Buccaneers Trim Roster to 53

Linemen

Offensive Line                                Defensive Line

Donovan Smith                              Robert Ayers

Kevin Pamphile                             Gerald McCoy

Joe Hawley                                      William Gholston

Ali Marpet                                       Noah Spence

Demar Dotson                                Jacquies Smith

Evan Smith                                      Clinton McDonald

Gosder Cherilus                            Akeem Spence

J.R. Sweezy                                     Howard Jones

Caleb Benenoch                            Channing Ward

Leonard Wester                             DaVonte Lambert

Josh Allen, Ben Gottschalk, Kelvin Palmer, and Kyler Kerbyson all got walking papers from the Bucs as they are not one of the ten offensive linemen who will be listed on the 53-man roster in 2016.

While it can’t be called a complete surprise there was some grass-roots support for Josh Allen to make the roster as he’s performed very well in some spots during the pre-season.

What’s troubling for the nine-man group of Winston protectors is the two who are currently battling injury as rookie Caleb Benenoch and veteran free-agent J.R. Sweezy continue to strive to make it back on the field.

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Sweezy’s back problems are the most concerning as back issues never fully go away and as he gets older it’s not going to get better.

Looking at the rest of the offensive line it’s really hard not to totally agree with the names listed as they are a mix of veteran mainstays and young talent which proved themselves under fire in 2015.

For the defensive line the battle was at the bottom of the depth chart and the victors are rookies Channing Ward and DaVonte Lambert.

Veteran’s Cliff Matthews, A.J. Francis and Kourtnei Brown won’t make the team and will have to continue their NFL dreams elsewhere.

The front line of the defense has been perhaps the most inconsistent group on the field for Tampa this pre-season as they look nearly unstoppable at times and almost invisible at others.

The Redskins’ running game thoroughly abused this unit as their runners rarely met contact at or behind the line of scrimmage as they controlled the game from start to finish.

There’s a lot of speed up front with veteran addition Robert Ayers and second-round draft pick Noah Spence, but they’ll need to step it up in run support so the team can get opposing offenses off schedule and give their own offense some preferable field position.

Next: Linebackers