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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each 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: What are your thoughts on the Bucs trading Devin White at the deadline and playing SirVocea Dennis the rest of the season? We probably don’t re-sign White next year anyways.

ANSWER: I agree that Devin White is playing his way out of Tampa Bay. Through seven games he is the team’s third-leading tackler with 47 tackles – one more than Antoine Winfield Jr. and 20 tackles behind Lavonte David. White has yet to record a sack, a forced fumble or a fumble recovery. Despite his 4.42 speed, White only has one tackle for loss. David leads the team with seven, and seven other Bucs defenders have more TFLs than White does. He’s just not making plays in his contract year, which is quite damning.

Bucs ILB Devin White and Bills RB James Cook – Photo by: USA Today

White is kidding himself if he thinks he’s worth around $18-$20 million per year. His only splash play through seven games is an interception in Week 3 that Jalen Hurts literally threw right to him. The Bucs were wise not to sign him to a contract extension in the offseason and make him play on his fifth-year option after a 2022 season that saw inconsistent play and inconsistent effort from the former No. 5 overall pick. That inconsistency has continued into the 2023 season where the 33-year old David, who is also in a contract year, is clearly outplaying him.

The problem is that White’s play is so lackluster that he really doesn’t have much trade value – maybe a late Day 3 pick. His sub-par play in a contract year has to be a red flag to other teams. And any team that trades for him now will have to deal with his contract demands next season – no matter how delusional they are. If a team is interested in White, it’s better to wait until free agency next March to see how robust his market is. I’m guessing White’s deal will top out at close to what he’s making now, which is $11.706 million.

As for SirVocea Dennis, he’s strictly an unknown commodity. He only played in one preseason game due to injury and didn’t look good in the preseason opener against Pittsburgh. Dennis chalked up that bad outing to the nerves of playing in his first NFL game, but the Bucs would have loved to have seen what he could have done in the rest of the preseason. Missing those two other games impeded his development. Still, he will be in the mix for a starting linebacker role next year depending on what happens with White and David. Why not play Dennis now to see if he has starting potential?

QUESTION: Should we look into making a change at QB seeing as how the offense hasn’t performed well with Baker Mayfield at the helm?

ANSWER: That’s a tough question to answer. Looking at Baker Mayfield’s stats individually, he’s completing 64% of his passes for 1,600 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. While he’s run into some sacks, he’s also escaped plenty of others with his mobility and elusiveness. Generally speaking Mayfield has played well in the team’s 3-4 start, but not great enough to be a difference-maker for a struggling offense right now. His best game was his three-touchdown effort at New Orleans, and his worst game was a one-interception, zero-touchdown day against Detroit.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

But the game film shows him missing some receivers at times, more batted passes at the line of scrimmage than the Bucs would like to see, and frenetic pocket play with happy feet at inopportune times. There is a lot to admire about Mayfield’s game, and if he had better talent around the offense might score more and the Bucs might have a few more wins.

Mayfield hasn’t shown the ability to necessarily raise the level of play of those around him. He’s doing enough to keep his job, but just not enough to help put more points on the scoreboard. It’s not all on him though, as the Bucs have an obvious lack of talent at tight end, running back and along the interior of the offensive line. Going through the growing pains with a rookie play-caller isn’t helping Mayfield, either.

If the Bucs are going to make a change at quarterback the team would have to think that Kyle Trask would do a better job, and I’m not sure I can co-sign on that premise just yet. Mayfield’s experience has helped him get out of some jams and make some plays with his right arm or his legs that Trask just doesn’t have the experience to make right now.

QUESTION: Think Kyle Trask will ever get a shot?

Bucs OC Dave Canales and QBs Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The only way I see Kyle Trask getting a shot to quarterback this team is either in fourth quarter garbage time of a blowout loss, or if Baker Mayfield gets hurt or loses the QB job due to ineffectiveness late in the season. I think the Bucs would have to be out of contention for the playoffs and the division race for Tampa Bay to turn to Trask due to his inexperience.

The Bucs would have to be heading towards a double-digit loss season for Trask to get a shot at starting, and that would probably only mean the last two or three games of the season. I just think that the talent and experience gap is wide enough between Mayfield and Trask that unless there is an injury, I can’t see the former second-round pick getting a shot at playing time otherwise.

Once the Bucs turn to Trask there really is no turning back to Mayfield if Trask falters. So Tampa Bay would have to be committed to their third-year quarterback. Keep in mind that Mayfield was voted a team captain and is well liked by the players. Benching Mayfield and switching to Trask before the Bucs are truly out of it record-wise would be playing with fire in Tampa Bay’s locker room.

