Bucs OTA Insider 6-6: Jamel Dean Makes A Scene

On Tuesday the Bucs took the field for the second week of OTAs (organized team activities) and the second open practice for the media at the AdventHealth Training Center. Once again, the practice was held under hot and humid conditions and partly cloudy skies. As is the case with all OTAs, they are voluntary, and there were several Bucs veterans who were not in attendance.

Bucs Not In Attendance

DT Vita Vea
WR Russell Gage (got hurt three weeks ago)
C Ryan Jensen
OLB Shaquil Barrett (likely not cleared to practice due to Achilles)
ILB Devin White
ILB Lavonte David
ILB K.J. Britt

A few Bucs were in attendance but not practicing – possibly due to injury: running back Sean Tucker, wide receiver Deven Thompkins, center Ryan Jensen, and guard Aaron Stinnie. Jensen was at practice with a brace on his injured knee. After practice Bucs head coach Todd Bowles didn’t know if Jensen would be able to practice in next week’s mandatory mini-camp.

“We’ll see how he’s feeling,” Bowles said. “It’s off and on with that. We’ll see how he feels in camp.”

Bowles didn’t have an update on undrafted free agent running back Sean Tucker, who has been recovering from a heart ailment this spring.

“I haven’t been told anything thus far,” Bowles said. “I’d expect him some time around training camp – I’m not sure about next week.”

Cornerback Carlton Davis III and Mike Evans were absent last Tuesday, but both were present and practicing this week. Running back Chase Edmonds, who missed the first two open OTAs due to injury was back at practice in a limited role on Tuesday.

Bucs Offensive Notes

Quarterbacks

• It was Tuesday, so Baker Mayfield continued to take starter snaps, as he had in the two previous open OTAs – both of which were held on Tuesdays. Both he and Kyle Trask looked sharp, although Trask may have had the better practice. Dee Delaney almost came away with an early interception against Trask, but the third-year quarterback settled down after that.

Trask finished practice with two touchdown passes on consecutive passes inside the 5-yard line. The first of which was a strike to tight end Cade Otton in the middle of the end zone, and the second one was an even quicker, more decisive throw to wide receiver Trey Palmer.

Mayfield looked for wide receiver Mike Evans early and often and the two had some hits and misses. Evans had a couple of drops, including one in the end zone where he was blanketed by cornerback Zyon McCollum. But he also caught a beautiful pass from Mayfield on an intermediate crosser where he was wide open due to a mesh concept that allowed him to get yards after catch. On Mayfield’s final pass he found Evans in the back of the end zone on a perfect fade for a touchdown against Delaney.

Running Backs

• Chase Edmonds was in uniform on Tuesday, but didn’t do much outside of special teams work. The running back who really stole the show was undrafted free agent Ronnie Brown. Dave Canales’ new offense showed off plenty of new, creative wrinkles on Tuesday, and it involved Brown streaking down the sidelines not once, but twice for deep touchdown passes. Deep as in 30-plus yards down the field. Brown hauled in one pass down the right side from Baker Mayfield, and one down the left side from Kyle Trask.

• The Bucs defensive line did a pretty decent job of bottling up Rachaad White and the Bucs mid-zone run scheme on Tuesday. There wasn’t much room for the running backs, although Ke’Shawn Vaughn did have one breakaway run off the left side behind left tackle Tristan Wirfs and left guard Matt Feiler on a cutback run.

Tight Ends

• For the second straight open OTA the tight ends didn’t have a big day in the receiving department. Cade Otton was targeted the most on Tuesday and ended practice with a nice touchdown at the end from Kyle Trask. The quarterbacks spent most of the day targeting the receivers and running backs in the passing game on Tuesday.

Wide Receivers

• Mike Evans hasn’t been a mainstay at practice – attending fewer practices than Chris Godwin this summer. And it’s taken a little while for him to get into a groove with Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask as a result. Evans had a couple of drops on Tuesday, but also made some nice catches to even out his 2023 debut for the media.

• While Russell Gage continues to be out, rookie Trey Palmer is shining early. Palmer has surprised as a red zone threat, hauling in a touchdown on Tuesday after catching a pair of touchdowns last Tuesday. Palmer has the 4.33 speed to get deep on vertical routes but is also showing great quickness and the ability to separate in tight quarters, too.

• Undrafted free agent Kade Warner made up for an early practice gaffe with a couple of really nice catches downfield. Warner continues to shine during the OTAs as a sure-handed receiver that just finds a way to get open.

Offensive Line

• Tristan Wirfs looks like a natural at left tackle. His footwork is effortless in the move from the right side to the left side, but his left-handed punch is something he has to work on. Wirfs admitted as much after practice on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-5, 345-pounder also admitted that he’s afraid of failing at left tackle, and that the thought of him being a disappointment drives him. Wirfs also shared that head coach Todd Bowles told him the day after the season ended that he would be moving to left tackle.

• Luke Goedeke continues to make strides in pass protection as a right tackle. He looks more comfortable and natural there, throwing his right hand as opposed to hie left hand last year at left guard. It will be interesting to see how he develops once the pads come on in training camp.

Bucs Defensive Notes

Defensive Line

• Baker Mayfield had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by 6-foot-6 defensive tackle Logan Hall. The second-year defender had a very active day in the run game, shutting down several runs at the line of scrimmage with his quickness. Hall looks bigger and more confident in his reads in his second season.

• Greg Gaines and Deadrin Senat got plenty of work in Vita Vea’s absence on Tuesday. Both defensive tackles are short and squatty, but also hard to move due to their size and girth. The low man wins in football, and both Gaines and Senat have plenty of natural leverage being 6-foot-1 and weighing over 300 pounds.

Outside Linebackers

• New outside linebackers coach George Edwards continues to work on the outside linebackers’ pass drops in practice. The edge rushers continue to spend a solid 10 minutes working on dropping in coverage, simulating Todd Bowles’ zone blitzes, and working on intercepting the ball. None of the Bucs linebackers – inside or outside – had an interception in 2022. And interceptions were down as a team from 17 in 2021 to just 10 last season.

• Rookie outside linebacker Jose Ramirez made a heady play early in 11-on-11 when Kade Warner dropped a wide receiver screen behind the line of scrimmage. Ramirez knew that it was a live ball and raced over and scooped it before Warner could get it and scored a touchdown for the defense.

Inside Linebackers

• No Devin White, no Lavonte David and no KJ Britt again meant continued first-team reps from rookie SirVocea Dennis, who looks like a legit NFL linebacker. Dennis, who was known for his blitzing at Pittsburgh, has shown he’s quite adept in pass coverage. On Tuesday, Dennis leapt up and made a big pass breakup on a high throw from Baker Mayfield to tight end Cade Otton. Dennis almost came down with the interception, but instead landed awkwardly on his ankle and was sidelined for a bit while the medical staff tended to his sore ankle.

Secondary

• Cornerback Jamel Dean had two dynamic pass breakups in practice. The first was a pass breakup down the field on a pass from Baker Mayfield to Trey Palmer. Dean timed his jump and hand placement perfectly for the PBU. The second one came on a Mayfield pass to Mike Evans in the end zone. Mayfield would have been sacked by a blitzing Antoine Winfield Jr. had it been a live game, but the play proceeded, and Dean made his second spectacular play on the ball. Winfield also had a nice pass defensed against tight end Dominique Dafney.

• There weren’t any interceptions in practice, but Zyon McCollum also had a nice pass breakup on a potential touchdown pass to Evans in the end zone. McCollum is doing a better job of not allowing receptions in practice this year.

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