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

QUESTION: Is there a chance Elijah Klein might wind up being a starter at guard?

Bucs G Elijah Klein – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Yes, there certainly is a possibility that rookie Elijah Klein could wind up being a starter at guard this year in Tampa Bay. The team really likes his mental makeup. He’s a smart, tough, physical offensive lineman. Is he the best athlete? No, and that’s why he slid to the sixth round.

But Klein was one of offensive line guru Brandon Thorn’s favorite players in this year’s draft and that carries a lot of weight with me. In looking at the competition for the other guard spot opposite Cody Mauch, it’s veterans Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson along with Klein and perhaps Robert Hainsey, as he is expected to be supplanted at center by first-round pick Graham Barton.

Opeta might have the early edge based upon his experience and his size. The Bucs want to get bigger up front along the offensive line, and while Opeta is listed at just 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, he is incredibly strong, having benched 39 reps on the bench press coming out of college a few years ago. And Bredeson is a big guy too, and is listed at 6-foot-4, 315 pounds.

It’s interesting to note that Tampa Bay hasn’t invested much in either player, and both were only signed for one year. Bredeson will make $2.98 million in 2024, while Opeta will make less than half of that at $1.375 million. Bredeson and Opeta have the NFL experience that Klein lacks right now. But they’re all learning a new offense and the Bucs will start the best candidate.

QUESTION: How do you see the interior O-line shaking out?

Bucs C Graham Barton and G Elijah Klein – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The Bucs seem committed to finding the best five offensive linemen and starting them this season. Offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke are already givens as starters. And as assistant general manager John Spytek said, the team expects Cody Mauch and Graham Barton, the team’s first-round pick, to be in that mix.

So that means finding one more starter out of a group that likely includes new free agents Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson, rookie Elijah Klein, holdover Brandon Walton and possibly Robert Hainsey, if he indeed loses the starting center job to Barton. I’ve heard Opeta’s name mentioned the most so far from my sources, but at this time last year, Matt Feiler was penciled in as the starter and he quickly lost his job after an early-season injury.

The pads won’t come on until training camp, so trying to figure out who will win a starting guard job in May is almost futile. I think it’s wide open. And I’m curious to see if the Bucs keep Mauch at right guard or move him to left guard as he played left tackle in college and may be better on that side of the ball.

Yet at the same time, I think that Mauch and Goedeke started getting into rhythm on the right side of the line towards the end of last year, especially in the running game. Klein mostly played right guard at UTEP, so perhaps he feels more comfortable there. The one thing that may not be ideal for quarterback Baker Mayfield though is potentially having two rookies in Barton and Klein along with a second-year guard in Mauch comprising the interior of the offensive line. So I could see Tampa Bay wanting either Opeta or Bredeson to win the job initially to bring some experience to the table along the interior O-line.

QUESTION: Which rookies impressed at Bucs mini-camp?

Bucs DT Judge Culpepper – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I think several rookies made a very good first impression at Bucs rookie mini-camp. The feedback I got was that every single draft pick had some really good moments and impressed. The team is really satisfied with its draft class. And there were also some standouts in terms of try-out players. Kentucky running back Ramon Jefferson, who was coached by Liam Coen last year, was signed after some impressive play this past weekend. Also, Central Arkansas cornerback Andrew Hayes had a solid showing and earned a spot in training camp.

Two other players who stood out were Appalachian State cornerback Tyrek Funderburk and Toledo cornerback Chris McDonald Jr. At 5-foot-11, 186, Funderburk is a little undersized, but ran a 4.39 and had a ton of production in four years at Richmond and last year at Appalachian State. Over the last three seasons, he’s had 29 pass breakups, 11 interceptions, including three pick-sixes, and three forced fumbles.

In five seasons at Toledo, the 5-foot-9, 189-pound McDonald had 32 pass breakups and five interceptions, including a pick six. He’s too small to play outside in Tampa Bay, but he’ll compete inside at nickel in training camp.

Keep an eye on undrafted free agent Judge Culpepper, the son of former Bucs nose tackle Brad Culpepper. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle notched 12.5 sacks over the past three seasons at Toledo after transferring from Penn State. He’s not a great athlete, but he’s a hard worker and he’s tough with enough athleticism to play at the NFL level.

QUESTION: Saw that Jose Ramirez was at the rookie mini-camp. Wasn’t he a rookie last year? How did he look and what are his chances of making the 53-man roster?

Bucs OLB Jose Ramirez – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Outside linebacker Jose Ramirez, who was a sixth-round pick last year, was a participant at the Bucs rookie mini-camp this year because he spent the 2023 season on the practice squad. All of Tampa Bay’s practice squad members were eligible to take part in the rookie mini-camp, per NFL rules, to help give them an edge heading into OTAs.

Ramirez was one of 10 practice squad players who took part in the rookie mini-camp, and looked like he has really been working on his diet and his body during the offseason. Ramirez looks slimmer and more cut, shedding some of the pudgy weight he had last year. He faces an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster with the drafting of Chris Braswell with the team’s second-round pick. YaYa Diaby, Braswell, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Anthony Nelson and newcomer Randy Gregory appear to be the top five on the depth chart, followed by Markees Watts and Ramirez. Tampa Bay will likely keep five outside linebackers – perhaps six depending on how special teams shakes out.

The reason why it’s beneficial for the team to have practice squad players from the previous year participate is twofold. First, it gives the coaches a player at nearly every position group who can lead drills during individual periods. Those Bucs players have been through practices before, know the ropes and can lead by example in terms of demonstrating what the coaches are looking for.

Another reason is because it gives the personnel staff a chance to compare and contrast those practice squad players against a crop of new players. For example, new cornerback Andrew Hayes performed better than Quandre Mosley, who was on the practice squad last year and had enough time to make an impression. So the Bucs cut Mosley and signed Hayes instead.