Bucs DT Desmond Watson – Photo by: USA Today

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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: Do you see Florida defensive tackle Desmond Watson making the 53-man roster or practice squad and backing up Vita Vea at some point?

ANSWER: The signing of massive Gators defensive tackle Desmond Watson, an undrafted free agent who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 464 pounds, captivated not only the Bucs fan base, but also the entire league over the weekend. Watson is the biggest player in NFL history in terms of weight, but he’s simply too big to continue to play football at his current size.

It would be one thing if Watson entered college at 450 pounds and slimmed down to 400 by the time he graduated. But it was just the opposite. Watson has admitted to having a weight problem, and that is certainly obvious. He has said his addiction is food. As I said in my Pewter Pulse video on Sunday, his signing with the Bucs is one part humanitarian aid and one part football project.

Bucs DT Desmond Watson – Photo by: USA Today

Watson needs to lose weight for the sake of his health first and foremost, but then also to be a much more effective football player. If he can trim down to 400 pounds, or perhaps ideally to 380, he should have increased stamina and agility and actually have a chance at playing in the NFL. Watson has long, 33-inch arms and is incredibly strong with 36 reps on the bench press. But because of his weight and lack of conditioning, he was only a part-time player at Florida and finished his four-year Gators career with a modest stat line of 63 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

The good news is that Watson’s football idol is Bucs Pro Bowler Vita Vea, who has battled weight issues during his time in Tampa Bay. Vea trained with former Tampa Bay defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh last offseason, lost weight and reported to OTAs in the best shape of his career. He then had a career-high seven sacks, made his second Pro Bowl and only missed one game last season. Perhaps Vea can help be a mentor to Watson to get his weight under control so he’ll have a chance of sticking on Tampa Bay’s practice squad. At over 400 pounds, I don’t think he makes the 53-man roster, but we’ll see.

QUESTION: I love the Bucs draft this year! Somehow I feel like Jason Licht addressed many needs, even needs that weren’t as apparent as others. The only spot that I feel we need to add for depth purposes is linebacker. Do you see us adding a veteran, re-signing J.J. Russell or is it the Nebraska UDFA?

ANSWER: Not every team can address every need in every draft. Filling all needs in one draft class is really hard to do. It’s not even about picking a player at every position in a particular draft class. It’s those players turning into hits rather than misses that truly matters. I think Jason Licht and his staff of scouts and personnel people absolutely nailed this draft. I really like every pick and can’t find fault with any of Tampa Bay’s selections in any round, really.

As for linebacker, this proved to be a very weak draft for the position. Only four linebackers went in the Top 100, which tells you a lot about the quality of the position, and the top two – Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell and UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger – went at No. 31 to Philadelphia and No. 33 to Cleveland, respectively. The Bucs passed on taking both at No. 19, but had Schwesinger rated higher than Campbell – and not just due to medical concerns with the Crimson Tide star, who had shoulder surgery in March.

Bucs ILB John Bullock – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs only liked a handful of linebackers this year, and most of them were gone by the fourth round. While Pewter Report had Oregon’s Jeffrey Bassa as a Bucs Best Bet on Day 3, I’m told that the team wasn’t going to draft him in the fifth round and was going to go with SMU defensive tackle Elijah Roberts all the way. Kansas City traded up one spot ahead of Tampa Bay in the fifth round and selected Bassa.

J.J. Russell currently remains unsigned. We’ll see what his future holds. The Bucs did sign Nebraska undrafted free agent John Bullock, who ran a 4.63 and is coming off a big senior season. The Cornhuskers star had 70 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, four sacks, two forced fumbles and a pick-six. We’ll see how he fares in the offseason and training camp, or if there is a linebacker who gets a rookie mini-camp invite who is worth signing.

Right now, Lavonte David and SirVocea Dennis are the starters with veterans Anthony Walker Jr. and Deion Jones as the backups. Antonio Grier Jr., a practice squader last year, and newcomer Deion Jennings are also vying for a roster spot at linebacker.

QUESTION: Hi, Scott, how are you? Do you think undrafted free agents will make it into 53-man roster this season? If so, who is the likely UDFA players to do it?

ANSWER: I am well, and have recovered a bit from a marathon three-day NFL Draft in which Pewter Report’s Live Draft Show had a record 50,000 viewers between our PewterReportTV YouTube channel and our @PewterReport Facebook and X accounts. That’s about double the amount of views from last year, so we can’t thank our Pewter People enough for tuning in.

