FAB 4. Calais Brings Speed To Bucs’ Backfield

Tampa Bay ended up flooding the running back position in the 2020 NFL Draft by not only selecting Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn in the third round, but finishing the team’s draft class with Louisiana-Lafayette’s Raymond Calais in the seventh round. Vaughn replaced Peyton Barber on the roster and will compete for carries and catches with Ronald Jones II, the incumbent starter, while Calais, an undersized speedster, will attempt to beat out Dare Ogunbowale or T.J. Logan to claim the fourth running back spot on the depth chart.

Bucs RB Raymond Calais – Photo courtesy of Louisiana-Lafayette

“No doubt – that’s the way we envision it,” Biehl said. “RoJo can do those things (like catch the ball), too. Everybody kills RoJo in the passing game, but I thought he took a huge step last year and I think he’s going to be even better this year. We have versatility to our backs, and Ke’Shawn was another piece to add to that. We feel like he can help us in a lot of different ways. Raymond, too.”

Calais is the smallest running back on the roster at 5-foot-8, 188 pounds, but what appeals to the Bucs is his speed. He ran a 4.42 at the NFL Scouting Combine and impressed with a 37.5-inch vertical jump.

“He’s an explosive guy,” Bucs college scouting director Mike Biehl said. “He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but when he gets his hands on the ball it’s electric. He did a nice job at the NFLPA game. He kind of jumped out during the practices and in the game. He didn’t catch a ton of balls at the school, but they had a workout of him in the postseason in a park, routing routes and you got to see him catch balls and snatch the ball out of the air. We’re pretty encouraged by what he can do, and he’s also a returner, and he’ll compete back there for us. We’ll see.”

Calais had a 100-yard kickoff return in the NFLPA Bowl, in addition to rushing for 25 yards on four carries (6.2 avg.) and catching one pass for 14 yards. Calais saw action in all four years of his Ragin’ Cajuns career, totaling 1,845 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging a gaudy 7.8 yards per carry. Calais was part of a three-headed rushing monster at Louisiana-Lafayette and had 754 yards and seven touchdowns on 81 carries (9.3 avg.) as a junior before finishing with 886 yards and six scores on 117 carries (7.6 avg.).

“He’s got the speed that jumps out and off the screen,” Bucs director of player personnel John Spytek said. “He had a high career average. I think we’re going to be hard to defend this year with just the weapons we have on offense. We’re going to be able to create space and you get a guy like this who is fast when he gets the ball running in space. I don’t care if it’s Louisiana or the NFL. Speed is legit when you can get in the open field.

“He’s another great kid who is tough-minded. He’s been through some adversity in his life. He’s a no-nonsense, smart kid. We’re happy to have in that room and create as much competition as we can.”

Bucs RB Raymond Calais – Photo courtesy of Louisiana-Lafayette

Because of his lack of size, Calais will likely be a gadget player on offense, but he makes the most of his opportunities. He had 10 runs of 30 yards or longer at Louisiana-Lafayette, including six runs of 50 plus yards, showcasing his breakaway speed. The only problem is that Calais had just four games with 10 or more carries and only one over 20 (21) in his college career.

In order to make the team he’ll likely have to beat out Logan for the Bucs’ kick and punt return duties. Calais averaged 25.2 yards per kick return in college and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

“The beautiful thing about our room right now is that there might not be a bell cow guy that can do everything, but I think we’ve got some solid players, some smart guys and some competitive guys,” Spytek said. “The two rookies, Dare going into his potential second year on the roster, and T.J. Logan and RoJo – I think it’s a good room. I think there is a lot of potential in that room. Whoever is ready to go and hit the ground running can make a lot of headway. 

In my opinion – and I think Jason [Licht] and B.A. (Bruce Arians) would agree with this – if you were drafted in the first or the second or the seventh or undrafted – if you’re the best player, you’re going to play. It’ll be fun to watch that room for sure with a lot of young guys competing to be on the roster and then to have a big-time role on Sundays.”