Assessing Buccaneers’ 2018 Rookie Class: A mixed bag
By Ryan Doyle
G Alex Cappa (Rd. 3, Pick 94)
Out of the entire class, Alex Cappa had the most significant learning curve. Coming out of Div. II Humboldt State, Cappa had multiple “welcome to the NFL” moments in 2018.
Cappa spent most of the season as a healthy scratch. The Bucs coaching staff felt that he was nowhere near ready to play significant snaps in a regular season game yet. However, with veteran Evan Smith going down with an injury, Tampa turned to Cappa as depth.
With right guard Caleb Benenoch struggling mightily at guard, the Bucs would often rotate Smith in his place. Now, it was Cappa’s turn to play substitute, and boy did he not play well.
Out of every player that took a snap at the guard position, Cappa was the fifth-worst, according to PFF. Four spots worse than Benenoch, who sat as the ninth-worst guard in football.
One year is far too early to start screaming bust, but someone is going to have to find a way to get Cappa right. The Bucs had the worst right guard play in football and Cappa was selected to fix that.
He will need a big 2019 to put the demons of his rookie campaign behind him.