Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2018 Rookie Minicamp is underway

Rookie minicamp started on 11 May for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ newest class of draft picks and plenty of undrafted free-agents and tryout players.

Making it out of the minicamp this year looks to be a bit more difficult perhaps than it has been in previous years for players vying for invites to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ full-blown training camp later this year.

With the way Jason Licht and his team attacked the roster holes they did have this off-season, competition is going to be tight.

Several well-known Bucs media people are on site covering the minicamp, and continue to bring us all great insight and looks into what’s happening out at One Buc.

Day one is in the books already, so let’s take a look at some of the things that went down.

First, with a tweet from Tampa Bay Times’ own, Greg Auman,

Must Read: Lavonte Happy with Defensive Additions

That’s it! Make Ronald Jones the starter now! Ok, maybe it’s not as serious, but it’s nice to see a Tampa running back who we know can run the ball going out and making a catch.

An over the shoulder catch too. As a second-round pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers faithful are going to want to see ‘Rojo’ on the field sooner rather than later.

Barring injury, they shouldn’t have to wait long. Last season, and in 2016 even, many fans complained early and often about the lack of diversity in the Bucs’ backfield.

Simply put. If it’s Charles Sims back there, it’s a pass. If not, then the running back has little value as a receiver.

In 2017, Sims had 35 catches for 249-yards and one score. The next running back on the list had less than half the production he did.

It’s nice to have specialized players of course but having a do-it-all type of back is better. Here’s hoping we see more of Jones catching the ball. Even if it is only in shorts right now.

Next, we hear from Buccaneers.com Senior Writer and Editor,

Full disclosure here, I’m a Big Ten guy. I was raised to be a Buckeyes fan by my father who himself was born and raised just outside of Columbus, Ohio.

So, while I’m not a Wisconsin fan, I can’t deny how excited I am to see Jack Cichy wearing pewter and getting his shot to bounce back from two serious injuries.

Cichy is a fighter. Bottom line. Simply getting through rookie minicamp would be a seriously positive step for the former Badger, so making it through day one is the first step.

Finally, we look to the guys over at Pewter Report,

It’s not every year we hear about a position coach perhaps being the most important move of the off-season, but we’ve already heard about it from the 2018 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brentson Buckner was brought over from Arizona to help re-shape and re-create Tampa’s defensive line.

From the clip shared in the tweet we can all see he’s not wasting any time. There’s no rookie breaking-in period. Hearing him bark at first-round pick Vita Vea is exactly what we want to see.

The team is replacing well over 50% of their on-field participants from 2017. This is exciting news on the surface, but a big task for a new coach. Good to see he’s preaching smarter football, and not letting a single rep go by without finding ways to make his players better.

Next: What did the Bucs really get in the NFL Draft?

Those are just a few of the sights, sounds and reports coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2018 rookie minicamp.

Stay tuned as we continue to bring you everything we can find on what’s going on leading into the 2018 training camp and pre-season.

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