Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is never the most revealing head coach when it comes to information about his team. Not many are, but Bowles would be hard-pressed to identify publicly a specific flaw on the Bucs or call out a player individually. It’s just not the way he operates as he attempts to protect players from public scrutiny.

But for whatever reason, Bowles tends to open up more while at the NFL Scouting Combine. Maybe it’s sending a direct message to Jason Licht for what he needs, but Bowles gets straight to the point about his need to have a better roster. Last season Bowles emphasized that he needs more ballhawks on the team. Tampa Bay went out and drafted two cornerbacks back-to-back in rounds two and three, plus drafted an edge rusher that was known for strip sacks.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

This year, Bowles is all about the size of the players on the Bucs roster at every kind of position.

Todd Bowles Explains The Type Of Players He Wants This Season

“I think we need to get bigger from a team standpoint,” Todd Bowles said. “We were smaller at some positions from a size standpoint, I’d like to get bigger regardless of what position it is. I think that’ll be a little more emphasis this year.”

The question then becomes, what position group is Bowles talking about?

The first group that comes to mind when talking about getting bigger is defensive tackle. Calijah Kancey has been excellent when available, but he’s been injured for a majority of his career, too. Considered an undersized defensive tackle at 6-foot, 280 pounds, it could be that his smaller frame mixed with the physicality of the defensive tackle position has led to some of his injuries. He played in just three games last season after tearing his pectoral muscle in Week 2 and then returning for the Week 18 regular season finale.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Cliff Welch/PR

What didn’t help either is that Bowles didn’t necessarily give a big amount of support for Kancey at the Combine. When asked how much they missed Kancey last season in, it didn’t exactly sound like Kancey was the missing piece.

“That had no bearing on the games that we could’ve won,” Bowles said. “You could use the energy and the talent, but there’s gonna be injuries every year. We’re not making those excuses. We’ve got guys out there that we are confident they can go out and play and help us win the ball game. We just didn’t get it done.”

Its also a likely possibility that the Bucs don’t re-sign defensive tackle Logan Hall in free agency as he is set to hit the market next week. Hall is certainly tall coming in at 6-foot-6, but he’s considered to be on the slimmer side at his position weighing 283 pounds. He did not have the type of season that a player would like to have in a contract year considering he played in all 17 games but his sack production dropped from 5.5 in 2024 to 1.5 sacks last year, and that was with extended playing time due to Kancey being out for the majority of the season.

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: USA Today

Taking a look at the defensive tackles that the Bucs had met formally with at the NFL Scouting Combine, Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald is 6-foot-2 and 326 pounds, while Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter came in at 6-foot-4 318 pounds. The state of Florida was well represented too as the Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks measured 6-foot-6, 327 and Florida State’s Darrell Jackson is listed at 6-foot-5 and 315. These are all players with much more weight than Kancey and Hall.

Other positions that Bowles could have alluded to is inside linebacker and tight ends. It’s pretty simple at inside linebacker, they just don’t have anyone at the position besides SirVocea Dennis and Nick Jackson. They’ll need a linebacker that can do it all, whether that’s stopping the run or lining up in pass coverage – with the size to do so.

Tight end may rely more about what happens with starter Cade Otton in free agency. If he’s gone, do the Bucs want more of a receiving target or a blocker that can help the rest of the line get a better push in the run game? Tampa Bay could use another weapon on offense, especially at tight end where there wasn’t much of a threat of them, especially in the red zone.

No matter what position it is, expect some big players coming to Tampa Bay this season per Bowles.