Breaking Down Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Likely Opening Game Starting Lineup
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finally gotten their collective feet wet with some preseason game action, but they're just a few weeks away from the rubber truly meeting the road when the regular season kicks off.
As training camp winds down this week and they prepare for their second preseason tilt, the Bucs should get an even clearer picture of what their Week 1 starting lineup will look like across the board.
Plenty of fresh faces will man the top spots at their respective positions, with draft picks and free agents alike hoping to dig Tampa Bay out of the NFL cellar after the team finished with a league-worst 2-14 record in 2014.
Who is likely to be in the starting lineup for the Pewter Pirates when they take on the Tennessee Titans next month?
Quarterback
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Ever since they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft, it seemed a foregone conclusion Jameis Winston would be atop the depth chart at quarterback for the Bucs.
Mike Glennon may have a decent amount of starting experience already in his two NFL seasons, but though he'd be an upgrade for a few other teams around the league as a starter, his place with Tampa Bay is as an insurance policy in the event Winston goes down with an injury.
Winston will certainly take his lumps as a rookie starter, but he's got all the physical tools and football intelligence to become a star in the NFL. His gunslinging style will likely lead to a few more turnovers this season than fans would like, but he won't be afraid to give his playmakers opportunities to make big plays down the field.
Running Back
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Some expected Doug Martin and Charles Sims to have a fairly even split of most of the touches in the Tampa Bay backfield, but Martin's impressive training camp has shown him to be the clear favorite of the group.
Sims should still see action as a change-of-pace back and on third downs, where his skills as a receiver will be put to good use. But a slimmed-down Martin should get the majority of the action, as he hopes to return to the form that saw him earn a Pro Bowl berth as a rookie in 2012.
At fullback, expect veteran Jorvorskie Lane to hold off competition from rookie seventh-round pick Joey Iosefa. Lane's 2014 season ended with a broken leg, but he's back to full strength, and his experience should give him the nod as the lead blocker in the Tampa Bay backfield.
Wide Receiver and Tight End
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Tampa Bay will boast one of the NFL's better tandems at receiver again in 2015 after Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson became the first pair of receivers in Bucs history to both go over 1,000 yards receiving in the same season in 2014.
Evans will be the team's top target and playmaking threat this season, while Jackson will be a reliable target who can still move the chains and create problems for smaller defensive backs in the red zone.
The starting slot receiver spot will be hotly contested in training camp, as veteran Louis Murphy, rookie Kenny Bell and second-year pro Robert Herron will vie for the role. Murphy has the most experience but has been injured for most of camp, while Bell has looked like an absolute steal as a fifth-round pick. Herron looks to be bouncing back from a poor rookie season, showing marked improvement so far.
At tight end, Austin Seferian-Jenkins is primed for a breakout season after being nagged by injuries throughout his rookie year in 2014. A massive but athletic target at 6'6", 258 pounds, ASJ should be a dynamic downfield threat and quite the security blanket for rookie quarterback Jameis Winston.
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Offensive Line
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The most maligned unit on the entire roster last season, the Bucs will have a few new faces in the starting lineup along the offensive line this year.
The Bucs spent two of their first three draft picks this offseason on offensive linemen, and both should end up in the starting lineup for Week 1. With veteran right tackle Demar Dotson expected to miss a good chunk of action with a knee injury, rookie Donovan Smith is likely to start at left tackle while Kevin Pamphile takes over for Dotson on the right side.
At right guard, Tampa Bay's best bet will be second-round pick Ali Marpet, who, despite playing at tiny Hobart College, already looks to be playing better than Garrett Gilkey and Kadeem Edwards. Marpet will have to adjust quickly to the speed of the NFL game, but he's had a fantastic training camp and looked more than capable against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday.
Two veterans return at left guard and center after disappointing 2014 seasons, as Logan Mankins and Evan Smith look to bounce back and prove they can still play at a high level. They'll have to anchor a unit that will have plenty of inexperience and little depth, all while trying to protect new franchise quarterback Jameis Winston.
Defensive Line
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There's a Jekyll-and-Hyde situation happening on the defensive line for the Buccaneers. They know exactly what they have at defensive tackle—a strong rotation that goes three or four players deep—but the defensive end position is nothing but question marks.
On the interior, Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy returns at the 3-technique spot after leading the team with 8.5 sacks in 2015. Clinton McDonald will start next to him again this year, but expect the likes of Henry Melton and Tony McDaniel—two fresh faces in 2015—to get plenty of playing time to keep the starters fresh.
On the edge, things are far less certain. The starting roles will be manned by Jacquies Smith and George Johnson, two players who are still fairly young and flashed pass-rusher potential last year, but neither has ever been a full-time starter at the NFL level. They combined for 12.5 sacks last year, and the Bucs are hoping they take the next step in their progression this year.
Linebacker
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The Tampa 2 requires its linebackers to be extremely fast and explosive, and the Bucs have a crew that should be a perfect fit in 2015.
All-Pro Lavonte David—who just signed a lucrative five-year extension with the team—will handle the starting duties on the weak side again in 2015 after bagging more than 130 tackles for the third straight season last year.
Danny Lansanah was one of the standouts of last year's training camp, and he's picked up right where he left off last year with another strong camp in 2015. He flashed in coverage ability with three interceptions last year—two of which went for touchdowns—and he'll start on the strong side opposite David.
In the middle, the Bucs have replaced Mason Foster with Bruce Carter, a free-agent acquisition who is a much better fit for the Tampa 2. Carter excels in coverage, and though he'll have to fight off an extremely talented rookie in Kwon Alexander, he should be the starter in Week 1.
Secondary
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Tampa Bay will return the same tandem of starting cornerbacks from last year, as Johnthan Banks and Alterraun Verner will man the outside spots. Verner started rough last season before coming on strong down the stretch, while Banks emerged as the team's top cover man and tied for the team lead with four interceptions in 2014.
New free-agent acquisition Sterling Moore has worked mostly on the outside so far in training camp, but he's experienced as a nickel corner and is the best option the Bucs have on the roster for that spot. He should beat out Leonard Johnson and Isaiah Frey for that role before Week 1.
At safety, the Bucs return one of last year's most pleasant surprises in Bradley McDougald, a former undrafted free agent who proved he can make big plays against both the run and pass. He'll start across from veteran Major Wright, who has plenty of experience in the Tampa 2 defense after playing under current Bucs head coach Lovie Smith in Chicago.
Special Teams
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Many Bucs fans questioned the team's decision to part ways with veteran kicker Connor Barth last preseason in favor of rookie Patrick Murray. But Murray turned in a solid performance in his first NFL season, connecting on 20 of his 24 field-goal attempts and converting all 31 of his extra points. He will return to handle the kicking duties for the Bucs in 2015.
The Bucs brought in some punting competition for veteran Michael Koenen, who had an up-and-down season last year and is scheduled to make over $3 million this year. But Spencer Lanning has already been released, and Karl Schmitz struggled in the team's first preseason game, so expect Koenen to keep the job again in 2015.
Andrew DePaola is the only long snapper on the roster, so he will retain his job in 2015, barring injury.
In the return game, expect rookie sixth-round pick Kaelin Clay to be given every opportunity to handle the responsibilities on both kickoffs and punts. He showed his inexperience early in last week's preseason game by taking out a kick from too deep in the end zone, but he made a smart fair-catch call later in the game. He's already learning, and he should give the Bucs a playmaker on special teams.
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