as well as rush the passer. But JTS wound up being a lost cause because he never developed and the reps he was given last year were a waste because the team didn’t re-sign him.

More reps should have been given to Braswell down the stretch. He earned them and Tryon-Shoyinka did not. From the Week 12 win at Carolina through the Wild Card game, Braswell had five games with a pass rush win rate percentage of 20% or higher and he racked up eight pressures, including one sack, during that span. Given the fact that general manager Jason Licht did not pick up Tryon-Shoyinka’s fifth-year option, that should have been a sign to Bowles and Edwards to wind down Tryon-Shoyinka’s snaps at the end of the year and to play Braswell more. But that didn’t happen, unfortunately.

Both Bowles and Licht have spoken highly of Braswell this offseason and feel like a breakout season is coming in his second year in Tampa Bay. The fact that he’ll have a new position coach in Larry Foote could be huge. Foote did a tremendous job coaching the team’s outside linebackers from 2019-21 when Shaq Barrett was a two-time Pro Bowler and Jason Pierre-Paul also made a Pro Bowl. I’m a fan of Foote and I think he’ll be a game-changer for Braswell and the team’s young outside linebackers, including starter Yaya Diaby.

So what happens with Braswell, especially if the Bucs draft another outside linebacker in the first round? And why would Tampa Bay do that if they believe in Braswell and the team just signed Haason Reddick? Well, Reddick will be 31 later this year and the team hopes he’ll return to his double-digit sack ways this year after recording one sack in 10 games with the Jets. And while the team is hopeful that Braswell develops, there is no guarantee that he will.

So drafting another edge rusher – even in the first round – is an insurance policy to hedge those bets. If a better version of Braswell winds up being OLB4 this year behind Reddick, Diaby and a first-round pick, that would not be the worst thing in the world. If Bowles is serious about getting to the quarterback by rushing just four, then adding another outside linebacker in the draft to bolster the position makes sense. And it still gives Braswell time to develop and move up the depth chart because Reddick only signed a one-year deal and won’t play forever.

QUESTION: Do you think the Bucs would really consider James Pearce Jr. if Mike Green and Donovan Ezeiruaku are gone by No. 19? Jason Licht did say he’d be willing to roll the dice on a player with “character issues” because of the locker room that we have.

Tennessee EDGE James Pearce Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Bucs general manager Jason Licht said the team would be willing to take a chance on an immature player – not necessarily a player with character issues in his press conference last week. His actual quote was: “You can’t believe everything you read, but also, it’s a case-by-case basis with those. [If] these guys are immature, I’ll take immature. They can mature pretty quickly in a locker room like ours and fall in line. There’s certain things that we won’t tolerate but a little immaturity is one that we can live with, especially with the culture that we built.”

Licht even clarified it by saying “a little immaturity.” That might be defined by not watching enough game film, not spending enough time in the training room, not being as dedicated to the weight room, etc. But Licht and the Bucs won’t tolerate character concerns, and James Pearce Jr. apparently has some that the Bucs and other NFL teams are trying to sift through. The Bucs didn’t interview Pearce at the NFL Scouting Combine to Pewter Report’s knowledge, and we don’t know if the team has had him in for an official 30 visit.

Pearce has plenty of talent – first-round talent, actually. But we’ll see if those character concerns will cause Pearce to slide out of the first round. At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, Pearce turned heads with a 4.47 time in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. And he was a productive pass rusher at Tennessee, where he had 7.5 sacks last year after notching 10 the past season.

But Pearce is more of a finesse rusher who misses a good amount of tackles and sacks by overrunning plays. That was Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s game in a nutshell, right? Do the Bucs want another JTS – even if Pearce is a faster, and perhaps better version? I’m not sure – especially if there are indeed character concerns to worry about. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Pearce as a second-round pick and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Tennessee edge rusher slide out of the first round. I think both Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku and Marshall’s Mike Green will get selected ahead of Pearce.

