Yarcho’s Buccaneers 53-Man Roster With Practice Squad

With roster cut downs coming by Sunday evening, it’s interesting to see the wide range of opinions as to who the Buccaneers should keep and who they should let go. Much of the Bucs’ fandom would love to see quarterback Jalon Daniels be named QB2 behind Baker Mayfield while Jake Browning gets his walking papers. A lot of people are excited about what players like Dean Patterson IV, Josh Williams, and Jack Pyburn could bring to the team.

A Numbers Game

In the end, the roster is not just comprised of the most talent you can get, but it’s also a numbers game. For example, I’ve been pretty steadfast on Locked On Bucs that I don’t see where David Sills fits onto the roster. I know he has a history with Zac Robinson and the Bucs signed him in free agency, but I don’t think this is a roster that’s going to carry seven wide receivers. There are too many other positions that could use the depth and with as many receivers as the Bucs had stand out in training camp, they could stash some on the practice squad to elevate if needed.

You’re also burning an extra roster spot by keeping three quarterbacks. Now, you’ll likely have only two dressing on game days, but the Bucs are not going to risk losing Jalon Daniels to the waiver wire. He has too much potential to let him go.

So with that, here is how I see the Bucs’ initial roster shaking out;

• QB (3): Baker Mayfield, Jake Browning, Jalon Daniels
• RB (3): Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell, Sean Tucker
• WR (6): Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr, Jalen McMillan, Ted Hurst, Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson
• TE (4): Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Bauer Sharp
• OL (9): Tristan Wirfs, Ben Bredeson, Graham Barton, Cody Mauch, Luke Goedeke, Justin Skule, Ben Chukwuma, Billy Schrauth, Dan Feeney
• DL (6): Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey, A’Shawn Robinson, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Elijah Roberts, DeMonte Capehart
• EDGE (6): Rueben Bain Jr., Yaya Diaby, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Anthony Nelson, David Walker, Jack Pyburn
• LB (4): Alex Anzalone, Josiah Trotter, SirVocea Dennis, Christian Rozeboom
• CB (5): Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, Jacob Parrish, Keionte Scott, Ayden Garnes
• S (4): Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith, Miles Killebrew, Rashad Wisdom

Now, I will say I believe that once the roster is cut down to 53, the Bucs will wind up moving Billy Schrauth to injured reserve as he continues to deal with a leg injury and in his place they will bring back Luke Haggard. Haggard and Feeney can team up to provide depth across the interior while Skule and Chukwuma provide depth on the outside.

The Rest

As for some other predictions here – the Chris Braswell and Devin Culp experiments are over. Braswell never developed into someone that you can confidently put out on to an NFL field while Culp never reached anything beyond being “just a guy.” Bauer Sharp is a player the Bucs traded up for in the draft and it was evident from the start of camp that he’s an upgrade over Culp as a blocker while providing equal or potentially better production as a pass catcher.

Where it could get interesting is the practice squad. Right now, I would predict that it looks something like this;

• RB Josh Williams
• WR Dean Patterson IV
• WR David Sills
• OL Luke Haggard
• OL Elijah Klein
• OL Paul Rubelt
• DL Jayson Jones
• DL Elijah Simmons
• LB John Bullock
• LB Nick Jackson
• LB Caden Fordham
• CB Josh Hayes
• CB Pepe Williams
• S JJ Roberts
• S Ifeatu Melifonwu.

The Pyburn Factor 

The interesting one here is Pyburn. I originally had Kamara making this roster considering the way he’s performed in both training camp and the preseason. Add to that the fact that he was on the roster last season, so there was a familiarity there that gave him the upper hand. Unfortunately, Kamara suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury against Jacksonville and that likely created a spot on the roster. Do you add another receiver? Another corner? Or the player that led the NFL in sacks this preseason, plays with all out effort on every play, and can contribute on special teams? I think Pyburn has shown enough to be in a deep edge rush rotation.

We’re going to learn a lot about where the Buccaneers like their depth and where they feel they’re a little thin based on what the initial 53-man roster looks like – but remember that a roster is constantly evolving. This is by no means the final 53-man roster – just the one they’re going to have to start the year.

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