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About the Author: Scott Reynolds

Avatar Of Scott Reynolds
Scott Reynolds is in his 28th year of covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the vice president, publisher and senior Bucs beat writer for PewterReport.com. Author of the popular SR's Fab 5 column on Fridays, Reynolds oversees web development and forges marketing partnerships for PewterReport.com in addition to his editorial duties. A graduate of Kansas State University in 1995, Reynolds spent six years giving back to the community as the defensive coordinator/defensive line coach for his sons' Pop Warner team, the South Pasco Predators. Reynolds can be reached at: [email protected]

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FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• Bucs veteran right tackle Demar Dotson really likes what he’s seen from Tampa Bays’ two new starting defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Vinny Curry. Pierre-Paul is a dynamic playmaker the likes of which the Bucs haven’t had since Simeon Rice last donned pewter and red in 2006.

Bucs De Jason Pierre-Paul - Photo By: Cliff Welch/Pr

Bucs DE Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“JPP’s got all the upside and potential to go out there and have 15, 18 sacks per season,” Dotson said. “The biggest thing that’s going to stop JPP is JPP – that ‘want to,’ to go out there and do it. But just out here in training camp he’s bringing different looks to us that we haven’t seen in a long time. He’s long, he’s lanky, he’s strong, but the thing about it is that he’s like Gumby. He can bend in different kinds of ways. You think you’ve got him, but he’s so flexible he can get around you. It’s only going to help us, and it is helping us. We need that, we need those battles across the line and it’s going to help us. As tough as we can make practice, it’ll make the games that much easier.”

As for Curry, whom Dotson sees more often on his side of the line, he’s a relentless worker and a handful to block.

“He’s one of those hard hat guys,” Dotson said. “There’s nothing special about his game and he’s not going to blow you away, but he’s going to come out here and compete every day, be physical, play strong and be a hard-nosed, hard hat type of guy every play that’ll hit you in the face. That’s what we get out of him and we need that.”

Dotson is the longest-tenured player in Tampa Bay right ahead of six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who just turned 30 this year. Dotson says that adding Curry and JPP on the outside will only help McCoy on the inside.

“Gerald needs help,” Dotson said. “He’s not getting any younger. He’s in his ninth season. He can’t be the superhero just by himself with three other guys. He needs help and I think that’s going to take a load off of his shoulders when you have guys where you can’t just double team Gerald all the time. You’ve got a JPP outside, you’ve got a Noah Spence outside, you’ve got a Vinny Curry outside and you have to respect those guys. That’s just going to open up holes and now you’ve got a guy like Gerald McCoy in a one-on-one.

Bucs Dt Gerald Mccoy - Photo By: Cliff Welch/Pr

Bucs DT Gerald McCoy – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“You watch a lot of games last year where Gerald is getting double-teamed, getting triple-teamed, and you’re wondering, ‘Where’s Gerald at, where’s Gerald at?’ Man, it’s hard to beat people in this league when you’re getting double- and triple-teamed because they can leave someone in one-on-one and they can’t get to the ball.”

• The @PewterReport Twitter account continues to accumulate followers. We’re up to 29,800 visitors as we are gaining over 100 new followers a week. Join the crowd! Make sure you are following PewterReport.com on Twitter so you don’t miss out on cool practice videos and important news and injury updates.

Become one of the 29,800 Twitter followers of @PewterReport prior to Tampa Bay’s 2018 regular season. If you want updates from Bucs press conferences, training camp practices and new PewterReport.com story notifications be sure to follow us on Twitter and help us grow to 30,000. To follow @PewterReport on Twitter please click here, and to follow us on Facebook please click here.

PewterReport.com will also be updating our @PewterReport Instagram account more regularly this season. Make sure you are following @PewterReport on Instagram and can do so by clicking here.

