Speaker 1: Welcome in to Buccaneers inside our live presented by Miller
Speaker 1: like Casey Phillips and Scott Smith here and as always,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be taking your questions. Make sure you head
Speaker 1: over the Facebook page if that's how today where you're watching,
Speaker 1: and you can submit them in the comments section under
Speaker 1: our live video get a discussion going. We love hearing
Speaker 1: even just the thoughts and comments other than the questions.
Speaker 1: And now is the time when we do get to
Speaker 1: talk about a lot of these big picture things because
Speaker 1: the players are on this five week break that they
Speaker 1: get between mini camp and training camp. This is when
Speaker 1: we really dive into a lot of the potential potential
Speaker 1: battles of training camp of who's gonna be at what's
Speaker 1: starting spots or even roster moves, things like that, who's
Speaker 1: gonna make the final fifty three? Uh So, for you
Speaker 1: to start off this break time, just want to hear
Speaker 1: what's your thoughts were on O T A S. Mini Camp,
Speaker 1: the whole big pictures so far of the off season,
Speaker 1: anything that we have learned or that you're you're even
Speaker 1: more uh you know inquisitive about now going to take
Speaker 1: away if you will take away or two? Um, you
Speaker 1: know many camp the three days of minicamp were probably
Speaker 1: most instructive of all because we watched all of that.
Speaker 1: We didn't necessarily want all the ottees weren't open to
Speaker 1: the media, and we didn't see every minute of those practices,
Speaker 1: but we saw every minute of those three practices, and
Speaker 1: I think my biggest takeaway was the defense seemed to
Speaker 1: be a little more successful than the offense. And that's
Speaker 1: on one hand, that's not really unusual for this time
Speaker 1: of the year. You know, the defense is by nature
Speaker 1: more reactive, and they do have the play and playbooks,
Speaker 1: but um, their success isn't quite as dependent upon being
Speaker 1: so perfect on knowing your plays and being the right
Speaker 1: place as offenses, right, So it's not surprising that the
Speaker 1: defense would be ahead. On the other hand, it's probably
Speaker 1: good news because that's the side of the ball that
Speaker 1: needed the most fixing after last year, which was quite
Speaker 1: obvious by our offseason moves, right, I mean, that's I
Speaker 1: got a lot more attention. The other side basically got
Speaker 1: Ronald Jones and Ryan Jensen, the big big changes. There
Speaker 1: wasn't a whole lot of change otherwise. Um, so that
Speaker 1: was good to see, I think, um, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's good that it was competitive. You know, I was
Speaker 1: saying this to you earlier. We hear a lot this
Speaker 1: offseason players saying different things about the vibe round here,
Speaker 1: how it seems more confidence, more closeness, um, you know,
Speaker 1: just a different energy level around here. And while I
Speaker 1: think that's probably true, or at least true to the
Speaker 1: extent that they believe it, and that's a good thing,
Speaker 1: it's still kind of what you'd expect players to say
Speaker 1: at this time of the year. Now. When Coach Cutter
Speaker 1: specifically said he thought it was practices were way more
Speaker 1: competitive this spring than a year ago, that carries a
Speaker 1: lot of weight with me because he's not really prone
Speaker 1: to exaggeration. Yeah, that's a great point. Um, So if
Speaker 1: it is true that it's a lot more competitive, I
Speaker 1: think that's a really good sign. You know, Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: very true. Um. How much credence do you put into
Speaker 1: those things of where players are saying it's more we're
Speaker 1: having more fun or it seems more competitive. You said
Speaker 1: that Cutter isn't prone to exaggeration, but I think a
Speaker 1: lot of times players, you know, will say what they
Speaker 1: know they're supposed to say. So does that also feel
Speaker 1: a little different to you than than other years past,
Speaker 1: or how much weight do you put on I think
Speaker 1: it depends on the player, Like, um, some guys. Some
Speaker 1: guys are just naturally more a beat, right and actually
Speaker 1: more effusive in the way that they talk. But I'll say,
Speaker 1: Lavante David was saying stuff like that, and he's not
Speaker 1: a man of a lot of words. I also don't
Speaker 1: think he's going to exaggerate or or just say that
Speaker 1: there's a different vibr on here just because it's the
Speaker 1: right thing to say. So, um, given enough players talking
Speaker 1: that way, I think there's something to it. That being said,
Speaker 1: there's always a bit of cause and effect to this issue. Um,
Speaker 1: you know what, For instance, guys are saying that they
Speaker 1: want to have more fun this year, and that's good,
Speaker 1: but what comes first? You know, it tends to be
Speaker 1: more fun, and your team tends to be closer and
Speaker 1: so on, so we'll see. I think the most important
Speaker 1: thing is not necessarily going to be the vibrun here,
Speaker 1: but if we were successful in adding talent that's going
Speaker 1: to take us to the next level. Like on paper,
Speaker 1: what was done to the defensive line is fantastic. It
Speaker 1: looks awesome, and I think it will work, but you can't.
