I've seen some confusion regarding where and how the new rookies will slide into the depth chart, and some complaints about the "lack of starters." The Bucs have not updated their official depth chart yet, but we can make some educated guesses on where these rookies will fit in.
Graham Barton – Easy: Center. Barton was announced as a center and Licht confirmed it in a press conference. There is a possibility Barton is moved to Guard during training camp, but I believe they'll keep him at center for at least his first year. Barton is a bit light to play guard immediately (we've seen how that worked out with Goedeke and Mauch). His light, ultra-athletic build is comparable to Ali Marpet (shoutout to u/MaceLeonardo for the comparison) and his high intellect fits perfectly at Center for now (shoutout to whoever made my favorite comment on the draft post: "well he went to Duke, so he's not a dumbass").
Chris Braswell – The ESPN provisional depth chart that was posted here yesterday lists Braswell as the backup Strong Side Linebacker behind JTS. Whether Braswell starts or not depends on how quickly his run defense progresses – he has the build to be a plus run defender at the NFL level (Braswell has a similar RAS to Yaya, who's an excellent run defender), but he needs to bulk up and get some coaching. He's actually comparable to Cliff Avril coming out of the Combine, and like Avril I expect Braswell to add 5-10 pounds to beef up his run defense. I think he could play a similar role to Avril as a lead edge rusher of a committee and have a comparable career to Avril as an 7-11 sack/season kinda guy. Depending on how quickly his run defense progresses, Braswell could take over the starting role from JTS by the end of the season. But with how Bowles rotates his OLBs through different series (e.g Yaya played 46% of snaps and only started 7 games), he'll get plenty of playtime before he's officially a starter.
Tykee Smith – This pick caused a lot of confusion. At first I was confused why they didn't take T.J Tampa – a 6'1" press-man corner perfectly fit for a Bowles scheme – but going back to Bowles' discussion of "chess pieces" earlier this offseason made things much clearer. His comments highlight that 1) he's confident in Zyon McCollum (make of that what you will) and 2) Bowles loves players "who can do a lot of jobs." Tykee Smith fits that mold perfectly. His RAS is eerily similar to Antoine Winfield Jr, though he mostly played nickel at Georgia. For the Bucs, Smith will almost definitely play the Mike Edwards 3rd Safety/"Dimebacker" role. Except for 2020, Edwards consistently played +50% of defensive snaps (scroll down to "snap counts"), effectively making him a starter. Edwards departure was a major contributor to the Bucs pass defense falling to the 28th ranked spot last year. Alternatively, Smith could take Christian Izien's position as a nickel (Izien played 64% of snaps last year), also basically a starting position. Ultimately, the Bucs coaching staff will feel out where these guys are best positioned in training camp, but it's highly likely that Smith takes either the nickel or dimebacker role and is a de facto starter.
Jalen McMillan – The ESPN depth chart lists McMillan as Mike Evan's backup, but that's highly unlikely. The Fresno kid played almost 90% of his snaps from the slot for Washington, with Ja'Lynn Polk and Rome Odunze on the outside. He's too skinny to play outside, lacks the physicality of Godwin, and lacks the YAC threat/dynamism of Amon-Ra St. Brown. So why the fuck did the Bucs pick him? McMillan is a smart dude who understands how to find the soft spots in zone coverage, and, although he lacks short-area burst, he has the long speed to threaten deep on a Seam/Go route. Now that Godwin has lost a step, Baker needs a guy that will get open and give him a target when the play breaks down – McMillan will fill that role perfectly. He'll likely split the slot/Z hybrid snaps with Chris Godwin. We'll see him more on third and medium+ and in four wide receiver sets, and he'll get a healthy portion of redzone targets as well. Ultimately, McMillan will not start, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets 200+ snaps and makes a bigger impact his rookie year than Trey Palmer.
Bucky Irving – Scat Back. This pick immediately reminded me of the Charles Sims pick back in 2014, who had a very productive year in 2015 before falling off a cliff and disappearing forever (seriously can someone tell me what the hell happened to Sims?). Sims played the 3rd down/Scat back role which was more popular in the mid-2010s than it is today. With an abysmal RAS of 2.28, Irving is not a three-down back, but he can contribute as a third-down/Scatback or an additional back in a 21 personnel package with his insane agility and elusiveness. Irving definitely won't start and his snap count will be low until his blocking improves, but I believe Skip Peete can coach him up into a nice weapon on offense. Overall, expect him to get 100-200 snaps.
Elijah Klein – Long term interior O-Line depth to replace the loss of Aaron Stinnie (blessed be his name) and Nick Leverett. Don't expect him to see the field.
Devin Culp – Athletic Tight End who might see some snaps depending on how the TE room shakes up. He could sneak in on goal-line packages or in 12 personnel as a quick seam-catch-go kind of guy. If he makes the roster, he might get a rare snap here and there like Payne Durham.
TL;DR: Bucs got at least one starter, potentially up to three starters. The top 5 picks will all contribute meaningful snaps.
3 comments
This is informative. The Irving pick seems to make less sense, especially with Ray Davis on the board.
I don’t understand why you’d ever want to bring White off the field for RB receiving or skat back plays since that’s he’s good at.
A between the tackles runner as a compliment theoretically would’ve made more sense right?
It’s a little weird to me, but Bowles and his offensive coordinator du jour seem to really want a traditional, scatback style RB as Rachaad’s back up. No other reason to sign, and then re-sign, a guy like Chase Edmonds. It’s never really made any sense to me, since Rachaad is such a good pass catcher out of the backfield, but it’s been a consistent theme
I’m convinced we picked Bucky for his name. Lol jokes aside, I like the pick. We needed RB depth. Would I have preferred more of a brusier? Yes. But Bucky will help take the load of Rachaad, helping with his longevity.