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About the Author: Joshua Queipo

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Josh Queipo joined the Pewter Report team in 2022, specializing in salary cap analysis and film study. In addition to his official role with the website and podcast, he has an unofficial role as the Pewter Report team’s beaming light of positivity and jokes. A staunch proponent of the forward pass, he is a father to two amazing children and loves sushi, brisket, steak and bacon, though the order changes depending on the day. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2008 with a degree in finance.
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As the second-youngest roster in the NFL, the Bucs have an outsized reliance on younger players than the typical team. That reliance means Tampa Bay needs positive contributions from their rookie class. As such I wanted to provide a weekly column reviewing the performances of rookies with notable snap counts on either offense or defense.

Bucs Rookies On Offense

Center Graham Barton

The Bucs’ first-round selection had a quintessential performance for an uber-talented, but raw player. There were glimpses of high-end play intermixed with reps where his relative inexperience at his position led to “losses.” From a physical standpoint, he proved he can hold up with the best of the best. Which is good, because in many ways that is who he was facing. Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne are two of the better defensive tackles in the NFL and Washington head coach Dan Quinn leveraged their talents by playing a lot of games up front with them.

Bucs C Barton

Bucs C Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It was the games, lots of tackle-tackle and tackle-end stunts that gave Barton the greatest amount of trouble. Barton’s worst reps were ones where he had to pass off a defender to right guard Cody Mauch while picking up Mauch’s initial assignment.

On those plays Barton had trouble maintaining his spacing from his fellow lineman, getting his feet tied up and winding up on the ground. But Barton’s anchor and ability to match the power and speed of Washington’s dynamic duo was not an issue. The most encouraging signs for Barton were the improvements he showed as the game progressed. The issues he had on stunts and spacing were less prevalent in the second half than the first.

And there were plenty of quality plays from the Bucs young rookie lineman. His most impressive work came when offensive coordinator Liam Coen unleashed him in space on screens or as a climber in the run game. There, Barton’s natural agility and athleticism was fully on display. Perhaps no play encapsulated his unique skillset better than when he made an impressive effort to reach Commanders’ linebacker Bobby Wagner.

Two of the best offensive line evaluators in the public space both had high praise for the Bucs new center.

Barton finished the game having allowed two quarterback pressures on 36 pass blocking reps while helping lead the way for an extremely effective screen game and a rushing attack that gained 112 yards.

With his rare physical traits there is plenty for Barton to build on as he continues to learn the intricacies of a new position where he will have to get used to quicker contact and less room to work with than his time in college as a tackle. But Coen and Co. are already leaning into what he does best, and I have no doubt the rest will come as the young pivot gets more experience.

Wide Receiver Jalen McMillan

Jalen McMillan, fresh off earning the Bucs WR3 role, had a quintessential “welcome to the NFL” game. There were glimpses of the talent that caused the Bucs to fall in love with him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft interspersed with some frustrating moments that he will need to clean up if he is to become a reliable member of Tampa Bay’s offense. He ran 30 routes on the day. Quarterback Baker Mayfield targeted him three times, but the two connected on just one of those targets. But they made that one catch count.

Coen featured McMillan on several plays, scheming him opportunities to get open on man-beaters. Unfortunately, he and Mayfield couldn’t fully take advantage.

McMillan averaged an impressive 3.5 yards of separation per NFL Pro. And despite the low 33.33% catch rate he still had a yards/route run of 1.07 to go along with his touchdown. But McMillan will need to show he can be relied on to hold on to the ball and he will need to improve as a blocker going forward. Yet the route running looks to be NFL-caliber and the Bucs seem to already trust him as they were scheming up shots for him. Add in the impressive 17.7 average depth of target and McMillan looks like he can be a value-add to the offense.

Running Back Bucky Irving

Bucs Rb Bucky Irving

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Irving was an immediate contributor in both the passing and run game. With nine carries for 62 yards and two catches for another 14, Irving was a key cog in the Bucs offense. As a runner Irving was decisive and explosive with two carries over 10 yards including a 31-yarder. He was the beneficiary of play calling, getting seven gap run calls to just two zone calls. Tampa Bay’s offensive line seems much more comfortable running gap like trap, duo and pin and pull and they gave Irving plenty of room to work with. For his part, Irving took full advantage of those lanes.

But I’m not ready to call Irving a panacea as he was given 5.3 yards per carry before contact while averaging 6.9 yards per carry overall. Irving had a good NFL debut, showing good hands in addition to the traits I listed above. What I am most interested in seeing from him going forward is how he can hold up as a pass blocker. His lone rep in that department had him willing to step up and block linebacker Frankie Luvu but I wonder at his size whether he can hold up long term.

Bucs Rookies On Defense

OLB Chris Braswell

Braswell was used sparingly on Sunday, playing just 25 snaps. As a pass rusher Braswell had two nice reps. One was a speed-to-power rush where he created vertical displacement on Commanders right tackle Andrew Wylie. Braswell was able to power Wylie back on another rush where he used a long arm. Beyond that there is still a lot for him to work on. His get-off was delayed and there were multiple reps where he was just not ready at the snap. But there were flashes.

Braswell made up for some lackluster pass rushes with solid run defense and running a high motor chasing down plays from behind. He finished the day with two assisted tackles and a couple of plays to build on.

DB Tykee Smith

Smith had a fairly nondescript opening day. It wasn’t so much his fault as it was Commanders’ quarterback Jayden Daniels who seemed allergic at times to challenging the Bucs defense through the air. Smith lost a few reps in coverage, most notably one play where he bit hard on a double move by Terry McLaurin and would have given up a touchdown had Daniels recognized McLaurin was wide open. Smith was targeted three times in coverage, allowing three catches for 25 yards, averaging 1.04 yards allowed per coverage rep.

Still there was a lot of positives from Smith. He was physical and aggressive in run support and working against Washington’s screen game. He also showed to be a reliable tackler. He also had an impressive pass rush. Overall, Smith had a solid showing in his first game.

The Bucs featured five of their rookies on Sunday heavily. None had standout dominant performances, but all five showed glimpses of what they can be. It was a promising start for a group of players beaming with potential.

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