Bucs ILB Nick Jackson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Managing your family’s wealth means more to Amuni Financial than simply allocating your assets. It means legacy planning, brokerage & advisory services, retirement accounts, college savings accounts and insurance services. With 40 years of experience, let Amuni Financial help you plan ahead and stay ahead.

Call Amuni Financial at (800) 868-6864 or visit Amuni.com.

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

QUESTION: What is your best guess on the Bucs’ inside linebacker depth?

ANSWER: The Bucs are happy with how SirVocea Dennis knows the defense and can operate it entering his third year. The team feels he is a complete linebacker who can cover, blitz and fill gaps and make tackles. Head coach Todd Bowles wants to see Dennis get some preseason snaps because he’s only played in a handful of games on defense due to injuries in his first two seasons in Tampa Bay. If he can stay healthy, I think Dennis can become a Shelton Quarles-type linebacker for the team, which is a step below the likes of former Bucs linebackers Derrick Brooks, Lavonte David and Hardy Nickerson.

David is playing in what could be his last year in the NFL at age 35. He’s still playing at a high level as he enters his 14th season, but the Bucs need to look to the future and find his eventual replacement. This was not a very good draft for linebackers, so the team didn’t force a pick at the position. Instead, the Bucs added Anthony Walker Jr. in free agency and re-signed Deion Jones. Both are 30-year old veteran players who have plenty of experience.

Bucs ILB Nick Jackson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jones had a good showing in the playoff loss to Washington after being elevated from the practice squad late in the year. Walker remains on the NFI (non-football injury) list as he suffered a leg injury during the summer prior to training camp. Both Jones and Walker should be a notch above last year’s linebackers K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell, who lacked experience in addition to speed. Walker and Jones were signed to cheap, one-year deals.

The problem for the Bucs is that three of their four top linebackers are 30 and older. The team needs an infusion of youth, speed and athleticism, and it may come in the form of undrafted free agents Nick Jackson out of Iowa and John Bullock out of Nebraska. Jackson is the faster, more athletic of the two, but both are heady, instinctive players.

Both Jackson and Bullock had a pair of pass breakups in coverage in the preseason win over the Titans, and Bullock tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage on a blitz that was intercepted by Jackson. It was Jackson who had the more star-studded Bucs debut with that pick and a sack that came on a blitz. One of those two could push the team to keep five inside linebackers on the active roster – depending on how special teams shakes out – while the other could be signed to the practice squad. After Saturday’s preseason opener, Jackson is in the lead.

QUESTION: During the preseason game it appeared Josh Grizzard was heated on the sidelines, looked as though one coach was trying to calm him. Can you speak to the intensity Grizzard brings on game days? He seems so mild tempered on the podium but almost had a Jon Gruden like look on Saturday night.

ANSWER: I watched the Bucs preseason broadcast on WFLA News Channel 8 on Sunday and I think I saw the moment on the sidelines that you are referring to. New offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard is a pretty mild mannered guy, but we all have our moments where we can get a bit heated when things don’t go our way or someone upsets us, right? I’m sure Grizzard is no different.

Add in the fact that this was his first game ever calling plays, doing so at field level instead of the coaches box where he’s resided in the past as an assistant, and the fact it was pouring rain during the pregame and I’m sure Grizzard was a bundle of nerves on Saturday night. That’s to be expected.

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I thought Grizzard did a fantastic job calling plays on Saturday night in the preseason opener. The Bucs ran the ball for 178 yards and two touchdowns and passed the ball for 170 yards. That’s a pretty balanced attack. He did a nice job of mixing in zone and gap runs, and used the first couple of drives to get quarterback Kyle Trask settled in to a good rhythm passing the ball. Overall, it was a very successful night for the Bucs offense.

Grizzard does have a low-key energy to him as well as some swagger, but I wouldn’t say he’s the second coming of Jon Gruden or Bruce Arians. Both of those former Bucs head coaches were known for their volatile tempers. I don’t think Grizzard is wired that way. We might see some frustration out of him from time to time, but that’s only natural.

