Bucs Mini-Camp Insider 6-15: Speed Shows Up

The Bucs wound up cutting their final mini-camp practice short, as head coach Todd Bowles shaved an hour off the workout to initiate summer break early.

“It was short and sweet,” Bowles said. “We cleaned up some things in the red zone that we needed to work on and thought we got better.”

Bowles talked about the progress the team made during mini-camp.

“It’s more of a mental thing,” Bowles said. “It’s just an extension of OTAs really, with more meetings. So nothing’s changed from that standpoint. But the learning process – we tried to finalize a few things that we needed to clean up and I thought we got that done. We’ve got a good amount of the concepts installed. As far as the mixing and matching, and things we have to do, we’ll get that done in training camp.

“It’s kind of hard without pads to really get the running game instilled, but we got the concepts done. So we we’re happy about that.”

Bowles said he was happy with the dynamic of the 2023 version of the Bucs.

“They work hard,” Bowles said. “You know they work hard and they’re coming together. Everything else will take care of itself once the pads come on.”

The Bucs have made a concerted effort over the past two years to get faster, especially on defense. Even though the team isn’t in pads, Bowles said that the speed shows up on defense. Bucs defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and outside linebacker YaYa Diaby were two of the fastest players at their respective positions in this year’s draft.

“You can see it up front on defense,” Bowles said. “Obviously, they’re more athletic, so you can see a lot of the speed show up.”

Bucs Practice Notes

• The biggest play on offense in the abbreviated final mini-camp practice was made by the team’s smallest player – wide receiver Deven Thompkins. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw a jump ball to the 5-foot-7, 163-pound Thompkins, who elevated up over safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and cornerback Anthony Chesley to pull down the jump ball.

Despite his lack of size, Thompkins has a vertical jump of close to 40 inches, and him Mossing two defensive backs to score a touchdown in the back of the end zone was a thing of beauty. Thompkins is one of the fastest Bucs on the roster and raced to high-point the ball for the score.

• Baker Mayfield was back as the starter on Thursday after Kyle Trask took the starting reps on Wednesday. And Robert Hainsey resumed starting center duties after Nick Leverett started at center on Wedneday.

• The Bucs have three defensive backs vying for the nickelback job that has been vacated with Antoine Winfield Jr.’s move back to free safety. Veteran Dee Delaney has been the starter throughout the offseason and he’s seen game action at nickel, outside cornerback and at safety.

Josh Hayes, one of the team’s sixth-round picks, is competing for the job and is being cross-trained at nickelback and at outside corner, despite playing safety and nickel last year at Kansas State. Hayes began his college career at North Dakota State playing outside cornerback. Undrafted free agent Chris Izien is being cross-trained at nickel and safety this offseason.

• The Bucs have been starting Logan Hall and first-round pick Calijah Kancey at defensive tackle on opposite sides of Vita Vea in the Bucs’ 3-4 base defense. That should come as no surprise as Hall was the team’s first draft pick at the top of the second round last year. When the Bucs go to nickel defense Kancey has been coming off the field and has been replaced with nickelback Dee Delaney as Tampa Bay goes to a four-man front.

• Bucs reserve inside linebacker KJ Britt has been overshadowed by rookie newcomer SirVocea Dennis during the offseason. Tampa Bay’s fifth-round pick has made some standout plays in coverage, including a pair of pick-sixes and a couple of passes broken up in the rookie mini-camp and OTA practices that have been open to the media.

But Britt battled back in Wednesday’s shortened practice and made a good lasting impression on the coaching staff as summer break commences. Britt broke up a Baker Mayfield pass just past the line of scrimmage early in practice, and then ended practice in dramatic fashion. Mayfield launched a pass downfield towards the end zone for undrafted rookie free agent tight end Tanner Taula, but Britt was with him stride for stride and batted it down on the last play of the Bucs’ 2023 mini-camp.

Britt and Dennis are fighting for the No. 3 linebacker role behind Lavonte David and Devin White, and this fight has just begun and will go all the way through training camp.