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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: Do you see defensive back Tykee Smith playing any snaps at linebacker this year?

ANSWER: Tykee Smith, the team’s first third-round pick, is a defensive back who will be cross-trained at nickel cornerback and safety. Between two years at West Virginia and three years at Georgia, Smith has seen plenty of action at free safety, strong safety and in the slot as a nickelback. I think there is a good chance that he’ll beat out Christian Izien, an undrafted free agent signing last year, for the nickelback duties.

Georgia S Tykee Smith – Photo by: USA Today

Izien made quite a debut as a rookie last year with interceptions in back-to-back games to start the season. He started all 19 games in the slot, including both playoff contests, but went the last 17 games of the season, including the postseason, without another pick. Bucs head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles wants more plays from the nickelback position, and Smith led the Bulldogs defense with four interceptions last year. He has a high football I.Q. and a knack for always being around the ball.

In fact, Smith has some similar traits that Bucs legend Ronde Barber possessed in terms of the ball finding him. He also gives the Bucs some Antoine Winfield Jr. vibes as well. At 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, Smith isn’t big enough to play linebacker on a down-in, down-out basis on defense.

But in nickel defense, the slot cornerback is essentially the third linebacker on the field playing in the box. Smith does have the toughness and physicality to be a factor in run support as well as coverage. Barber would always say he was practically a linebacker on third downs playing in the slot, and he did that extremely well at 180 pounds. Smith is better suited to handle that role as he’s 25 pounds heavier than Barber was.

Smith may also eventually replace Jordan Whitehead in a few years down the road as the team’s strong safety. He has the ability to excel there, too.

QUESTION: The Bucs were ready to select Tulane QB Michael Pratt at No. 246. However, am I wrong to view this as a blessing? I think tight end Devin Culp can be our No. 2 tight end as he offers speed, and special teams ability. Pratt would most likely be cut or the Bucs would cut John Wolford.

Bucs TE Devin Culp – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Time will tell if Devin Culp will be a good seventh-round pick. The Bucs were going to draft to Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt with their final pick, but Green Bay beat them to it, selecting the Green Wave star one spot ahead of Tampa Bay. Adding another quarterback to the competition for the backup job with Kyle Trask and John Wolford would not have been a bad decision, considering Trask is entering a contract year and is still a relatively unknown commodity.

Culp is an intriguing athlete with 4.47 speed, which made him the fastest tight end at the NFL Scouting Combine. Tampa Bay seemed to be going after a faster receiving tight end in this year‘s draft having spent time interviewing him formally at the Combine, in addition to Florida State’s Jaheim Bell, who is another undersized receiving tight end.

The Rams have had success with this type of tight end in years past with Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee. It remains to be seen whether or not Culp has enough size and blocking ability to truly become TE2, or even challenge for a starting spot with Cade Otton. With Ko Kieft essentially being a one-dimensional blocking tight end, and one who is not very good at that, there is a chance that Culp makes the team as a rookie. He will have to carve out a special teams, and that is a place where Kieft has exceled.

QUESTION: Have the Bucs done enough to rehabilitate the run game? Graham Barton seems great and Bucky Irving has some juice, but how optimistic should we be?

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo courtesy of Oregon

ANSWER: With Tampa Bay having the league’s worst ground game over the past two seasons, there is really nowhere to go but up. I think Rachaad White showed improvement in reading holes better and being a more decisive runner over the second half of the season. He did his part, and that played a role in Tampa Bay producing multiple 100-yard rushing games down stretch of the 2023 season.

The drafting of Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton should help Tampa Bay‘s rushing attack, especially in the interior where the center is the tip of the spear. That position has really lacked some punch since Ryan Jensen‘s career-ending knee injury back in training camp in 2022. Robert Hainsey is an undersized center who just does not get enough push in the running game to be effective.

Cody Mauch is bigger and stronger entering year two, and that should help at right guard. But the real question is who will man be starting left guard position in 2024? That position was the weak link on offense last year, and it remains to be seen if that spot has truly been upgraded this offseason.

Oregon running back Bucky Irving does bring some juice with his instant acceleration and make-you-miss ability. He was one of the best running backs in college at forcing missed tackles last year. Even at 5-foot-9, 192 pounds, he is hard to bring down and should take over the RB2 role from Chase Edmonds at some point.

QUESTION: What convinced them to take Graham Barton over Johnny Newton? Their two big stated priorities were to improve the ground game and improve the four-man pass rush. Was it Newton’s foot injury, or a difference in character, or did they simply have Barton graded higher?