QUESTION: Todd Bowles refuses to make changes to the lineup when we can all see who gets burned every game. Are w more likely to see Ryan Neal benched the next game or Aaron Stinnie start at guard at Houston?

ANSWER: Todd Bowles’ continued support and defense of safety Ryan Neal is maddening. Out of all of the starting defenders in Tampa Bay, Neal is the lowest-graded starter according to Pro Football Focus. Neal has a 44 PFF overall grade and a woeful 39 PFF coverage grade. Take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but what PFF sees is the same thing that Pewter Report sees, which is the same thing that most Bucs fans are seeing as well. Neal’s lack of agility and ability to smoothly change direction was a big contributor on Kyle Pitts’ 39-yard catch-and-run in the loss to Atlanta and Dalton Kincaid’s 22-yard touchdown in Buffalo. Neal also took a poor angle on both plays.

Neal has given up passing touchdowns to Detroit and Buffalo, and also gave up a critical 41-yard passing play to Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts that led to the Falcons’ game-winning field goal two weeks ago. Yet Bowles continues to defend Neal and has resisted making a change to Dee Delaney, who played well in Neal’s absence in a Week 3 win at New Orleans.

Given Bowles’ stance on Neal, I would say there is a greater chance that Aaron Stinnie might start again at left guard. A lot will depend on the status of starter Matt Feiler’s knee. If it’s a mild knee injury and the extra rest time allows him to play my guess he is reinserted into the starting lineup. But Stinnie was the highest-graded Bucs player on offense in Buffalo with a 74.9 overall grade. So he showed well in his first playing time of the year.

Meanwhile, Feiler is the 52nd ranked guard in the NFL overall this year, according to Pro Football Focus. So perhaps Stinnie is deserving of another game to see if he can continue to improve the play at left guard in Tampa Bay.

QUESTION:Hey Scott, Rachaad White is just so good as a receiving option; should the coaches consider a position change? I know it’s not conventional in the NFL to do that.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Ideally, I think Rachaad White is an ideal third-down back in the NFL. He has shown some pretty elite pass-catching ability and moves well in space. White led Tampa Bay in receiving with seven catches for 70 yards in Buffalo, which was a new career high. He’s averaging eight yards per catch, which is quite respectable, and has 233 yards on 29 catches this year.

White has been nearly as productive as a receiver as he is as a running back. He’s totaled just 305 yards rushing on 92 carries (3.3 avg.) with one touchdown. Having said that, I don’t think he would transition well to wide receiver because he doesn’t have the necessary quickness to create separation nor does suddenness to shake free from defenders. White is best used as an outlet receiver in space and on screen passes.

White’s game is more like a poor man’s Alvin Kamara. In seven years in New Orleans, Kamara has never had a 1,000-yard rushing season. But Kamara has averaged 470 yards receiving per year during his Saints career. If White maxed out his abilities and had better blocking around him I could see him playing that kind of a role in Tampa Bay. But with his lack of burst and vision, White is ideally a complementary back rather than a RB1-type back from what we’ve seen so far.

QUESTION: Anthony Nelson and William Gholston always seem to make plays or be in the mix when they’re in. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Logan Hall are consistent no-shows. Any chance they change the rotation?

ANSWER: Is there a chance? Perhaps. But both Todd Bowles and the front office seem committed to playing Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Logan Hall to try to aid in their development. Tryon-Shoyinka has been slow to come around and live up to his first-round draft status. He looks more like an athlete playing football than a gritty, instinctive football player and pass rusher. JTS has three sacks on the season and was basically invisible in Buffalo where he had just two tackles and one quarterback hit.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: USA Today

Meanwhile Anthony Nelson played few snaps and finished with four tackles, two tackles for loss and his second sack of the year. I’m ready to see Nelson start and for Tryon-Shoyinka to play reduced snaps. Maybe that would serve as a wake-up call to play better with fewer plays on Sundays.

As for Will Golston, it was great seeing the old man get his first career interception off a deflected pass in Buffalo. In his 11th year, Gholston is not the player he used to be. So it’s hard to play him ahead of Hall, who needs all the snaps he can get in his second season to gain some necessary experience. Hall played through some pain of a pre-game groin injury on Thursday night, which limited his effectiveness.

While Gholston shouldn’t really take away snaps from Hall on game days, the veteran has shown that he’s better than young reserve Mike Greene, who I’m not sure has a future in Tampa Bay due to his sub-par play. I would move Gholston into a more prominent role in the rotation and play Greene sparingly – if at all.