Speaker 1: You can't guarantee it. You know, you you hope do
Speaker 1: the best you can to put the pieces together. I
Speaker 1: do think not only I know they want to run
Speaker 1: eight nine deep in a rotation if everything works out well,
Speaker 1: and that would be great because I think that's a
Speaker 1: proven way to really get the most out of your
Speaker 1: d line in the NFL, like the Eagles did last year.
Speaker 1: But it also gives you a little bit more leeway
Speaker 1: to weather injuries. Like when Noah Spence went down last year,
Speaker 1: we didn't really have another, you know, premier edge rusher
Speaker 1: type to replace them, right, so you didn't have to adjust.
Speaker 1: Now we've got a lot of guys that we can
Speaker 1: roll in it down there. And if you know, if
Speaker 1: Vinny Curry isn't available for a particular game, knock on
Speaker 1: what I didn't choose him for any particular nation. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you still have a lot of depth to
Speaker 1: still have that good pass rush. Hopefully. That's a great point.
Speaker 1: Jeff wanted to know win training camp starts, and this
Speaker 1: is a question that I've seen a lot, and part
Speaker 1: of why I hadn't even brought it up is because
Speaker 1: we don't know all those dates for sure, yet is
Speaker 1: that still accurate at this point now? I was out
Speaker 1: of town the last few days, but I don't believe
Speaker 1: there's been an announcement. It's usually right around this time
Speaker 1: of year. UM. I wrote about that in my last
Speaker 1: week's mail bag. It's last year. Last couple of years,
Speaker 1: the announcement of which training camp dates were open to
Speaker 1: the public, UM usually came in around June. So it
Speaker 1: should be coming out any day now, I would think,
Speaker 1: judging my history, one little trick you can do to
Speaker 1: figure out when training camp starts is that teams are
Speaker 1: not allowed to start training camp more than fifteen days
Speaker 1: before their first preseason game. Uh. To start counting back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they're not going to give away any of those days.
Speaker 1: So every team starts on that exact day they're allowed to.
Speaker 1: So find out that what is it dogs twelve? Look
Speaker 1: up the first preseason game, count back fifteen days, and
Speaker 1: you're probably right about where the start of it will be. Okay, Uh,
Speaker 1: Brandon said, who are you most impressed by so far? Well, UM,
Speaker 1: Chris Godwin, just because according to the coach, he has
Speaker 1: been not only good, but so consisting instantly good like
Speaker 1: he does stuff every single practice that people feel good about.
Speaker 1: UM on defense. You know, I will say this when
Speaker 1: Brent Grimes and his voluntary we have to keep repeating
Speaker 1: that wasn't it every O t A. But he was
Speaker 1: at mandatory minicamp and there was an obvious difference. There
Speaker 1: was a clear difference. He's a playmaker. He uh. He
Speaker 1: made a bunch of plays in the red zone and
Speaker 1: one of the practices I was watching, and that makes
Speaker 1: me also think of O. J. Howard who looked really
Speaker 1: good in the red zone in some of those drills.
Speaker 1: So he couldn't be a guy that takes a really
Speaker 1: big elite forward. That's great to hear. And I'm I'm
Speaker 1: excited about this question. Kevin said, or any of the
Speaker 1: offseason rule change is going to make a big difference.
