FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• It’s no surprise that the Buccaneers signed former Carolina and Detroit defensive end Larry Webster III to the practice squad this week. Webster fits the mold that defensive line coach Jay Hayes likes in his players – tall and long. At 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, Webster is identical in size to new defensive end Will Clarke IV, who is also 6-foot-6, 275 pounds. Clarke was drafted under Hayes at Cincinnati where he spent the last four seasons prior to coming to Tampa Bay after the final roster cuts.

In Cincinnati, Hayes had several big and tall defensive ends in Clarke, Carlos Dunlap (6-6, 280), Michael Johnson (6-7, 280) and Margus Hunt (6-8, 298). Now he has four ends that are 6-foot-5 or taller in Clarke, Webster, Ryan Russell (6-5, 275) and Will Gholston (6-6, 281).

Webster, whose father, Larry II, was a defensive lineman from 1992-2002 with Miami, Cleveland, Baltimore and the New York Jets, played basketball at Bloomsburg, a Division II school, for four years where he set the school record for blocks with 175. Webster averaged 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game over his career and played football from 2012-13 where he recorded 88 tackles, 31 tackles for loss and 26 sacks, including a school-record 13.5 in 2012.

Webster, who only spent one year and one preseason on the Panthers’ active roster, didn’t see the field much in Carolina as he struggled to adjust to playing against better completion. He recorded just one sack, which came in the preseason this August. Webster came out of college weighing 252 pounds and running a 4.58 in the 40-yard dash, which was the second-fastest 40 time in the draft for defensive ends behind Jadeveon Clowney. The Lions drafted Webster in the fourth round in 2014.

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• Tampa Bay rookie tight end Antony Auclair was active for his first NFL game on Thursday night against New England. He played mostly on special teams, but did get one snap on offense, which was on running back Doug Martin’s 1-yard touchdown plunge.

“It was such a great feeling,” Auclair said. “I’m one-for-one!”

• I’ll admit it. The new Pewter Nation Podcast might be our funniest one yet, Pewter Nation. Hilarity ensues as PewterReport.com’s Mark Cook, Trevor Sikkema and yours truly delve into the Bucs vs. Cardinals match-ups, talk about new Irish kicker Pat Murray and start talking about Irish stuff like Gaelic Football, Guinness and Lucky Charms cereal, which might come in handy on Friday the 13th. Here is a link to the latest Pewter Nation Podcast – Episode 35: Luck of the Irish vs. the Buccaneer Curse.

If you haven’t listened to yet, do so on your lunch hour or on your way home from work. We’ll be taping another Pewter Nation Podcast Sunday night after the Bucs play the Cardinals in Arizona. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here.

• Tampa Bay’s offense has made big strides to start the 2017 season, ranking sixth in the NFL in total offense (374 yards per game) and passing yards (288 yards per game). Although the Bucs have the 27th rushing attack in the league (88 yards per game) that will likely change for the better with the return of running back Doug Martin.

“When you look at it statistically, we have improved,” said Bucs wide receiver Adam Humphries. “There are a lot of areas – offensively, special teams-wise, and defensively we are top 10 or top 5 in the whole NFL. It’s impressive. With the players we have there is a lot of potential. Overall wins and losses, we need to capitalize late in games to win the game. Statistically, we are doing well so far.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate and QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The one area where the Bucs really need to improve is points scored. Tampa Bay is currently ranked 17th in the league, averaging 21.2 points per game, and ranked 18th with a 22.1 points per game average. In 2015 when the Bucs had the fifth-ranked offense, the Bucs were ranked 20th in the NFL, averaging 21.4 points per game. Scoring 21 or 22 points per game wasn’t good enough to get Tampa Bay into the playoffs over the last two years. The Bucs will need to get their scoring up to fulfill their postseason aspirations.

• Tampa Bay’s defense needs to pick up the pace in a couple of areas, such as completion percentage and sacks, as the Bucs have only generated four after posting nine through four games in 2016. Tampa Bay’s defense allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete just 60 percent of their passes for 1,077 yards last year. This year, the Bucs defense has surrendered 1,261 yards and allowed a 69.5 percent completion percentage.

But through four games, there has been some improvement from a year ago, too. The Bucs have 23 quarterback pressures as compared to 18 from a year ago, have three interceptions this year compared to one at this juncture last year, in addition to having one more pass breakup (17) than the team did in 2016.

Tampa Bay has also forced three fumbles and recovered two, which is an improvement over a year ago when the Bucs had just one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in four games.

Tampa Bay also has only allowed seven passing touchdowns as opposed to nine through four games a year ago, and has only surrendered 83 points, which is a big improvement from the 114 it allowed in the first quarter of the 2016 campaign.

• We are well on our way to 28,000 Twitter followers for our @PewterReport Twitter account thanks to you, Pewter Nation! If you want to stay current on the latest Bucs news, observations from the PewterReport.com staff, reports from Bucs press conferences and notifications of the latest PewterReport.com stories, I encourage you to join the other members of Pewter Nation and follow @PewterReport and help us continue to grow our following on Twitter. And if you are on Facebook, please follow our Facebook page by clicking here.

• Football season is well under way, and the place to buy Bucs gear, college football apparel and gear for the NHL and NBA is Fanatics.com. When you make those purchases through the link below, you’ll be supporting our efforts here at PewterReport.com at the same time! PewterReport.com has partnered Fanatics.com, the leader in sports apparel and fan gear and receives a commission from each sale made through our site.

You might have seen the red Bucs Gear tab on PewterReport.com’s menu bar at the top of the website. Clicking on that link or any Fanatics.com banner on PewterReport.com, including the one to the right contributes to the continued development of our website.

Now you know where to go if you are looking to buy a new DeSean Jackson or O.J. Howard Bucs jersey. And remember this when it comes to the holiday shopping season, too. Visit PewterReport.com first then click on the Bucs Gear tab.

We appreciate your support, Pewter Nation. It’s help like this that continues to fund our efforts to provide you with the best Bucs coverage on the Internet.

• And finally, if you are ever in an accident or are injured due to someone else’s negligence, there’s only one person to call – attorney Jim Holliday of the Holliday Karatinos Law Firm, which is the official personal injury law firm of PewterReport.com.

I’ve known Holliday for years and he’s a personal friend of mine. He’s an incredibly knowledgeable, personable attorney and I highly recommend him. He’s a big Bucs fan, too. Check out the video below for more information on his practice. Call Holliday for a free consultation at (813) 868-1887 or visit the Holliday Karatinos Law Firm on the web at HelpingInjuredPeople.com