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About the Author: Bailey Adams

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Bailey Adams is in his second year with Pewter Report. Born and raised in Tampa, he has closely followed the Bucs all his life and has covered them in some capacity since 2016. In addition to his responsibilities as a beat writer, he also contributes to the site as an editor. He graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2019 and currently co-hosts The Pegasus Podcast, a podcast dedicated to covering UCF Football.

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The Bucs came into training camp with a wide-open competition for their remaining wide receiver spots. Behind Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and Julio Jones, there are two — maybe three — spots to play for.

Tampa Bay has no shortage of candidates with experience. Scotty Miller starred in parts of the Bucs’ run to the Super Bowl in 2020. Tyler Johnson came up with some big catches during that run as well before taking on a larger role late in 2021. Cyril Grayson Jr. was a breakout star at the end of last season. Breshad Perriman has a couple of years in Byron Leftwich’s offense now. And second-year speedster Jaelon Darden gained valuable experience last year as well.

But right now, it’s three undrafted free agents who are making the biggest waves. That’s not to say that Miller, Johnson, Grayson and Darden haven’t been performing well in camp — they certainly have. But Jerreth Sterns, Deven Thompkins and Kaylon Geiger Sr. continue to impress. And it’s only making the competition for those final two or three spots harder to call.

“They’re doing a heck of a job,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said Thursday. “To come in training camp and then play in a game like that, then have a full week of practice and play special teams – those guys are making a case.”

Making A Case In Practice And Under The Lights

Throughout training camp, Tampa Bay’s wide receivers have been some of its top performers. And that’s even without the top four practicing regularly. And when it comes to trying to unseat some of the more experienced players for their roster spots, the three rookies are consistently applying pressure.

Thompkins had a great summer, prompting Bowles to single him out after mini-camp. He’s followed that with a strong camp. The Utah State product had the second-most receiving yards in college football last year with 1,704. Meanwhile, the leading receiver in the country — with 1,902 yards — was Western Kentucky’s Jerreth Sterns. He is another receiver who is making a strong case to crack the 53-man roster come September. And don’t count out Geiger, who has been as steady as anyone throughout camp. Despite largely playing with the threes, he’s made it impossible to have this conversation without including him.

Bucs Wr Jerreth Sterns

Bucs WR Jerreth Sterns – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The best part for these three young receivers is that their work on the AdventHealth Training Center practice fields carried over to Raymond James Stadium last Saturday night.

Sterns was the standout, catching all four of his targets for 51 yards and a touchdown — a 19-yarder from Kyle Trask.

Geiger also caught all four of his targets, finishing with 52 yards. That was the second-most receiving yards on the team. And while Thompkins’ stats — two catches for 11 yards — don’t stand out, he made a key third-down catch to keep the Bucs’ final drive alive.

Most of Tampa Bay’s receivers are making it tough on Bowles and the rest of the Bucs’ decision makers to narrow down the field for those final two or three spots. You have to imagine the team will try to stash as many of its talented receivers as it can, but it’s unlikely that all three remain in Tampa. And while that’s unfortunate, they’ve all done more than enough to catch on elsewhere.

The wide-open race for those depth receiver spots continues Saturday night as the Bucs take on the Titans at Nissan Stadium.

“It’s the best collection of young receivers I’ve ever seen,” said Bucs senior assistant to the general manager Bruce Arians.

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