Speaker 1: We haven't talked about that a whole lot on this show. Well,
Speaker 1: I just wrote and we're posting today about the kickoff
Speaker 1: rule changes, and UM, I would urge you to go
Speaker 1: read that because I talked to our special teams coach
Speaker 1: Nate Catser because I want to know what he thought
Speaker 1: would be the effect of all that. UM. Before I
Speaker 1: get into that, I will say the one that has
Speaker 1: the potential to make the most difference is obviously the
Speaker 1: new helmet rule, the leading with your helmet rule. Depending
Speaker 1: on how strictly that is called, that could significantly change
Speaker 1: the game. I tend to be of the belief that
Speaker 1: it's not. I'm not. I'm not one of these people
Speaker 1: that's really worrying about it a lot. If it happens,
Speaker 1: then we'll worry about it. I think they're they're looking
Speaker 1: for the egregious hits. I think they'll be eight or
Speaker 1: ten more those over the season than you've been used
Speaker 1: to seeing. But I don't think it's gonna cause the
Speaker 1: Floria flags every time when guy's helmet comes in contact
Speaker 1: with somebody else. I don't think that's the biggest ure.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be the ones where you can
Speaker 1: and you know, you can picture them in your mind,
Speaker 1: where a guy clearly could have made the tackle, even
Speaker 1: a hard tackle, without involving his helmet, but he made
Speaker 1: this conscious decision to put his head down and leave
Speaker 1: with his helmet. And that's what they're trying to get
Speaker 1: rid of. Now, back to the kickoff thing. Um nate
Speaker 1: cats are are special teams. Coordinator says it's not clear
Speaker 1: yet which side is going to benefit the most. The
Speaker 1: design of the reason for the rule changes is UH
Speaker 1: to make the place safer. Um, but it will probably
Speaker 1: also result in one side or another kickoff or return
Speaker 1: coverage or return getting a bit more of an advantage. UH.
Speaker 1: And it if it turns out to be that it's
Speaker 1: better for the return team, then that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: big change because the kickoff has been fading a little
Speaker 1: bit and there were only I think seven kickoff returns
Speaker 1: for touchdowns in the NFL last year. If that number
Speaker 1: goes up by eight or nine, ten, and hopefully one
Speaker 1: or two of those are the Buccaneers that can make
Speaker 1: a big difference, it could be exciting. I personally don't
Speaker 1: want to see it go up by like I don't
Speaker 1: want to see a touchdown kickerf returning every game, but
Speaker 1: a few more would be cool. Yeah, I agree with that. UH.
Speaker 1: Don wants to know who's the front runner to start
Speaker 1: opposite of Grimes at corner boy. That's a that's a
Speaker 1: loaded question. That competition is so well, this is good,
Speaker 1: it's so there's so many possibilities there. Okay, you can't
Speaker 1: discount Ryan Smith because he was the guy last year.
Speaker 1: Um Carlton Davis has really opened a lot of eyes
Speaker 1: and could be a weapon against bigger receivers. But he's
Speaker 1: a rookie so whole. I think it's awesome. He's done
Speaker 1: well so far. There's still a long way to go
Speaker 1: for him to be proven that he should be starting
Speaker 1: from day one when Pad's haven't even gone on yet exactly.
Speaker 1: And then um vernon hardrays because we mentioned several times,
Speaker 1: has looked quite good and slot the spring, but it's
Speaker 1: been said that he's still in competition to start on
Speaker 1: the outside and maybe have a hybrid roll in and out.
Speaker 1: So are you asking me the thing? Did he ask
Speaker 1: me the favorite? Put me on the spot. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna roll the dice and go with Carlton Davis. Okay,
Speaker 1: I like that? Yeah, I hope so that would be
Speaker 1: a good That would be a good sign. Okay. Uh,
Speaker 1: Joseph wants to know who seems to be imposing their
Speaker 1: will more and the trenches, the O line or the
Speaker 1: D line. I'll already start with the caveat you're gonna give.