QUESTION: Which player helped their stock the most from preseason Week 1 in trying to secure a roster spot?

ANSWER: There were several backup Bucs who shined on Saturday night against the Titans. Inside linebacker Nick Jackson’s sack and interception were the splash plays the Bucs were wanting to see from him. The fact that he also led the team with six tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss also helped his cause.

But aside from Jackson, who has a chance of either making the 53-man roster or the practice squad, I would say wide receiver Ryan Miller stood out the most. Miller was on the practice squad for a majority of the season last year but was elevated to the active roster when injuries hit the position during the middle of the season. He’s not flashy. Miller is more of a smart, tough, gritty player, and he led all receivers with six catches for 66 yards on Saturday night, including a nice 21-yard reception downfield.

Bucs WR Ryan Miller – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs will be without Chris Godwin to start the season. I would be shocked if he doesn’t start the year on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. Therefore, that opens up a roster spot at wide receiver. We know Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan will be the top three receivers to start the season, but Tampa Bay will need two to three more receivers to start the season.

I think Tez Johnson, the team’s seventh-round draft pick, will get the benefit of the doubt because he made a good first impression in the offseason and in camp before his hamstring injury. But a few other receivers – Trey Palmer and Kam Johnson – have missed time due to injuries and need to heal up soon to have a chance to show what they can do in the final two preseason games to have a chance at making the team.

The more time they miss, the more it helps Miller’s chances of making the team. Throw in the fact that wide receiver Dennis Houston suffered a groin injury against Tennessee and may miss next week’s game at Pittsburgh also aids Miller, in addition to Garrett Greene, an undrafted free agent who also had a nice NFL debut as a receiver and punt returner on Saturday night.

The other player worth mentioning is undrafted free agent J.J. Roberts, who had two pass breakups as the backup nickelback, including one that led to Tyrek Funderburk’s interception. I think Roberts is going to make the team. The Bucs love him and his versatility. He can play nickelback and safety, and he certainly helped his chances on Saturday night.

QUESTION: How do you think the defensive line depth played last night? I thought C.J. Brewer and Elijah Roberts impressed.

ANSWER: Tampa Bay’s defensive line played okay. The fact that the Titans only ran the ball for 66 yards on 21 carries was a plus, and the stout play of the defensive line had something to do with that. I was not impressed by the pass rush of the defensive line, including the outside linebackers, in general. Didn’t see much interior pressure, and not many one-on-one wins, which was a little concerning because the Titans don’t have any world beaters along the offensive line. Todd Bowles doesn’t do much scheming – no twists or stunts – in the preseason. He wants to see one-on-one wins instead.

I have both C.J. Brewer and Elijah Roberts making Tampa Bay’s 53-man roster this year. That’s what I posted in Friday’s SR’s FAB 5 column and I thought they both played okay on Saturday night against the Titans. Brewer is a former practice squad player who was signed to the active roster last year and had his first two sacks of his NFL career against Kirk Cousins in the home loss to Atlanta.

Bucs DT Elijah Roberts – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I think he might have the early edge over the other defensive tackles that are competing for the final roster spot behind Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, Logan Hall, Greg Gaines and Roberts, who is the team’s fifth-round pick. I can see Roberts making the team because of his upside, but Brewer has a fight on his hands to beat out Adam Gotsis, Mike Greene, Eric Banks, Nash Hutmacher and Dvon J-Thomas for the sixth defensive tackle role on the depth chart.

Brewer is better stuffing the run than he is at rushing the passer and was very active in run defense on Saturday night against Tennessee. Roberts struggled against the run, but did have some nice pass rushes. At SMU, Roberts was a big 6-foot-4, 285-pound defensive end and now is making the transition to playing inside. It’s similar to what Hall has had to go through over his first four years in Tampa Bay. It was a decent start for Roberts, but he would be the first to tell you he can – and will – play better with more experience.