Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Breaking down depth at running back

Will a mystery man step up in 2019?

Over the past two seasons, the Buccaneers have picked up three total running backs as undrafted free agents. Last year they signed Shaun Wilson out of Duke, and this year the Buccaneers added North Dakota State’s Bruce Anderson. They have also added two year veteran Dare Ogunbowale, who has bounced around the league a bit.

Tampa Bay no longer has Jaquizz Rodgers to fall back onto in worst case scenarios, so the Buccaneers will need another back who could potentially fill in for either Jones or Barber in a fairly decent role if necessary. The chips would be all in on Anderson at this point in the offseason, but it is still too early to tell.

While Anderson did play at the FCS level at Carson Wentz’s alma mater, he put up huge numbers on the ground over the last two years of his career. As a junior, Anderson tallied over 1,200 yards and 12 scores on the ground, following it up with 924 yards and nine scores as a senior on less carries.

He is, however, not much of a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, averaging only 10 catches over this two year span for six scores. Whether this is a symptom of his collegiate offensive system is still to be determined.

Ogunbowale does not seem like a threat to make the roster as he is on his third team in two years. He was initially signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2017, but failed to make the roster before appearing in two games with the Washington Redskins. He then landed in Tampa Bay last year where he acted as a return man for two games.