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About the Author: Scott Reynolds

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Scott Reynolds is in his 30th year of covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the vice president, publisher and senior Bucs beat writer for PewterReport.com. Author of the popular SR's Fab 5 column on Fridays, Reynolds oversees web development and forges marketing partnerships for PewterReport.com in addition to his editorial duties. A graduate of Kansas State University in 1995, Reynolds spent six years giving back to the community as the defensive coordinator/defensive line coach for his sons' Pop Warner team, the South Pasco Predators. Reynolds can be reached at: [email protected]
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The PewterReport.com staff is in Mobile, Ala. for the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl to cover the Buccaneers and scout potential draft prospects and Tampa Bay targets. After a cold and dreary Tuesday practice following weigh-ins, the Wednesday Senior Bowl practices are being moved indoors to South Alabama’s indoor practice facility with no media coverage allowed due to the lack of space.

But PewterReport.com has been working our Bucs and NFL sources and has compiled some Bucs Buzz and Senior Bowl scoop for you. PewterReport.com’s Senior Bowl coverage is sponsored by Lane Family Wellness.

NO BUCCO BRUCE IN MOBILE

New Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and his coaching staff was not at last week’s East-West Shrine Game practices despite being held in nearby St. Petersburg, Fla., nor is Arians or any Bucs coaches here in Mobile, Ala. at the Senior Bowl. The reason is because the new coaches are busy studying film of the players on Tampa Bay’s existing roster, in addition to the players that are not under contract, including left tackle Donovan Smith, middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and wide receiver Adam Humphries among others.

Tampa Bay has six draft picks this year, but the new coaches are more focused on the 56 players that are under contract to see what they’ll have to work with in 2019, and with good reason. There will be plenty of time to get caught up on all of the 2019 NFL Draft prospects between February and April. There will be the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, which Arians will be attending, in addition to pro day workouts in March and draft prospect visits to One Buccaneer Place in April.

Bucs Head Coach Bruce Arians And Gm Jason Licht

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bucs general manager Jason Licht is in Mobile along with director of player personnel John Spytek and director of college scouting Mike Biehl and the team’s scouts to interview and scout some of the best college players and future draft prospects. Licht wanted some time away from One Buc Place to let the new coaches evaluate the current Bucs players on their own so their initial opinion wouldn’t be influenced by those of Licht and Spytek.

Licht and Spytek will return to Tampa Bay on Friday to reconvene with Arians and the coaches and begin compare notes on the current Bucs players. Then the fate of soon-to-be free agents like Alexander, Smith, Humphries will be known, in addition to the fates of some high-paid veterans, such as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy ($13 million), wide receiver DeSean Jackson ($10 million), defensive end Vinny Curry ($8 million) and others, will be known.

The Bucs can place the franchise tag on Smith, if they choose, beginning on February 19 with the deadline for tag application being March 5. Free agency begins on March 11 with agents being permitted to contact clubs to negotiate contracts. Free agents can sign with new teams beginning at 4:00 p.m. on March 13.

BUCS SCOUTING OFFENSIVE LINE IN MOBILE

After months of former Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter and offensive coordinator Todd Monken continuing to defend Tampa Bay’s underachieving offensive line, new head coach Bruce Arians said that would be a point of emphasis this offseason when he met with the local Bucs beat writers after his initial press conference on January 11.

“I think offensive line, looking outside in, is an area we need to work on,” Arians said. “Some guys that have talent need to get better and more consistent.”

That was music to the ears of many Bucs fans, who grew tired of Koetter’s defense of the unit. While Tampa Bay did have the league’s No. 1 ranked passing game, averaging 320.3 yards per game, Tampa Bay’s offensive line surrendered 41 sacks, which was tied for 16th in the league.

That’s not bad, considering the Bucs used a vertical passing offense that called for quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick to hold on to the ball for an extra second to allow the team’s wide receivers and tight ends to get down the field on intermediate and deep routes. But the pass protection simply wasn’t good enough, and Tampa Bay allowed 109 quarterback hits, which was tied for the fourth-most in the league last year. By comparison, New Orleans had the fewest quarterback hits last year with 52.

Unlike the East-West Shrine Game last week, which had a scarce amount of decent offensive line talent, this year’s crop of O-line at the Senior Bowl is pretty good. Elon right tackle Oli Udoh had a great performance last week in St. Petersburg and got called up to play in the Senior Bowl this week and had a good start on Tuesday. Tampa Bay interviewed Udoh last week and will watch him closely this week in Mobile.

The Bucs also got a first look at Oklahoma guard Ben Powers, who has a perfect mix of power and technique. He dominated on the South squad on Tuesday, and Alabama State right tackle Tytus Howard also made a favorable initial impression. The Bucs drafted two small school linemen from the Senior Bowl in Ali Marpet (Hobart College, 2015) and Alex Cappa (Humboldt State, 2018).

Washington State left tackle Andre Dillard had a really strong start at the Senior Bowl’s first practice. At 6-foot-5, 306 pounds, Dillard got on his man in an instant and played with strong hands, manhandling Wyoming defensive end Carl Granderson on one play and shoving him to the ground in team drills.

Spytek and Biehl got out of the stands and went down on the field to watch the South linemen in the end zone during practice. That’s how dialed in the Bucs are to the offensive linemen in Mobile.