Bucs OL Graham Barton – Photo courtesy of Duke

ANSWER: The Bucs had Graham Barton has the higher-rated prospect. It’s as simple as that. Bucs general manager Jason Licht said he was going to emphasize the trenches and that came to fruition with the selection of Barton in the first round, outside linebacker Chris Braswell in the second round and guard Elijah Klein in the sixth round.

Tampa Bay was poised to take Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton at No. 26 if Barton was off the board, but upgrading the offensive line proved to be the biggest area of need. Barton is expected to be an upgrade at center, but would also factor in as an upgrade at guard if Robert Hainsey makes some dramatic improvement this offseason.

Keep in mind that the Bucs have spent three top picks on defensive tackles since drafting Vita Vea in the first round in 2018. Tampa Bay also used its first pick on Logan Hall at the top of the second round in 2022, followed by the drafting of Calijah Kancey in the first round last year. Newton is a very good player and could help the team as he might be an upgrade over Hall, who has underwhelmed thus far. But the more immediate need was upgrading the offensive line – hence the selection of Barton.

Keep in mind that Barton was the better prospect due to RAS (Relative Athletic Score). Barton scored a perfect 10 on the RAS scale, making him the most athletic center to come out in the draft since 1987. The Duke All-ACC lineman had a perfect 10 score athletically. That, combined with his high football I.Q., his businesslike demeanor, and his tenacity as a blocker, made him a more valuable draft prospect than Newton.

QUESTION: The new kickoff rules could be a difference-maker in close games this season, and the Bucs have a new special teams coach. Is Thomas McGaughey the creative type who wants to find ways to exploit the rule change, or is he just interested in kicking between the uprights?

Bucs special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: That’s a great question. The media had the opportunity to meet with new Bucs special teams coach Thomas McGaughey on Monday and I’m hoping that he is a better special teams coach than Keith Armstrong, who I just didn’t think was very good at his job.

Tampa Bay has a tremendous kicker in Chase McLaughlin and a fabulous young punter in Jake Camarda, but special teams coaches have very little to do with teaching kickers and punters as they are often left to their own to work on their craft. The Bucs coverage teams have been okay the past few years under Armstrong’s watch, but the return units have been sub-par. The Bucs didn’t have a return touchdown during Armstrong’s five-year tenure – either punt or kickoff – and that has to change.

The new kickoff rules really present the opportunity for the teams who quickly figure out how to excel at it to thrive and gain an advantage on game days – whether it be better field position or putting an occasional kick return touchdown on the board. That’s something that hasn’t happened in Tampa Bay since over a decade when Micheal Spurlock returned his second kickoff for a touchdown as a Buccaneer in 2010.

My hope is that McGaughey is an imaginative coach who can take Tampa Bay’s kick and punt return units to the next level and make them actual threats. He said he’s both aggressive and conservative at the same time. I’d also like to see Camarda, who is one of the league’s most athletic punters, be used on some fakes to regain some momentum on fourth downs. I like aggressive special teams coaches and we’ll find out soon enough just how aggressive McGaughey is.

QUESTION: Who is your sleeper undrafted free agent to not only make the team but be impactful this season?

ANSWER: I did a recent Pewter Pulse video on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel on Florida State inside linebacker Kalen DeLoach being a possible steal for the Bucs as an undrafted free agent. So he would be my sleeper pick. With Tampa Bay’s last two draft classes producing eight starters, and the Bucs being a young team in general, it’s going to be hard for undrafted free agents to crack the 53-man roster this year.

But given the fact that the Bucs didn’t draft an inside linebacker this year and that both Lavonte David and K.J. Britt are in contract years, there could be some upheaval at linebacker in 2025. DeLoach is undersized at 5-foot-11, 210 pounds and will need to gain five to 10 pounds to be more effective and hold up on defense, especially in run support. But he’s plenty fast with 4.47 speed, and is quite a good blitzer, evidenced by seven sacks last year for the Seminoles.

With David and Britt set to start at linebacker this year and SirVocea Dennis and J.J. Russell as backups with some experience, it will be an uphill battle for DeLoach to find the field on defense. But with his physical playing style and speed he should be able to make an impact on special teams.

If he can carve out a role covering kicks and punts as a rookie and either force the Bucs to keep five inside linebackers because of his special teams prowess, or beat out either Russell or Dennis for the fourth linebacker spot on the depth chart, DeLoach could be well on his way to sticking around Tampa Bay for a while. With his ability to tackle, blitz and cover, DeLoach is a Todd Bowles-type linebacker.