Speaker 1: There's no pads on, so it's not exactly a representative sample,
Speaker 1: but not at all is there anything that you feel
Speaker 1: like you'd be able to tell him that you can't
Speaker 1: tell they they just can't. We get fined and have
Speaker 1: practices removed if they were hitting each other way they
Speaker 1: were supposed to, and and really when you just come
Speaker 1: up and make contact with them, kind of hold it there,
Speaker 1: How can either side be imposing their will? I just
Speaker 1: don't see how it's possible to tell that. Being said,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be great when we get to training camp
Speaker 1: and we get to see Ryan Jensen going against Vida
Speaker 1: bay at two new player. I mean Ryan just against
Speaker 1: Jerone quite too, But I'm talking about two players. Which
Speaker 1: one or both will you know, get the upper hand
Speaker 1: and you know which so which side will proven to
Speaker 1: have a better edition? I like that. Chad said any
Speaker 1: chance a mid to late round or possibly even undrafted
Speaker 1: player has a chance to be a surprise starter Starter
Speaker 1: starter starter starter. Um, well, let's go down the Late
Speaker 1: Lake guys. Would be if fourth round counts Jordan Whitehead,
Speaker 1: he's got a shot, He's got a shot safety because
Speaker 1: I think that's a little bit wide open. You can't
Speaker 1: really count out. I think Justin Evans is almost a
Speaker 1: lock to be one of them, and Chris Conti is
Speaker 1: the incumbent and would be the probably other starter, but um,
Speaker 1: I think they viewed him, even as a fourth round pick,
Speaker 1: as a guy that that could develop into a starter.
Speaker 1: So maybe if that happens quickly, I don't see how
Speaker 1: fifth rounder Justin Watson or sixth round rounder Jack City
Speaker 1: is really in line to start unless Kindle back with
Speaker 1: us out and at the start of the season, City
Speaker 1: is the best option there, But I don't think either
Speaker 1: those are terribly likely, although I do think they'll both
Speaker 1: be on the roster. Um undrafted guys, there's some guys
Speaker 1: that are gonna make it. I'd keep my eyes on
Speaker 1: Sean Wilson, the running the running back, ack Um, the
Speaker 1: tight end, some of those tight ends, maybe Donnie Earnsberger Um,
Speaker 1: the safety, Godwin Iguay b K. But I don't think
Speaker 1: any of those would probably be starters. Okay, Yes, Ed said,
Speaker 1: it looks like the d line is going to be
Speaker 1: much improved. How does that affect the scheme in the secondary? Well,
Speaker 1: it affects the secondary simply by hopefully reducing by a
Speaker 1: good amount the amount of time that they have to cover.
Speaker 1: Because in the NFL, with these receivers and these quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: You can't give them too much time or they're always
Speaker 1: going to get somebody open, right, And we saw a
Speaker 1: little bit of that. We saw a lot of that
Speaker 1: last year, didn't we. Yeah. Do you do you think
Speaker 1: that that would increase the amount of press coverage that
Speaker 1: they would want to do, especially knowing that again they
Speaker 1: wouldn't have to cover as long But then or is
Speaker 1: that more of a decision about personnel in the secondary,
Speaker 1: And probably because the reducing the time helps you whether
Speaker 1: you're doing press or zone, um in different ways. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you could see. I do think there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: more press and if you can combine a faster pass
Speaker 1: rush with effective press coverage, you can keep guys from
Speaker 1: ever getting into their route quickly enough for the quarterback
Speaker 1: to have a chance to throw it. Um. So that's
Speaker 1: a good thing. I think in terms of scheme, it
Speaker 1: may affect a defensive line more. Um. You may just
Speaker 1: have more simpler lineup and go get your go get them,
Speaker 1: rather than need to do stunts and things like that.
Speaker 1: I think it may be a simpler approach up front,
Speaker 1: just with more rotation and pressure legs. Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: something that some some people were discussing as seeing it
Speaker 1: practice how they were all playing different positions on the
Speaker 1: line that coach Buckner seems to really be emphasizing to
Speaker 1: them that they are d alignment. They are not interior
Speaker 1: or outside that they are. So maybe we'll see alignment.
Speaker 1: And I thought that would be intriguing. So maybe we'll
Speaker 1: see a couple of stamps where I don't know, general
Speaker 1: mccoise on the edge would be interesting. And they said
Speaker 1: there was an example of JPP being on the inside.
