Buccaneers

Coming off a season where he made 16 starts, Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles thinks LB SirVocea Dennis can be a long-term starter in this league if he improves his coverage skills on RBs/TEs. 

“He can be a starter if he cleans up his open-field play,” Bowles said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “You know, he played well against the run. He gave up some things in the pass game, which we didn’t like. So we look for him to get better but he’ll definitely have competition.”

Tampa Bay gave CB Zyon McCollum a new three-year, $48 million extension, but Bowles feels McCollum can take his game to the next level if he gets more disciplined eyes. 

“Just his eyes. The concentration with his eyes. That’s the only thing that’s wrong with Zyon. He’s one of the best athletes I’ve seen in this league. When his eyes get off target, he kind of messes up a little bit but he understands that and that’s one thing he’s got to work on.”

Buccaneers DB Tykee Smith moved firmly into a safety role in 2025 after spending his first year as a slot corner. Bowles was clear about their intent to keep Smith at safety long term and offered high praise for the former third-round pick.

“It’s definitely a position for him long-term,” Bowles said. “We thought he was our best player probably up until he hurt his shoulder, probably three-quarters of the way through the season. He was our best tackler, he was our tone-setter, and I thought he was on his way to a heck of a season. But he’s definitely a safety.”

Buccaneers

Despite a 6-2 start, Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles doesn’t think they were playing to the standard they should have, even when they were winning games. He believes they had too many poor second-half showings in every facet that led to losses or wins that should have been easier.

“We didn’t execute,” Bowles said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Even at the beginning of the season when we were 6-2, there were some hard-fought ballgames, so it’s not like we were blowing people out. We were kind of winning because we were doing the right things at the end of the ball game.”

“I don’t think we did the right things in the second half at the end of the ball games. Whether it’s special teams, defense or offense or from a coaching standpoint and from a playing standpoint, we’ve just got to be better than that.”

Falcons

• Memphis OT Travis Burke has an official visit scheduled with the Falcons. (Justin Melo)
• Penn State RB Kaytron Allen interviewed formally with the Falcons. (Tom Downey)
• Mississippi State WR Brenen Thompson had a formal Combine interview with the Falcons. (Ryan Roberts)