Buccaneers Training Camp: Week 1 Stock Report

Football is back, and training camp is in full swing. The Buccaneers, desperate to improve on a 2-14 season, are looking for players old and new to make the most of their preparation for the 2015 season.

Training camp will provide many Bucs players a stage to showcase their value. For the rookies and newly acquired free agents in particular, they can improve their standings on the team and fight their way onto the roster or even a starting job.

Other players will struggle to keep up due to age, talent deficiency or most of all, injury. The less time players can spend on the practice field, the more their stock dips.

Here is the stock report for the first week of Bucs training camp.

Up: Rannell Hall

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Training camp is the ultimate opportunity for unsung NFL prospects. Former UCF wide receiver Rannell Hall is taking his by the reins and is showing the Bucs all he has.

The Bucs signed Hall as an undrafted free agent after the draft. Odds were long he would make the final roster.

Instead, Hall became the early standout of camp. According to the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud, Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter anointed Hall "the MVP" of Sunday's practice.

Hall follows in the footsteps of every undrafted underdog to surprise at camp. That often leads to a spot in the final roster.

Down: Chris Conte

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Injury is one of the most lamentable parts of training camp and can derail a player's chances of making the roster. Safety Chris Conte could be the odd man out in the Bucs' ongoing safety battle royale.

Conte began camp rotating into the starting free safety spot per the Tampa Bay Times' Greg Auman, but he "nicked a hamstring" according to Lovie Smith (via Auman) and was held out over the past few days.

None of the Bucs safeties can afford to miss time at this point. Bradley McDougald has the best shot of winning a starting job, but Conte, Major Wright and D.J. Swearinger have yet to establish their roles. Any of them could end up starting.

Auman believes that while Conte's absence is detrimental to his prospects, he should remain in the mix if he returns soon. The longer his injury lingers, the harder it will be for him to make a meaningful impact on the team.

Up: Da'Quan Bowers

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Da'Quan Bowers re-signed with the Bucs last week under a sign of doom as he joined a stacked defensive tackle group. Just one week later, the former second-round pick looks like he could remain in a Bucs uniform for the foreseeable future.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht told JoeBucsFan last week that Bowers would work as a defensive tackle, but the implications of that statement were not clear until the start of training camp.

While Bowers was able to suit up for camp, DT Akeem Spence could not. According to Greg Auman, Spence suffered a back injury that required surgery and will keep him out of action for "a couple months."

Losing Spence is a blow to the Bucs' defensive tackle depth but less so with Bowers on the roster. It also appears Bowers learned from past mistakes as Lovie Smith noted that Bowers arrived at camp "in good shape" per the Tampa Tribune's Roy Cummings.

Bowers' stock isn't where it was after he was drafted, but it's trending upward, which it has not in a long time.

Down: Akeem Spence

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As with Conte, DT Akeem Spence's injury comes at the worst time. The longer he remains out, the more the Bucs' other tackles can show their worth and render Spence expendable.

Spence's back injury is going to keep him off the field for a few months, as reported by Greg Auman. The Tampa Tribune's Ira Kaufman also pointed out the opportunity Spence's injury creates for Da'Quan Bowers:

"

Akeem Spence's back injury creates an opening for Da'Quan Bowers to make the Bucs roster at DT and erase four seasons of uninspired play

— Ira Kaufman (@IKaufmanTBO) August 3, 2015"

Should Bowers turn the corner and make himself invaluable in the defensive tackle rotation, Spence might find returning to the field more difficult.

Up: Kenny Bell

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The wide receiver position is one of the Bucs' few certain strengths. It looks to improve with the addition of fifth-round draft pick Kenny Bell, who may contribute more and earlier than expected.

As a mid-round pick, Bell wasn't carrying huge expectations entering camp. However, when the Bucs placed WR Louis Murphy on the non-football injury list per the Houston Chronicle's Aaron Wilson, Bell seized the opportunity to make his mark.

Per Greg Auman, Bell ran with the first-team offense. His performance impressed Lovie Smith, who, per Auman, said, "He showed up. We always talk about doing something to be noticed.  We noticed Kenny today."

Murphy was slotted to be the Bucs' third receiver again, but Bell is making the case to take his job.