Speaker 1: It's just I find all of that to be really interesting.
Speaker 1: That would be cool if if opposing teams are coming
Speaker 1: into a game thinking, this is this is the guy
Speaker 1: we got to stop, whether that's McCoy or JPP or whatever,
Speaker 1: it would be good if there was some mystery as
Speaker 1: to where they were going to find that guy from
Speaker 1: snap to snap. Yeah. Uh, Stephen wants to know. Is
Speaker 1: there a front runner in the kicker battle this early? Yeah,
Speaker 1: the guy we signed as a free agent, Chandler Cotton Zarow.
Speaker 1: And that's not too um, you know, say anything bad
Speaker 1: about the rookie and the Rockey kicker actually look pretty
Speaker 1: good at the driver more Y, Yeah, he's been looking
Speaker 1: really great too. But seriously, you sign and it's still
Speaker 1: no matter what happens. Is an awesome opportunity for Trevor
Speaker 1: Moore and every every kicker's NFL kirker's career has to
Speaker 1: start somewhere, and most of them take a while to
Speaker 1: get started. Most of them are on you have too guys.
Speaker 1: Most of them have to go to a few camps.
Speaker 1: Maybe Trevor more will win the job here. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to discount that. But the obvious front runner is
Speaker 1: the guy you gave a pretty decent sized free agency contract, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it's always interesting how that does seem too effective
Speaker 1: instead of it just being about these two. I mean,
Speaker 1: how you acquire a player can factor into the decision
Speaker 1: to a degree. And I'll say that, and I say
Speaker 1: that not because I think that his the contract that
Speaker 1: he's getting is the important part of the equation here,
Speaker 1: that the Bucks are going to choose him because they
Speaker 1: give him that much money. But simply you got that
Speaker 1: much money because you have already established yourself as a
Speaker 1: good NFL kicker, and therefore if you have any early
Speaker 1: struggles in training camp, knock on what hopefully it doesn't happen. Um,
Speaker 1: you're going to be given a little more leeway because
Speaker 1: there's a track record. You know, if if Chandler misses
Speaker 1: a kick in his first preseason game, We're not you know,
Speaker 1: getting all worried thinking what we gotta go with the
Speaker 1: young guy. So I think that's the reason that's true.
Speaker 1: All right. Well, and with this one, Ryan wants to
Speaker 1: know what is the most important offseason edition we made?
Speaker 1: M Can I have like a five way tie? I
Speaker 1: think in the I think in the long run it's
Speaker 1: gonna be de Bayo, really, but maybe right away i'd
Speaker 1: say the I'm gonna cheat a little and say the
Speaker 1: combo of the combo vans of of JPP and Vinny Curry. Okay,
Speaker 1: so the immediate improvement versus the long term effect on
Speaker 1: the franchise, that would be or two different. And you know,
Speaker 1: you took some people question vitave over some other positions,
Speaker 1: which as defensive tackle, especially after we signed Bone, may
Speaker 1: not have seemed like the biggest need. But I think
Speaker 1: I think they value this guy as you know, as
Speaker 1: a guy that can become a game changing defensive tackle
Speaker 1: and the likes of Gerald McCoy or Aaron Donald and
Speaker 1: those aren't easy to get Gino Atkins, guys like that,
Speaker 1: and when those guys developed into that, like all the
Speaker 1: guys I just mentioned, they tend to be good every
Speaker 1: year for a lot of years in a row. And
Speaker 1: that's a good thing to have. And so even though
Speaker 1: you have Jeral McCoy, it can't hurt to have another
Speaker 1: defensive tackle who's among the elite. And I think they
Speaker 1: drafted him because they think he will be that. And
Speaker 1: and that's probably of everybody we added three or four
Speaker 1: years ago, three or four years from now, we're going
Speaker 1: to think that was the most important one. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a great point. All right. Well, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining us here on Buccaneers Inside are Live, presented by
Speaker 1: Miller Lte. Thanks for being here this week, and we
Speaker 1: hope you'll join us next week as well, and be
Speaker 1: thinking of those questions throughout the week to send us
Speaker 1: on Facebook. Have a great rest of your day.