FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
• One of the biggest complaints about PewterReport.com’s latest 2017 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft is the absence of any offensive linemen. A good amount of Tampa Bay’s fan base believes the offensive line needs to be upgraded, especially at the tackle position.

However, the Bucs brass feels differently. Tampa Bay believes Demar Dotson is perhaps the 10th best RT in the league (at least in the upper one-third) and the team remains high on Donovan Smith, who has yet to realize his full potential.

Bucs RT Demar Dotson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Some fans have opined about missing Donald Penn and how the Bucs should have never released him in 2014. There are a lot of similarities between Penn and Smith, both of whom are over 330 pounds. Penn didn’t make the Pro Bowl until his fifth year, and he didn’t make it back to the Pro Bowl until this year – at age 33. Smith is only 23 and still has plenty of years to grow, develop and improve.

Dotson will be 32 this year and won’t play forever, but the Bucs feel like they might have his eventual replacement on the roster already.

“Potentially,” Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht said. “I think it’s going to play itself out. We’re lucky that we have three guys that can go out there. Kevin Pamphile played well at right tackle [at New Orleans] just for having one week of practice for it. Caleb Benenoch and Leonard Wester got better and they’re only going to get better, so we have some guys right now that we will continue to develop. We have some options. Once again, offensive line is a position that we will always look for a young guy that we can develop through the system, which we have done.”

• Jackson State defensive end-linebacker Javancy Jones received a great deal of praise from first-year head coach Tony Hughes after capturing the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Hughes believes Jones has the skill set to make it in the NFL and compared him to some legendary defenders from the state of Mississippi.

“Every day in practice he got a win,” Hughes told The Clarion-Ledger. “Whether it was an individual drill or a team deal. He doesn’t have a good attitude if he loses. I had Patrick Willis when I was at Ole Miss, and I had Benardrick McKinney at Mississippi State. He matches both of those guys in his passion, his relentless effort and the way he plays the game.”

• Although he didn’t rule out drafting another cornerback, Bucs general manager Jason Licht indicated his pleasure with the depth and talent at the position during a conversation with PewterReport.com at the Senior Bowl.

“I am very excited about Ryan Smith and what he’s going to do for us this year in his role,” Licht said. “I think he’s going to be in a position where he can go out and play for us next year, I mean as a starter. He could potentially be a long-term solution there. I’m very excited about that group. Vernon Hargreaves for a rookie … rookies always take lumps at corner, but he started every game. He played inside, he played outside and he’s only going to get better. We are very excited about his advancement.

Bucs CB Ryan Smith – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

“Brent Grimes has a youthfulness to him at his age, he didn’t decline at all. If somebody steps up and proves to be the third perimeter guy, perhaps Smith, Hargreaves can play inside, too. We could have a very good group out there. Smith will be in the competition [on the outside] that’s for sure.”

With Hargreaves, Grimes, Smith, Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick last year, in addition to nickel cornerbacks Jude Adjei-Barimah and Javien Elliott, the Bucs have five cornerbacks they feel good about for the 2017 season – even with the likely departure of Alterraun Verner, who will almost certainly be a cap casualty due to his $6.75 million salary. Throw in special teams ace Josh Robinson if he gets re-signed and that the Bucs’ depth at cornerback is six deep heading into training camp.

• Alabama tight end O.J. Howard grew up emulating Jason Witten, Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham and Jordan Reed, and hopes to become one of the NFL’s elite pass catchers once he gets drafted.

“I’m trying to be a guy that can help a team make plays down the field and be that go-to guy in big moments and separate myself from opponents and just be a playmaker,” Howard said. “I think I’m a playmaker, I think I play better when the ball’s in my hands, and I can help a team out a lot that way.

“The way tight ends are used in the NFL they’re always in different positions. You hardly see a tight end in the same position on the same drive more than three times. They’re out wide, they’re in the backfield moving around to get matchups and mismatches, and I can do that. I can run those routes. I can be in the end zone catching a fade for a touchdown or a slant like Gronkowski. Being able to see a tight end utilized like that in the NFL is a very happy feeling for me to know my time can possibly come one day.”

While Howard has great receiving ability, it’s the fact that he’s a complete tight end and can be a tremendous blocker that has made him a first-round draft status. Howard got to practice against some of the best defensive ends in college football at Alabama.

“Going against guys every day like Jon Allen and Tim Williams, those guys really made me become a better blocker,” Howard said. “Those guys are the top in the nation at what they do and competing against those guys every day, you can only get better or you’re going to get embarrassed every day at practice so that really helped it out a lot. My coaches always talked about how technique was important and footwork. It was a long step coming from high school to college and learning to block but I finally got there.”

• I hope you enjoyed PewterReport.com’s unmatched coverage of the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl coverage in January, in addition to our first two Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Drafts of 2017. PewterReport.com will be at the NFL Scouting Combine later this month with more Bucs coverage.

No other media outlet prepares you for the Bucs draft like PewterReport.com does. Be sure to let your friends and the other Tampa Bay fans in your life know about PewterReport.com, and please follow us on Twitter by clicking here, and on Facebook by clicking here. We appreciate your patronage and your support, Bucs fans.

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