With less than 48-hours until teams have to finalize their rosters and the season slated to open in just 11 days away in New Orleans for the Bucs, there are still a few open position battles up for grabs. Regardless the Bucs will have to trim the roster down to 53 by Saturday. (Note: Due to COVID, teams are allowed to carry 55-players on the roster but the traditional 53 dressed players remain the same). Below is my prediction on who will make the roster and who could be the 2 non-dressed players when our Bucs begin our voyage towards the Lombardi in Tampa.
Quarterbacks:
Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert
*Reid Sinnett is pretty much a lock to be released, but the story will be Ryan Griffin being released. Unless Gabbert flakes the last couple of practices or Griffin just all of sudden just becomes the "2nd coming of Brady", it's time for the Bucs to part ways with the 7-year player. Griffin will be remembered for his pre-season play and his 3:48 seconds of playing time during Winston thumb injury*
Running Backs:
Leonard, Fournette, LeSean McCoy, Ke'Shawn Vaughn
*Ronald Jones' time in Tampa, unfortunately, could be coming to an end with the signing of Leonard Fournette. Raymond Calais will be the odd man as I do not see the Bucs carrying four active running-backs during the season*
Wide Receivers:
Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Justin Watson, Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, Spencer Schnell
*Although there's a possibility that the Bucs carry more than 6 active receivers, there is a possibility that at least 4 of them will end up on the 16-man practice squad (Bryant Mitchell, Cyril Grayson, Jaydon Mickens, John Hurst)
Tight-Ends:
Rob Gronkowski, OJ Howard, Cameron Brate, Anthony Auclair
*Unfortunately this leaves Cody McElroy as the odd man out. There is a possibility he could be one of the 2 non-dressed or even practice squad*
Tackle:
Tristan Wirfs, Donovan Smith, Joe Haeg
*Josh Wells will be released and could potentially be practice squad but that's even 50/50*
Guard:
Alex Cappa, Ali Marpet, Zach Bailey
*Nick Leverett and Aaron Stinnie potentially could be one of the non-dressed players or even end up on the 16-man practice squad*
Center:
Ryan Jensen, Anthony Fabiano, Zach Triner(LS)
*Zach Shackelford and A.Q. Shipley unfortunately would be the odd men out of the group. Shipley likely ends up getting claimed by another team after he clears waivers*
Defensive Lineman:
Ndamukong Suh, Vita Vea, William Gholston, Rakeem Nunez-Roches
*Jeremiah Ledbetter, Kyle Love, Patrick O'Connor, Benning Potoa'e will be the cuts from this position*
Outside Linebackers:
Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Anthony Nelson, Kahzin Daniels
*Quinton Bell, Michael Divinity, Cam Gill will be released. Divinity possibly could be a practice squad member*
Inside Linebackers:
Lavonte David, Devin White, Kevin Minter, Jack Cichy
*Noah Dawkins and Chapelle Russell could be named to the practice squad or just be sent through waivers*
Cornerbacks:
Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Pernell Motley, Mazzi Wilkins, Ryan Smith
*Herb Miller likely just ends up on the practice squad later in the season unless he's claimed by another team*
Safeties:
Antoine Winfield Jr, Mike Edwards, D'Cota Dixon, Jordan Whitehead, Andrew Adams
*Javon Hagans will be the lone man out of this group. Possibly being claimed by another team after clearing waivers*
Kicker/Punter:
Matt Gay, Bradley Pinon
*Ryan Succop potentially ends up as a practice squad member, but he was not signed to be the kicker on opening day, more as he was brought in the build Gay's confidence during the battle*
Even with the practice squad roster being raised to 16-players and will be filled with at least 50% veteran players due to the pandemic, it will be filled with players that could be used mainly on special teams or lineman for both sides. Stay tuned for the next few days as we will be keeping you updated as cuts begin to happen and the roster takes shape.
Photo credit: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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