QUESTION: One of my late-round draft crushes is Georgia linebacker Chaz Chambliss. He’s 250 pounds and had the same amount of sacks last season as his teammate Jalen Walker with 6.5. Do you know of any interest in him from the Bucs?

Georgia edge rusher Chaz Chambliss – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I haven’t heard of any interest from the Bucs in Chaz Chambliss, who was a backup edge rusher and rotational pass rusher for the Bulldogs last year. Tampa Bay did have Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams in for an official 30 visit, in addition to having a formal visit with Jalon Walker at the NFL Scouting Combine. But Chambliss wasn’t at the Combine and I didn’t hear of any interest from the Bucs at his pro day at Georgia.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Chambliss as an undrafted free agent prospect or perhaps a seventh-round pick. He does play with a high motor and gives full effort on every play. The 6.5 sacks he had last year weren’t against slouch competition, either. Chambliss had two sacks against Tennessee, two against Florida, one against Auburn and Texas, and a half sack against Ole Miss.

The problem with using a late-round pick on an edge rusher is that the Bucs already have two young edge rushers they like in Jose Ramirez, a sixth-round pick three years ago, and Markees Watts, who was an undrafted free agent back in 2023. That’s on top of Haason Reddick, Yaya Diaby, Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson. The Bucs will draft an edge rusher this year, but likely no later than the third round, and that outside linebacker will make the team.

I’m not sure Chambliss would be smart to sign with the Bucs given their logjam at the position on the depth chart. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a 53-man roster or a practice squad somewhere around the league, though. He was a good college player.

QUESTION: If Tet McMillan falls to pick 19, do the Bucs consider taking him? If so, how strongly do they consider it?

Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: That’s an interesting question, right? Most draft analysts feel like Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan will be the top wide receiver in this draft and a likely Top 10 pick. But I’ve seen some mock drafts that have him sliding down around No. 19, so what if he’s there when the Bucs are on the clock? To our knowledge, the Bucs did not interview him at the NFL Scouting Combine and have not had him in for an official 30 visit.

The Bucs have had Texas’ Matthew Golden in for an official 30 visit and did have a formal interview with him in Indianapolis, where he blazed a 4.29 in the 40-yard dash. Tampa Bay is not ruling out drafting a wide receiver in the first round, and would like to add another receiver somewhere in this draft. So my guess is that if McMillan is there, the Bucs would have to seriously consider drafting him after the shock of him falling that far wears off.

At 6-foot-4, 213 pounds, McMillan gives off some Mike Evans vibes, and he’s the top X receiver (split end) in this draft. With Evans turning 32 this summer and entering the final year of his contract, it would be intriguing to draft his eventual replacement in McMillan and have the future Hall of Famer tutor him as he begins his NFL career. We’ll see what happens. I still think the Bucs will draft a defensive player in the first round, but if McMillan is still on the board, that could be a game-changer.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite psychic, tarot card reader, your crystal ball or Ouija board telling you about this year’s Bucs draft?

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and GM Jason Licht – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

ANSWER: I don’t think the Bucs will trade down – or will be able to trade down – in the first round. But I could see general manager Jason Licht trading down later – perhaps in the second round – to acquire more draft picks. The strength of this draft isn’t in the first round, where there might only be 15 true blue-chip draft prospects. So picking up an extra third- or fourth-round pick could net Tampa Bay another player like Tykee Smith, Jalen McMillan or Bucky Irving. So that’s one prediction I’ll make – a Day 2 trade down.

Another prediction I’ll make is that by the start of Day 3, the Bucs will have drafted an edge rusher, an inside linebacker and a defensive back. I’m just not sure what order. And I’m not sure if that defensive back will be an outside cornerback, a nickelback or a safety. I could see Tampa Bay going in several directions with their defensive back selection, depending on what player is there and in what round.

If I had to guess, the first defensive back selected will be an outside cornerback because there aren’t a lot of tall, long starting-caliber cornerbacks in this draft. But we’ll see how it shakes out. The NFL Draft is unpredictable because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that’s what makes the annual three-day event so much fun to watch.