By Robert Mills
ORLANDO – With Week 1 of the regular season upon us, NFL teams have now trimmed down their rosters to the 53 players required. The Buccaneers are no exemption, and as of August 31st have announced that roster. In this article we will dig into the nitty gritty of that roster, and look at the offensive, defensive, and special teams roster choices. Looking at the top level, I agree with almost all of the choices made by the organization, but we will get into the questionable ones. Overall, 23 players were cut from the roster which included 7 veterans on both the offensive and defensive side. This is an indication that HC Bruce Arians knows what he is looking for in his players, and did not make these choices based on years in the league, but what every player will be contributing to this season.
First, let dig into the offense. This side of the coin included 12 roster cuts including veterans such as QB Ryan Griffin and WR Jaydon Mickens. For most people the change at the QB position may come as a surprise, but seeing as Griffin was never a steady or reliable backup this move doesn’t surprise me. Excluding preseason Griffin only ever attempted 4 passes with the Buccaneers as a steady 3rd string, and this goes all the way back to the 2015 season when he was picked up by the Buccaneers. Though Blaine Gabbert may not be the league MVP at QB, he has been a reliable backup over the years averaging about a 75 QBR over the past 5 seasons (2 with San Francisco, 1 with Arizona, 1 with Tennessee, and last year with the Buccaneers). With Trask now being the future of the franchise, it was only expected he would be on the roster. The other interesting note from the offense is the Buccaneers have decided to go with 4 RB’s instead of the normal 3, and this is after cutting veteran RB C.J Prosise. I cant say I am shocked at this, as Prosise only had 1 run for 1 yard in all 3 preseason games. Though, I was expecting Giovani Bernard to also be on the chopping block. It will be rather interesting to see why they decided to go with 4 RB’s so we will have to watch that closely.
On the defense and special teams 11 roster cuts took place and yes that also includes veterans, most notable being CB Antonio Hamilton. Hamilton actually had a pretty good preseason, taking 105 total snaps and recording 11 tackles in the 3 preseason games. Unfortunately for him though, that position is currently pretty well stacked with talent. Competing with players such as Carlton Davis III and Sean Murphy-Bunting who most people would probably say are two of the best cornerbacks in the league. Hamilton was essentially competing for the 5th and final roster spot for cornerback, and his only competition for that spot was Dee Delaney. While Hamilton had a great preseason, Delaney had a BETTER preseason recording 9 tackles and 2 interceptions.
For the most part, these are very solid choices. We should watch closely to see if having 4 RB’s will have any sort of affect on the offensive game plan. The big thing to watch right now is how the Buccaneers will address having K Ryan Succop, DL Ndamukong Suh, OL Nick Everett and OL Earl Watford on the reserve/COVID-19 list. If they become active before week 1 vs the Cowboys, more roster moves will need to take place. Overall though, I give these roster picks a solid B+. I think the better alternative to having 4 RB’s would have been to drop Bernard. By doing so, they could have kept TE Tanner Hudson as a backup. Having only 3 TE’s seems dangerous considering 2 TE’s are continually in each snap with the offensive play calling used by Arians. With that being my only real complaint, I believe the cuts were fair, and cant wait for the season to officially start! The Buccaneers will open week 1 against the Cowboys, check out my pre-game analysis as I break down all the details.
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