Markees Watts Camp Diary: Facing Luke Goedeke Is Nothing But Work

Pewter Report’s Bucs Camp Diary, a popular training camp feature on PewterReport.com, returns in 2024. We are excited to have two very intriguing players to profile in veteran outside linebacker Markees Watts and rookie running back Bucky Irving, the Bucs’ fourth-round pick.

Watts was fifth on the depth chart at outside linebacker last year and a roster spot is not assured in 2024. But he has the talent to make the team once again – and shoot up the depth chart with a great camp and preseason.
 
Irving will take readers through the experience of rookie life in his first training camp in Tampa Bay in Liam Coen’s new offense. The small, shifty, tackle-breaking runner and receiver is expected to back up Rachaad White and earn carries and playing time based on his camp and preseason performance.
 
Look for Watts’ and Irving’s Camp Diary installments each week throughout training camp and the preseason.

Markees Watts was an undrafted free agent and the all-time leading sacker at Charlotte. He made the team last year with a sack, a forced fumble and a team-high nine pressures in the preseason. He wound up leading the team with a 23% pass rush win rate last year as a situational pass rusher and is in the most crowded and competitive training camp battle at outside linebacker.

Watts was a guest this summer on the Pewter Report Podcast and gave Bucs fans some incredible insight in his interview.

Facing Luke Goedeke Is Nothing But Work

By Markees Watts As Told To Scott Reynolds

Facing Luke Goedeke is nothing but work. You’re going to work against him. You are going to work, work, work. If you try to take a rep off in an NFL practice against Luke, you are going to lose and you are going to lose badly. I appreciate that – being able to work against Luke every single rep.

Going against Tristan [Wirfs], you better have your best game going and bring out your best moves. You need to make sure you execute everything perfectly or Tristan is going to recover and he’s going to catch you. I have to stay low and try to bend [the arc] when I go against him because he’s so big. I saw Tristan on the ground a couple of times today, which was rare. But he’s just getting started. He’s just getting on his horse now and he’s going to ride it this year.

Yaya Diaby’s confidence is just magnified right now. He’s taking his game up a notch. He’s had some good reps against those guys. We all are more confident in what we’re doing in year two. We see the game for what it is now – there’s nothing new, so we get to have more fun, think less and play faster. So just seeing Yaya play faster and have fun – he’s more aggressive and the dawg is really coming in him.

We’ve been doing stunts off all of the disguised fronts we’re running, making sure it all looks the same at first so the offense doesn’t know what’s coming. Execution-wise it’s the same, but it’s so much faster this year because we have faster guys up front. It’s always fun doing TE (tackle-end) stunts with Vita.

Our defense is faster this year. Guys are flying to the ball, running down screens and RPOs. It’s always fun to see your guys running full speed to the ball. You never know who’s running right beside you when you are running to the ball. It could be K.J. Britt, it could be Will Gholston. Everybody is flying to the ball and I think it could be huge advantage for us this season.

Markees Watts Got To Slime Devin Culp

I got to slime Devin Culp today after practice [on Sunday]. I got to cast the deciding vote out there as to who was going to get slimed. There were four of us and he was the rookie. I got the green “award cap” from Nickelodeon for being the one to do it. It was an honor to do it. Nickelodeon was out here for Back Together Weekend celebrating the return of NFL football.

It was also an honor to be out there with the Special Olympics athletes today. They are so sweet and kind. They always want to take pictures with you and get your autograph. But today I was like, “Bro, I want your autograph! You’re in the Olympics!” That’s huge.

The defense feels so familiar to me now. The first few days we were out here, that heat was unfamiliar. You expect the heat, but you’re never quite ready for it at the start. You get tired and you get fatigued. It comes down to just performing and not committing MEs (mental errors). After we got adapted to the heat – man, it’s been a fight, but it’s been a much easier fight.

I’m looking forward to the pads coming on. I’m looking forward to showing my pass rush and opening up some new moves because there are certain moves you can’t do unless you have pads on because they’re physical moves.

But I’m really looking forward to seeing K.J. Britt in pads. K.J. has been waiting for the pads to come on and I can’t wait to see what he does when that happens. His spirit and his knowledge of the game stand out to me as well as his confidence. He has our support because he’s a great leader. Just seeing his energy and his trash talk when K.J. is out there playing, the pads are going to be an amplifier for him and bring that even higher. I can’t wait to see it.

Even though we haven’t practiced in full pads yet, the practice tempo will be the same. It doesn’t really level up. We’re still flying around and running to the ball. Even with our shells on (smaller shoulder pads and shorts), I didn’t feel any difference in today’s practice. It got more chippy between the offensive and defensive lines and the front seven [on defense], but the speed of the practice will be the same when the pads come on. I don’t see a huge level jump when the pads come on – it just allows us to be more physical and show off more moves.

Bucky Irving And The Bucs’ New Offense

This new offense has plenty of motion to keep us on our toes as a defense. They disguise a bunch of what they’re doing, so you can’t just look at their formation and know what they’re going to do. At the last second they’ll send someone in motion to change it up, so it’s always different. They way [Liam Coen] moves his offense, everything is fast, so you have to be ready.

Bucky Irving is a guy I noticed today. I noticed his speed when he has the ball in his hands. He’s small, but he’s fast. If you get the wrong leverage on him it’s going to be a missed tackle – easy. He’s going to make people miss a lot of tackles.

It’s good to see SirVocea [Dennis] playing and he had a nice pick today. We’ve been getting some [interceptions] lately. Last year, he was riddled with injuries to the start the season and it prevented him from showing his true potential. But he’s showing that now and it’s fun to see Voss playing a big part in what we’re doing [on defense].

Saturday Wasn’t Really A Day Off

I really didn’t have an off day on Saturday, which was our first day off of camp so far. I was at home and my one-year old daughter, Kora, was driving me crazy. She was running around the house. I was just trying to lay on the couch and rest and relax. It felt good to do that and just be at home to enjoy it while I could.

But my daughter just kept grabbing the TV remote and the Playstation remote. She would not sit down. I was like, “Kora, please! Relax, Kora, relax!” She would look at me, smile and then just take off running around the house again. It was a day off for me, but it felt like it was still work – chasing her around.

I haven’t played the new EA Sports College Football 25 yet, but I need to. Everybody has played it and said it’s amazing. Charlotte, my school, is in the game this time around, so I can’t wait to play it. But I don’t have the time right now between football and chasing my daughter around.

Follow Markees Watts On X: @ilovemarkees

Follow Markees Watts On Instagram: @iammarkeeswatts

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