Spytek and Biehl did the same thing during the North practice later in the afternoon. The North squad has a lot of heralded offensive linemen, including Wisconsin guards Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel, Charlotte guard Nate Davis and Boston College guard Chris Lindstrom, in addition to Northern Illinois left tackle Max Scharping and Kansas State right tackle Dalton Risner. The best performer from this bunch was Lindstrom, as Scharping, Risner, Beauschawzel and Deiter were all reverse pancaked on at least one rep in 1-on-1 pass rush/pass protection drills.

While scouting the offensive linemen, the Bucs had to note some impressive performances by the defensive linemen. Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat and Texas A&M defensive tackle Daylon Mack had a great showing in the South practice, while Texas defensive lineman Charles Omenihu, TCU defensive lineman LJ Collier, Western Illinois defensive tackle Khalen Saunders and Boston College DE Zach Allen all came away as winners for the North practice.

GRUDEN IS BACK IN MOBILE

Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden, who is now the coach of the Oakland Raiders, is coaching the North squad at this year’s Senior Bowl. The last time Gruden coached the Senior Bowl was in 2005 when Tampa Bay coached the South squad coming off a 5-11 season in 2004. One of the players Gruden coached that year, Auburn running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, was selected with the fifth overall pick in the draft.

Gruden became enamored with Williams in practice and legend has it that he saw Williams field a punt and catch the ball behind his back. That, along with his illustrious career at Auburn and his cool “Cadillac” nickname, led to the Bucs selecting Williams in the first round. It was a curious move because Williams was the third running back drafted that year with the fifth overall pick, following the selections of Miami’s Ronnie Brown and Chicago’s Cedric Benson.

Gruden Jon Senior Bowl End Zone

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: PewterReport.com

Yet Williams paid immediate dividends, rushing for 1,178 yards and six touchdowns on 290 carries (4.1 avg.) en route to winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. The Bucs rebounded in 2005, winning the NFC South and hosting the Redskins in a playoff game after an 11-5 season. Williams would suffer two torn patellar tendons in both knees during the 2007 and 2008 seasons and never rush for 1,000 yards again.

Gruden and the Bucs passed over another South stud, Troy defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who was a personal favorite of defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin that year. Kiffin believed Ware was the next Simeon Rice and wanted Tampa Bay to draft him. Between nine years in Dallas and three years in Denver, Ware recorded 138.5 sacks, including a career-high 20 sacks in 2008 with the Cowboys and 19.5 sacks in 2011. He had eight double-digit sack seasons in his illustrious career and also forced 35 fumbles.

Of course the player Gruden regrets not drafting the most was California quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was taken by Green Bay with the 24th overall pick. But Ware would have been a fine pick too, and a great successor to Rice, whose last season in Tampa Bay was in the 2006 season.

SENIOR BOWL BUC SHOTS

• Two of the biggest winners from Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practices were actually two of the fastest players. Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin turned heads with blazing speed in 1-on-1’s and had a great day catching the ball and creating separation. Here he hauls in a touchdown pass from Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, who was the best quarterback on Day 1.

Houston cornerback Isaiah Johnson, who was featured in PewterReport.com’s Senior Bowl Bucs’ Targets: Defense article, won the weigh-in, measuring 6-foot-2, 207 pounds with nearly a 78-inch wingspan. Then he showed off remarkable speed during practice on Tuesday afternoon.

Both Johnson and McLaurin were recognized as some of the fastest players at Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice by Zebra Technology.

• Former Bucs wide receivers coach Skyler Fulton was seen at the East-West Shrine Game last week coaching the East quarterbacks. Fulton has yet to latch on with an NFL team, but has had several offers from major universities to coach receivers and recruit. He would like to stay in the NFL if possible.

This week in Mobile, Ala., former Tampa Bay defensive line coach Brentson Buckner is coaching the North defensive line at the Senior Bowl. After he was released by Tampa Bay, Buckner was scooped up by Gruden and is coaching the defensive line in Oakland.

• And finally, former Bucs head coach Greg Schiano is in Mobile to interview with NFL teams. Schiano, who was the Buckeyes defensive coordinator under former head coach Urban Meyer, left Ohio State after this season to pursue an NFL job and is linked to New England where he would replace Brian Flores as the defensive coordinator if Flores is hired by the Miami Dolphins after the Super Bowl as expected. But if that doesn’t happen, Schiano will want to get Plan B lined up, which is why he is in Mobile, as the Senior Bowl is also known as an NFL job fair.


Several former Tampa Bay assistants under Dirk Koetter are in Mobile also job hunting. Good luck to those guys.

Lane Family Wellness SquarePewterReport.com’s Senior Bowl coverage is sponsored by Lane Family Wellness. Not only does Dr. Tommy Lane offer chiropractic care for victims of car accidents and injuries, but together with Dr. Yvette Suarez, Lane Family Wellness also offers a new, revolutionary, non-surgical stem cell treatment for knee injuries called Viscosupplementation Therapy that helps people with chronic knee pain, arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Lane Family Wellness is located at:
1323 W. Fletcher Avenue
Tampa, FL 33612

For more information on Viscosupplementation Therapy at Lane Family Wellness, visit them online at TampaKneeRelief.com to watch a brief one-minute video on the procedure and call (813) 968-4293 to schedule your free consultation.

Follow @PewterReport on Twitter for more Senior Bowl coverage all week long.

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