Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Daily Snaps: July 15, 2015
Good afternoon, Bucs fans, and welcome to your Wednesday edition of Daily Snaps. As the days draw closer to training camp, the news cycle begins to heat up. Let’s take a look at today’s headlines.
Leading off, we have a full defensive back positional breakdown and depth chart analysis by Bleacher Report’s Luke Easterling. He discusses who will start at cornerback, a group that should include Alterraun Verner, Johnthan Banks and free agent addition Sterling Moore. Nickel corner was a big problem spot for the secondary last season, so hopefully Moore can stabilize the position. At safety, Easterling gives the starting nods to Bradley McDougald and Major Wright. Both of them are viable candidates to start in the defensive backfield, but offseason additions D.J Swearinger and Chris Conte will push for playing time.
Next up, we have Scout’s Gil Arcia discussing Jameis Winston’s time at the NFL Rookie Symposium. Winston discussed his time at the Symposium at length, saying that the experience had a positive effect on him. “We actually had a couple times to discuss our past and our everyday life and discuss the way we grew up. It wasn’t just learning new rules and that stuff. We had a chance to talk,” he said. “We were in the same room with the Carolina Panthers and we just had an open discussion and we were just talking and pouring stuff out over and over again. Just to hear everyone’s story and background was a learning experience for me.”
Also on Scout.com, Justin Pawlowski talks about how critical kicker Patrick Murray will be the team’s success this season. Last season, the second-year kicker quickly showed why the team released the reliable Connor Barth. He made over 83 percent of his kicks last season, including five of six kicks from beyond 50 yards. Furthermore, he has the ability to elevate kicks quickly, leading to less blocked attempts, and his strong leg will make him ideal for kickoffs should the Bucs decide to finally cut overpaid punter Michael Koenen. This season should continue to build upon the legend of Patrick Murray.
Lastly, we have the continuation of the Bucs Critical Camp Question series over on Pewter Report. Zach Shapiro writes about the looming battle for the starting SAM linebacker between veteran Danny Lansanah and rookie Kwon Alexander. Shapiro thinks that Lansanah will hold onto his starting spot, and I agree with him. Although Alexander will be a starter in time, Lansanah should get the nod. He played well last year, and although he’s already 30 years old, he should be able to play at a high enough level for the next few years.
That’s it for today’s edition of Daily Snaps. Come back tomorrow for a brand new set of Snaps.