FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• You have to like linebacker Devin White, the team’s first-round pick, not putting up a fuss about not wearing the No. 40, which was his number at LSU, in Tampa Bay. That jersey number hasn’t officially been retired by the Bucs and was last worn by legendary Bucs fullback Mike Alstott. Instead, White will wear No. 41, which was worn by linebacker Kevin Minter last year.

White has only been a Buccaneer for a minute, but he is already showing he’s a great teammate and has respect for the legends that came before him.

Bucs LB Devin White – Photo courtesy of LSU

“I haven’t talked to [Alstott] about it,” White said. “I do know that, that’s a great thing. I know the jersey number is retired and I’m really thankful for that, because if I did great in a jersey number and a team decides to retire my jersey number, that’s a blessing and that just shows how great the Glazer family [is] and how much they love their players. I’m respectful of that. I want to just get here and be a part of this family first before I think about getting a jersey number. I’ve been 40 for a long time, I’ve been 24 – I’ve been other numbers. The number doesn’t make me. The people around me make me. I have the greatest coaching staff in the NFL around to make me an even better player than I am now and that’s what matters to me.”

Jersey numbers 40 and 20, which was worn by legendary cornerback Ronde Barber, are not technically retired by the Buccaneers, but those jerseys haven’t been issued since Alstott and Barber last played in Tampa Bay. The only jersey numbers that have been officially been retired are 63 for Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, 99 for Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp and Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks.

• JUST IN TIME FOR THE DRAFT! The Pewter Reporters assembled following two days of interviews with all 1,000 Bucs assistant coaches for the latest Pewter Nation Podcast, which is presented by Chris Garrido of Westshore Financial, to recap the Bucs draft and discuss what the assistants had to say to the media. Listen as myself, Mark Cook, Taylor Jenkins and producer Matt Matera spin tales of Bucs knowledge and humor for your listening pleasure. DO NOT miss this podcast, so listen to it this weekend.

Click here to listen to Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 119: Assistant Coach Marathon

If you missed our previous Pewter Nation Podcast, which recapped Bucs mini-camp in great detail, check it out by clicking here for Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 118: The Shooting Star Podcast, which had a hilarious ending.

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast than on your drive home from work on Friday or running around doing errands or at the gym on Saturday. The next Pewter Nation Podcast will be taped during the middle of next week as the Bucs prepare for their rookie mini-camp.

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• Aside from North Dakota State running back Bruce Anderson, who is a Tampa native, there are some other undrafted free agent players that the Bucs are really excited about, including wide receivers DeMarkus Lodge (Ole Miss) and Anthony Johnson (Buffalo), South Carolina guard Zack Bailey and Charleston defensive end Kahzin Daniels, who is blind in one eye.

The Bucs are also intrigued by Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald’s athleticism. Fitzgerald was a dual threat for the Bulldogs and broke Tim Tebow’s QB rushing record in the SEC. Fitzgerald has a ways to go as a passer, but his ability to run and throw like Tebow and former Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, could make him a versatile player the way New Orleans uses Taysom Hill as a running quarterback in certain packages, in addition to playing special teams.

Fitzgerald overcame a broken leg at the end of the 2017 season to return for a triumphant senior campaign. If he sticks on Tampa Bays’ roster, perhaps the Bucs can have a different kind of Fitzmagic this season.

• WE ARE SO CLOSE TO 32,000! Bucs rookie mini-camp takes place next weekend, followed by Tampa Bay’s OTAs. Make sure you follow PewterReport.com on Twitter for all of our great coverage. The @PewterReport Twitter account continues to grow in popularity and is less than 60 followers away from 32,000. Join the masses and stay plugged in to PewterReport.com’s mini-camp coverage.

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• There’s a new sheriff in town at One Buccaneer Place and his name is head coach Bruce Arians. A 19-29 record that featured back-to-back 5-11 seasons doomed former head coach Dirk Koetter and brought Arians to Tampa Bay. Koetter’s approach with the Bucs was too lax and didn’t hold players as accountable as they needed to be.

That’s going to change under Arians’ watch. For the first time in years, the Bucs didn’t play music during their initial mini-camp prior to the draft. Arians has gone on record to say that he’s not a fan of playing music at practice, especially when there is teaching going.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and former head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

That’s not a bad idea considering that Tony Dungy turned the Bucs into a perennial playoff contender without playing a single song at practice. The same could be said of Jon Gruden, the team’s all-time winningest coach who won three division titles and a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay without playing music on the field.

PewterReport.com is told Arians will bend a bit to his Millennial players and eventually play music, but likely just during warm-ups. Koetter played music during the entire practice for the past three years. The love of football – not songs by Travis Scott, AC/DC, Drake, Metallica or Cardi B. – should be enough to motivate players at practice.

Koetter also allowed a ping-pong table and a basketball hoop in the Bucs locker room over the last couple of years. There were some players who would literally race from team meetings into the locker room to play ping-pong, so much so that one would wonder if football was top of mind for those players – or was ping-pong?

The ping-pong table and hoop have since been removed from the locker room by Arians, who wants the focus of football players in a football locker room to be … football. Wow. What a novel concept.

• Thank you for turning to PewterReport.com for your Bucs draft coverage. We experienced record traffic numbers in April thanks to you, and I want to commend my team of Pewter Reporters, including Mark Cook, Taylor Jenkins and Matt Matera, who did an outstanding job with our positional draft previews. PewterReport.com continued our string of nailing Bucs’ Best Bets with Tampa Bay’s selection of LSU inside linebacker Devin White and Auburn cornerback Jamel Dean – both of whom were also in our final Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Getty Images

Last year we accurately forecasted the selections of Bucs’ Best Bets like defensive tackle Vita Vea, offensive lineman Alex Cappa and wide receiver Justin Watson, which matched 2010 for the most Bucs’ Best Bets that we hit when the team selected defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and wide receivers Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams. In 2017, we hit on wide receiver Chris Godwin, and the year before that we had cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and fullback Danny Vitale as Bucs’ Best Bets.

PewterReport.com also had quarterback Jameis Winston as a Bucs’ Best Bet in 2015, along with running back Charles Simms in 2014 and quarterback Mike Glennon in 2013. We put an awful lot of time, energy and resources into our draft coverage, from days spent in St. Petersburg, Fla. at the East-West Shrine Game to Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl to Indianapolis, Ind. for the NFL Scouting Combine – not to mention hours spent watching game tape of the top draft prospects.

We do this to make you the most informed Bucs fan when it comes to the draft, and we think PewterReport.com’s draft coverage has no peers. Based on our readership stats in April, you seem to agree.

On behalf of the PewterReport.com staff, we thank you, Pewter Nation, for rewarding us with record traffic in the month of April.

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