Bucs Cb Carlton Davis - Photo By: Cliff Welch/Pr

Bucs CB Carlton Davis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Bucs rookie cornerback Carlton Davis is pushing for the starting cornerback spot opposite Brent Grimes. As I mentioned in Fab 1, Davis has battled Mike Evans every day in practice and is ready to take on the likes of New Orleans’ Michael Thomas and Tedd Ginn, Jr. right off the bat in Week 1. It’s helped that he has played the likes of Clemson’s Deon Cain, Artavis Scott and Mike Williams, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart, Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk, and LSU’s D.J. Chark and Malachi Dupre among others in college at Auburn.

“When I was in college I played in the SEC West, which is always one of the best conferences in the nation, so competition is something I’m used to,” Davis said. “It’s something that you play the game for – to go up against the best of the best. I’m ready and I’m looking forward to it.”

• The regular season is almost here and we are doing two Pewter Nation Podcasts a week on PewterReport.com. The next one will be recorded Friday night following Tampa Bay’s preseason home opener against Detroit. The most recent one was recorded on Monday and is well worth your time either on your drive home from work during Friday rush hour or on the weekend. Here is a link to Ep 89: Hidden Grudge Between Winston And Mariota.

Pewter-Nation-Podcast-Pewter-ReportBe sure to check out Episode 90 this weekend following Friday night’s Bucs game.

If you missed the Pewter Nation Podcast where we had former Bucs guard Ian Beckles join PewterReport.com’s Mark Cook and Trevor Sikkema and myself as our special guest to talk about Tony Dungy’s success in Tampa you’ll need to click here to listen to Ep 88: Blast From The Past (With Ian Beckles). It’s been one of our most listened-to podcasts of the year.

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. 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. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• PewterReport.com has official partnerships with WFLA News Channel 8 and 620 WDAE that started during Bucs training camp. The PewterReport.com staff appears on News Channel 8 and the WFLA.com sports website regularly with insight and analysis from Bucs camp, as well as in-studio appearances on News Channel 8’s Bucs Bonus Show Sunday nights after the 11:00 p.m. newscast.

• PewterReport.com’s regularly scheduled appearances on 620 WDAE continue with Trevor Sikkema joining J.P. Peterson on-air today (Friday) at 4:30 p.m. I’ll be next Friday afternoon with Peterson reviewing the Bucs vs. Jaguars preseason game and talking about roster cuts. Here is the schedule of the remaining PewterReport.com appearances before the start of the regular season:

Pewter

Friday August 24 – Trevor Sikkema w/JP (4:30pm)

Monday August 27 – Mark Cook w/Ronnie & TKras (8:15am)

Friday August 31 – Scott Reynolds w/JP (4:30pm)

Tuesday September 4 – Trevor Sikkema w/Ronnie & TKras (8:15am)

• The Buccaneers’ first three games – at New Orleans and home games against Super Bowl champion Philadelphia and Pittsburgh – are the toughest in NFL history due to those teams’ finish last year. But the Bucs may be catching a break with the first two games as Saints Pro Bowl running back Mark Ingram has been suspended for the first four games for PED (performance-enhancing drugs) usage. In Philadelphia, star wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has missed all of training camp while on the PUP list for a rotator cuff injury. He’ll likely miss the Bucs vs. Eagles game in Week 2.

And Philadelphia’s quarterback situation might be a little murky as well. Super Bowl-winning quarterback Nick Foles has been dealing with an upper body injury during the preseason and hasn’t been 100 percent. Starter Carson Wentz still hasn’t seen action as he continues his recovery from ACL surgery last fall. Wentz is trying to be ready by the season opener, but may not be ready until Week 2 in Tampa Bay. How rusty will he be if that’s the case? The Bucs would love to find out.

• I just saw that former Bucs defensive tackle Chris Baker got cut in Cincinnati. Not surprised he didn’t even make it through the preseason. He’s a bum.

Bucs Rb Charles Sims - Photo By: Mark Lomoglio/PrBucs Place RB Sims On IR
Bucs Wr Chris Godwin - Photo By: Cliff Welch.prBucs vs. Lions: Tampa Bay's First-Team Offense Imposes Its Will In 33-30 Loss
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