Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Observations from day-one of mini-camp

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened mandatory mini-camp today at One Buc Place. I (@jamilking96) was on site to soak in the views.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had everyone in attendance but not everyone participating. Notably, Mike Evans did not practice, and Justin Evans was in a walking boot. New defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh did not have much action but was greeted with a solid “Suhhhhh” on his way to individual position drills.

The Bucs are looking to have a new gadget player in rookie Nick Fitzpatrick. The former quarterback was spotted in the special teams walkthrough, as well as being lined up as a tight end. He figures to have potential to be this team’s version of a Taysom Hill and seems to be willing to do anything to win a spot on the final roster.

With the loss of Deshawn Jackson and Adam Humphries, the Bucs had some slots at wide reviver open. A few Rookies had a great first day. Scotty Miller, the sixth round selection from Bowling Green was able to catch a deep pass in seven-on-seven drills and also reeled in a touchdown in the red zone period. Undrafted rookies Anthony Johnson from Buffalo and Spencer Schnell also had a few nice plays on the day.

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The best day belonged to another undrafted rookie Xavier Ubosi he was making plays left and right throughout the seven-on-seven period. He looks like he will be able to make an impact on offense throughout camp. He was spotted gathering up some Knowledge from Evans between plays as well.

Running back Ronald Jones even got in on the action with a receiving touchdown; a great sign from the second rounder from a year ago after falling flat on his face during his rookie year.

The defense was able to make a few nice plays during seven-on-seven with a few interceptions, and a nice forced fumble on a punch and rookie safety Mike Edwards would have made a vicious hit on a tight end if this would have been live competition.

The backup quarterbacks looked just like backups on several passes on day one of mini camp. Nothing spectacular to write home on with this group. With day-one in the books, the Bucs continue camp this week which sadly won’t be open to the public.