FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
• Minnesota Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson created a stir when he announced on ESPN’s First Take that Tampa Bay would be one of the three teams he would be interested in playing for if the Vikings released him due to his age and salary cap charge. Minnesota has until February 5 to commit to his $11.75 base salary, $6 million roster bonus and $250,000 workout bonus or release him. Peterson’s $18 million cap charge becomes fully guaranteed on the last day of the league year and it is increasing likely he will be released after playing in just three games last year due to knee and groin injuries and rushing for only 72 yards on 37 carries (1.9 avg.).

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson – Photo by: Getty Images

Peterson, who will turn 32 on March 21 and is coming off his worst NFL season, will likely ask for a salary in the $12 million to $15 million range. Don’t expect the Bucs to be interested. They have their own decision to make about oft-injured running back Doug Martin, who has had three sub-500-yard seasons out of the last four and is due to make $7 million in 2017, although that is no longer guaranteed due to his three-game PED suspension to start the 2017 season.

Peterson missed 15 games in 2014 after suffering a torn ACL. Last year he missed 12 with a torn meniscus and his sports hernia injury that occurred in 2012 and flared up in 2014 flared up again in December. It is highly unlikely the Bucs would invest a king’s ransom in a 32-year old running back that has played in just 20 out of the last 48 games. There will likely be a team that gambles on Peterson and is willing to pay him over $10 million per season next year, but it won’t be Tampa Bay.  

• Dirk Koetter made a real impression on the team’s defensive players, including team captain Gerald McCoy, after helping produce a winning record in Tampa Bay during his rookie season as the Bucs’ head coach.

“Coach Koetter, I had already said he had a head coach’s mentality as a coordinator,” McCoy said. “He just went out there and showed it and made some great decisions. He had a first-year coach year, but [in] my opinion, it was a great one. What he was able to do with this team – a bunch of young guys, get us motivated and go get some big wins. The wins we had during that streak were not just anybodys. Those were big wins.

“It was how he had us prepared, what he brought to the table, he’s a great motivator, always gives us great quotes and builds us up and just nothing fazes him. He’s the same every day. His thing is just do things right. He doesn’t demand a lot of us. Just do things right. Do it how he says it. When we did that, we were successful, so I’m excited to keep playing for him.”

• Two weeks ago in a previous SR’s Fab 5 column, I wrote about how the Buccaneers might stand pat with their offensive line this year. After spending a week in St. Petersburg, Fla. with my ear to the ground at the East-West Shrine practices I came away even more convinced that the Bucs won’t be pursuing a free agent offensive lineman – outside of possibly re-signing starting center Joe Hawley – nor will Tampa Bay be spending a premium draft pick on an offensive lineman.

The Bucs have spent four draft picks on offensive linemen over the past three years in left guard Kevin Pamphile (2014), left tackle Donovan Smith (2015), right guard Ali Marpet (2015) and offensive tackle Caleb Benenoch (2016). Tampa Bay is also very high on undrafted free agent tackle Leonard Wester, in addition to veteran center-guard Evan Smith, who served as a swing player last year. The Bucs are expecting guard J.R. Sweezy, who was signed in free agency last year, to return from a season-ending back injury that kept him out the entire 2016 offseason and regular season, in addition to reserve center Ben Gottschalk.

The Bucs offensive line struggled on Sunday – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

Throw in veteran right tackle Demar Dotson and that is 10 offensive linemen – including Hawley if he’s re-signed – that figure to make Tampa Bay’s 2017 roster. The Bucs believe in their players – whether you do or not – and if they add another offensive lineman it will likely be another Day 3 draft pick, trying to find another gem like Pamphile or Benenoch.

• The Bucs were relieved that defensive coordinator Mike Smith is back with the team after interviewing for head coaching vacancies with the Jaguars and Chargers that ultimately went to Doug Marrone and Anthony Lynn, respectively. Smith’s return means the entire Tampa Bay coaching staff returns intact for the 2017 season, which is key because the more continuity NFL teams have the better.

Bucs Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy loved playing for Smith, who helped transform the 30th-ranked defense on third downs in 2015 to the league’s best defense on third downs in 2016.

