Five Buccaneers Who Need To Prove Themselves In Training Camp

Training Camp has started for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where players have begun to arrive for training camp. It’s an exciting time for fans and players alike as the Bucs are ready for another Super Bowl run. Everyone should be feeling really good about this team.

However, some players should be feeling a little nervous. While most jobs are secure and most players’ position on the roster is safe, there are some where that isn’t the case. Some are fighting for their place on this team.

Coming into training camp, there are a few names that need to step up in order to stick around. Otherwise they could be sent down to the practice squad or perhaps out of the league all together. Here are my five Buccaneers who need to prove themselves in training camp.

JJ Roberts

There is no doubt that the Bucs like JJ Roberts. They brought in the safety out of Marshall for a pre-draft visit and they signed him to a nice contract when he went undrafted. The front office believes in his talent and so do I.

Roberts is incredibly fast and physical. He’s also someone who deflected a lot of passes in college which is a testament to how often he was in position to make a play on the ball. In terms of an NFL skill set, Roberts has legitimate talent.

There is also a massive opportunity for Roberts to take advantage of. Behind starting safeties Antione Winfield Jr and Tykee Smith, it is nothing but undrafted players on the depth chart. And even if you pencil in Christian Izien to one of those backup spots, the other is wide open.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this is Robert’s job to lose, but he is certainly the most talented player fighting for this job. If he were to be cut in favor of someone like Kaevon Merriweather then it would be a massive disappointment.

Elijah Klein

Last year’s sixth round pick had an uneventful rookie season. He was the primary backup at guard and saw very little action on the field. Now he is expected to take a step in his development and be ready if called upon.

He will have to be because the competition is stronger this season. Veteran guard Sua Opeta was expected to win the starting guard job before suffering a season ending injury early in training camp. Undrafted rookie Jake Majors was one of the highest regarded center prospects in the draft. Both are looking to take Klein’s spot.

Elijah Klein has been preparing to play canter as well as guard this offseason. This would give him added value because if one guy can play two positions then it frees up a roster spot. However, neither Opera or Majors will make it easy on him.

Josh Hayes

The Buccaneers invested a lot of resources into their cornerback room this offseason. The additions of rookies Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish add young talent to the depth chart. It’s a bad time to be a corner fighting for a job.

Enter Josh Hayes. Going into his third season, Hayes is fighting for a spot on the roster. At this point that looks like an uphill battle.

Hayes looked bad in his three starts last year. And while he has value on special teams it’s hard to justify keeping a defender who can’t play defense. With the re-signing of Bryce Hall and the addition of Kindle Vildor, Hayes’ days could be numbered barring a big training camp.

Devin Culp

There is some uncertainty regarding the design of the Bucs offense heading into training camp. With new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard taking over it’s unclear how much he will tweak the offense and what tendencies he will favor.  In short, we don’t know how much he will value the tight end.

Devin Culp is the fourth string tight end. If Grizzard doesn’t want to use a lot of tight ends then keeping four would be unlikely. This puts Culp potentially on the chopping block.

However, Culp might have the most upside of any tight end on the roster. He’s an excellent athlete and fits the profile of a great pass catching tight end. We’ll see where he’s at in his development as he enters year two.

Trey Palmer

The Buccaneers wide receiver room is incredibly deep. With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan the top four spots are accounted for. This leaves maybe two open spots for other pass catchers.

Trey Palmer has excellent speed and plays on the outside, which is something the Bucs need. However, there was a noticeable lack of production even when given playing time last season. To this point Palmer has been less than the sum of his parts.

Now Palmer is in a battle for his job. With veteran Sterling Shepherd and rookie Tez Johnson as names to watch on the roster it would be an easy job to win; and that doesn’t even account for players who played well for the Bucs in the past like Ryan Miller and Rakim Jarrett. It’s definitely put up or shut up time for Palmer.