To answer your question, there is certainly a chance that an undrafted free agent or two will make the roster this year. The Bucs have a good track record of letting the best players make the team regardless of draft status. Under general manager Jason Licht, there have been plenty of undrafted free agents that have made the 53-man roster. Names like former wide receiver Adam Humphries and former tight end Cameron Brate immediately come to mind, in addition to current Bucs like safeties Kaevon Merriweather and Christian Izien, outside linebacker Markees Watts and cornerback Tyrek Funderburk.

Bucs S J.J. Roberts – Photo by: USA Today

Because Tampa Bay’s rookie mini-camp won’t take place for another two weeks, I’ll have to reserve judgment as to which undrafted free agents have a chance to make the team. The Bucs didn’t draft a safety, linebacker or offensive lineman, so those are three positions that could well be bolstered with an undrafted free agent. A guy to keep an eye on is Marshall safety J.J. Roberts. He might have me the most excited right now. LSU running back Josh Williams also intrigues me. He didn’t have a lot of production, but seems like a fit in the running back room.

Georgia State tackle Ben Chukwuma got the biggest contract in terms of guaranteed money. He received $300,000 total guaranteed, including $245,000 of base salary guaranteed as well as a $55,000 signing bonus, per Fox Sports’ Greg Auman. That likely means he’ll at least make the practice squad this year.

QUESTION: Which Bucs draft pick was a stretch?

ANSWER: I don’t think any of them were a stretch. Tampa Bay followed its draft board and made fantastic selections in each round in my opinion. I think the biggest question mark for me was Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison’s hip. Morrison was born with a hip condition that needed bilateral surgery to fix, but had to wait until he was done growing and his growth plates had settled.

He couldn’t get both of them done at the same time in high school because then he would’ve likely seen his chances of a scholarship get diminished and might not have ended up at Notre Dame. Had Morrison waited until his junior season in college to get them both done he would have severely hampered his chances of getting drafted. So he did one in high school and one in college, which makes sense.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

Keep in mind that Morrison had six interceptions for the Fighting Irish as a freshman and three more as a sophomore. So the hip surgery he had in high school was clearly a success and he fully recovered in time to have a fantastic first season at Notre Dame. The Bucs are expecting the same outcome from the surgery on his other hip, which is to correct an issue he was born with rather than a particular injury. I feel much better about this selection after hearing that.

Outside of Morrison in the second round, the next possible question mark might be Kansas State cornerback Jacob Parrish as he’ll be transitioning inside to nickelback. Parrish played some in the slot for the Wildcats, but was mostly an outside cornerback at K-State. But Parrish is a smart player with a good football I.Q. He was a starter in Manhattan, Kan. as a true freshman, which speaks to his ability to learn quickly and play confidently. Having 4.35 speed also helps.

All three of the Bucs’ Day 3 draft picks were steals and I go over the reasons why in a new Pewter Pulse video on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel. You can check that out below.

QUESTION: I’d like to imagine that Kayvon Thibodeaux would be up for grabs via a trade since the Abdul Carter selection during the draft. If he was available what would it cost and would the Bucs be in the market?

ANSWER: I don’t think the Bucs would be interested in Kayvon Thibodeaux after the team drafted Central Arkansas edge rusher David Walker in the fourth round. The team added Haason Reddick in free agency and he’ll start opposite Yaya Diaby. Then the Bucs have Chris Braswell, last year’s second-round pick, who is expected to make a big jump in his second year in Tampa Bay, followed by steady veteran Anthony Nelson and Walker. I think their depth chart is pretty much set at outside linebacker.

Adding Thibodeaux would likely displace Nelson, and take away developmental reps for Braswell and Walker. So I don’t think the Bucs want to necessarily do that. And I don’t think the Giants would want to trade away a good depth piece behind Abdul Carter and Brian Burns, as good pass rushers are hard to find. Especially when they are 24, on their rookie contract and already have 21 sacks in three seasons in the league.

Bucs run game coordinator and OLBs coach Larry Foote – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I know that Bucs fans feel uneasy about the team’s pass rush just looking at the stats sheet and seeing 4.5 from Diaby last year and 1.5 from Braswell during his rookie season. But I’m telling you, Todd Bowles moving Larry Foote from inside linebackers coach to outside linebackers coach this offseason is going to be a game-changer for the Bucs edge rushers.

Foote will get Reddick’s game back on track, take Diaby and Braswell to new heights and get Walker ready to play and contribute as a rookie. And he just might even turn Jose Ramirez or Markees Watts into a real player who could challenge Nelson for a roster spot rather than a spot on the practice squad.