Swearinger a Starter?Justin Pawlowski @CommishOnlineJun 12, 2015
DJ Swearinger was working with the starting defense during the last day of OTAs on Thursday.The Buccaneers seem to have numbers at safety with names like Chris Conte, Bradley McDougald, Major Wright, and the recently acquired DJ Swearinger, but who will step up and become the starters?Swearinger is the most talented of the group. He was a 2-year starter before abruptly being waived by the Texans. Rumors had circulated that Swearinger's release was due to him being unwilling to play special teams. This is an accusation Swearinger denied when speaking with ESPN's Pat Yasinskas.“That’s totally not true,’’ Swearinger said to Yasinskas. “I played special teams there and I’ll be playing special teams here, for the record."Swearinger was a 2nd round pick by the Texans in 2013, and now finds himself in a position to compete for a starting job with the Bucs.“He’s a very smart football player, staring off with that, good agility," Lovie Smith said of Swearinger on Thursday. "We feel like we picked up a draft pick by getting a player like that. He can play the run. Again, good instincts, smart, everything you want to see a guy do, running around in underwear, he has been able to do well. His strong suit is supposed to be when he gets in pads, so we like him being on the team.”According to Yasinskas, Swearinger was working with the first-team defense during the final OTA practice on Thursday. As of now, expectations for Swearinger should be that he'll be in the Bucs starting lineup to start the 2015 season.link