“Oh, Smitty’s great,” McCoy said. “I love Smitty, man, just as a person. He’s a great man. Smitty’s always at chapel. He’s just a great guy. It was a joy to play for him. He has tons upon tons upon tons of knowledge about this game and he just loves this game. He’s one of those coaches who, when things don’t go right, he doesn’t point fingers. If I didn’t make a play, Brent Grimes didn’t make a play, Lavonte David didn’t make a play and it’s blatant that we should have made that particular play, he blames himself.

“A coach like that, you always want to go out and give your all for. We all love him. Everybody loves him. Nobody has a bad thing to say about him. We’re just hoping he’s back here. That would be great because I love playing for him.”

McCoy’s wish was granted, and instead of spending the weeks at the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl interviewing defensive coordinator candidates, head coach Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht can devote their full attention to evaluating personnel and scouting NFL Draft prospects at the college all-star games.

• In case you missed it, PewterReport.com broke the news of Ryan Smith, Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick, moving from safety to cornerback during the season in a previous SR’s Fab 5 column. Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter spoke about Smith’s move and the long-term potential he possesses at his season-ending press conference.

Bucs CB Ryan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Yeah, we’re going to move Ryan back to corner full-time,” Koetter said. “He played both in college. We originally thought because of his size that we wanted to try to play him as a safety. He got a little bit behind because he got injured earlier – I can’t think of right now if it was OTAs or preseason – but he got a little bit behind in the install. It was in OTAs, he came in after the combine, [the injury] was in OTAs, missed some time.

“Over the course of the year, through his play on scout team, it became apparent that we have very high hopes for him, long-term at corner. He went up against Mike Evans every day, did a really nice job as the season went along on special teams, as Russell Shepard transitioned from being more of a special teams player to being an every-down receiver or a high-rep guy at receiver. And [Smith] made a couple big plays yesterday as a gunner, so yeah, I think that draft pick there is going to turn out just fine. He’s going to be a corner long-term and behind [Vernon] Hargreaves and [Brent] Grimes, we feel like we’ve got good depth at that position.”

The Bucs are very high on Smith’s potential due to his 4.47 speed and 5-foot-11, 190-pound frame. Don’t rule out Tampa Bay drafting a cornerback with Grimes, who will turn 34 this year, having one more year left on his contract, but the work Smith did behind the scenes at practice at the cornerback position might allow the Bucs to bypass the position for a year to address other needs. Tampa Bay believes Smith could be an eventual starter and potential replacement for Grimes in a year or two.

• One of the players at next week’s Senior Bowl that I’m excited to see live is Toledo running back Kareem Hunt. I’ve written about Hunt before in previous SR’s Fab 5 columns (here and here), and his skill set as a back capable of playing all three downs would be ideal in Tampa Bay. Hunt rushed for 4,945 yards and 44 touchdowns on 782 carries (6.3 avg.) for the Rockets, and comes off an impressive senior season in which he rushed for 1,475 yards and 10 touchdowns on 262 carries (5.6 avg.).

“He came in during his freshman year and kind of took over that role,” Toledo offensive tackle Storm Norton said. “He loves the game of football. He’s a great runner and he’s got great hands out of the backfield, too.”

Despite missing three games in 2014, Hunt, who was featured in Trevor Sikkema’s Cover 3 column this week on PewterReport.com, rushed for a career-high 1,631 yards and scored 16 touchdowns while averaging eight yards per carry. The 5-foot-11, 225-pound back also caught 73 passes for 555 yards and one touchdown at Toledo, including 41 receptions for 403 yards and a score as a senior when he became heavily involved in the Toledo passing game.

“He’s a great person,” Rockets tight end Michael Roberts said. “He runs extremely hard. He’s well balanced and he runs low. I’ve seen him run somebody over. He’s a great athlete with good hands. He has some real breakaway speed. We have some talented backs at Toledo and he split time three ways sometimes, but he’s well-equipped to be a full-time back. He’s definitely a sleeper and I can’t wait to play alongside him one more time next week [at the Senior Bowl].”

The Bucs have found two notable running backs that starred at the Senior Bowl in years past in LeGarrette Blount in 2010 and Doug Martin in 2012. Will they find another Senior Bowl gem in Hunt in 2017? We’ll find out next week.