Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Training Camp Goals: 2023 Buccaneers, Numbers 90-99

Our pre-camp rundown of the potential camp objectives for every player on the Bucs' 90-man roster concludes with those players in the highest jersey number range, including the team's top pick in each of the last two drafts

Jul 21, 2023 at 08:00 AM

Scott Smith

Senior Writer/Editor

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offseason training program, most of which was voluntary but very well-attended this past spring, is very useful in terms of installing offensive and defensive playbooks and getting young players acclimated to the level of play in the NFL. In terms of evaluating just how good every player on the roster is, it's definitely more useful for some positions than others, thanks to the complete ban on pads and intentional hitting.

Wide receivers, for instance, can still show off their route-running chops, catch radius and hands without having any real contact with the defensive backs, and the DBs can demonstrate their footwork and ability to mirror routes. Quarterbacks can put their accuracy on display and off-ball linebackers can show their knack for anticipating throws and getting turnovers.

If you're one of the big men in the trenches, however, there's only so much you can prove before the real hitting begins in training camp. And that time is near.

Rookies will report for the Bucs' 2023 training camp next Monday, with the veterans joining them on Tuesday. The first practice, which is not open to the public, is scheduled for next Wednesday morning. The first open practice is the following Sunday and the first one in full pads is Monday, July 31. Mark your calendars, big guys.

Most of the men we'll be looking at today as we conclude our player-by-player run through the Bucs' 90-man roster fall into this category. Over the past two weeks we have suggested possible camp objectives for each player on that roster from jersey numbers 0 to 89. Now we finish up with the 90s, and a lot of guys who are ready to try to impose their will on the team's offensive linemen.

#90 DL Logan Hall: After the Buccaneers selected Calijah Kancey in the first round of the 2023 draft, Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach Kacy Rodgers said his arrival would help solidify roles for several other players on the defensive front, including Hall, who was the team's top draft pick in 2022. Said Rodgers: "Before, in the past, we played like four and three, left and right, this and that – now with these different pieces we've got, Logan can be in one position all the time and doesn't have to go all over. Kancey can be in one position all the time, Vita [Vea] can be that way. We've been playing musical chairs in a lot of ways." This sounds like good news for Hall, who has spent the offseason adding size and strength in anticipation of this more stratified role. The 33rd overall selection in 2022, Hall was limited to 36% of the defensive snaps and topped out at 2.5 sacks, though the coaching staff was pleased with the progress he made along the way as a rookie. In this year's camp, Hall will be looking to show he is ready to make the typical second-year leap and become part of a dynamic interior pass-rushing combination with Kancey and Vea.

#91 DL Mike Greene: In previous installments of this series we've mentioned that players like Kaylon Geiger, Nolan Turner and Don Gardner have already begun their NFL careers in a successful manner by making it to a second training camp after arriving as undrafted free agents. They all now have a greater opportunity to gain a more solid foothold in the NFL. Greene is in the same boat, having arrived in Tampa last May as a rookie free agent out of James Madison. He showed enough in training camp to earn a spot on the practice squad and was able to stay there the entire season before re-signing to a reserve/future contract in January. The scouting reports on Greene leading up to the 2022 draft repeatedly noted his high-effort, relentless style of play, suggesting he could become more of an impact player on the NFL level by adding more functional strength. Greene has now had a year in the Bucs' program, during which he presumably worked towards that latter goal, and could come into camp with the idea of showing that he can be a stout run defender with some ability to collapse the pocket.

#93 DL Willington Previlon: Previlon has been going at it a bit longer than Greene, first entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Packers in 2020 and first arriving in Tampa early in October of 2021. He has held down a practice squad spot ever since, suggesting the Buccaneers see some traits in the former Rutgers player that they believe can translate to success in the NFL. That may include his athleticism and length, two traits that were noted by scouts leading up to the 2020 draft. He also played a very versatile role at Rutgers, moving all over the line, and that kind of flexibility is always helpful for a player trying to lock down a reserve spot on any unit. Previlon has yet to appear in a regular-season NFL game but he did have two quarterback hits in limited playing time for the Bucs in the 2022 preseason. Like Greene, Previlon will come to camp looking to show that his game has continued to evolve and improve and that he could be a useful part of a deep interior-line rotation designed to keep everyone as fresh as possible for a full 60-minute game.

#94 DL Calijah Kancey: As Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix detailed earlier this spring in a closer look at Kancey's tactical approach to the game of football, there is a lot more than raw talent to the former Pitt star's game. Through detailed tape study, he goes into every game with a detailed plan as to how he is going to try to defeat each opponent. However, before he gets to that point, he will need to fully absorb the Buccaneers' defensive playbook, as he said himself the night he was drafted 19th overall. " I want to learn the playbook and I want to be able to play faster than [I do]," said Kancey. "I think knowing the playbook and knowing what you have to do helps you play faster – that's something I'm going to put a lot of work into." Presumably, he got that process well under way during the team's run of OTA practices and minicamp work in May and June, but that effort will continue into camp. The Bucs are certain that Kancey has the explosiveness and technical skills to become a pass-rushing force up the middle, particularly when paired with such big and powerful defenders as Vea and Hall, but the more he knows what he's doing within the framework of the defense the earlier he can make the type of impact the team is hoping to see.

#95 DL Deadrin Senat: The Buccaneers picked up Senat last April after he had been released by the Falcons midway through the 2021 season. A former third-round pick out of nearby USF, Senat had played 15 games with two starts as a rookie in Atlanta in 2018 but then had trouble seeing much playing time at all over the next two seasons before starting 2021 on injured reserve. It proved to be a worthwhile signing for the Bucs, as Senat started last year on the practice squad but quickly got promoted to the active roster and eventually saw action in 12games, contributing 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and his first NFL sack. Listed at 6-1 and 305 pounds, Senat is notably shorter than most of the Bucs' down lineman but also possesses great strength at the point of attack. Last year, he ended up drawing 168 total snaps of defense, serving as a useful sub to give the starters a breather and hold his own for about a dozen snaps on most Sundays. Tampa Bay's interior-line rotation in 2023 will likely start with Vea, Kancey, Hall and Greg Gaines, but the team generally carries at least six and sometimes seven players at that position. Kancey seems like a direct replacement for Akiem Hicks, who was not re-signed, and Hall would likely pick up a lot more work in the absence of William Gholston, but the team also saw Rakeem Nunez-Roches depart in free agency. Senat could enter camp with his sights setting on grabbing that role Nunez-Roches left behind, as the backup nose tackle who sees about 30 snaps a game.

#96 DL Greg Gaines: The Buccaneers weren't overly active in free agency this spring due to a restrictive salary cap situation and the desire to retain the likes of Lavonte David and Jamel Dean. However, they did take advantage of the mass exodus from Los Angeles to grab a potential front-liner in Gaines, who started 25 games over the past two seasons for the Rams. As noted above, the Bucs have not (as of yet, at least) brought back Hicks, Gholston or Nunez-Roches, so there are plenty of snaps up for grabs in a reworked DL rotation. Gaines seems like a good bet to get a lot of them, given his starting experience and his 8.5 sacks over the past two seasons. A former fourth-round pick and teammate of Vea's at Washington, Gaines likely heads into his first Tampa Bay camp looking to continue what he started in the offseason program: Learn a new defense and figure out how he fits in with Vea, Hall, Kancey and company. He is considered a very good run-stuffer from the nose tackle position but his pass-rush numbers over the past two years paint a picture of a player who can make an impact in that part of the game, as well. While he dealt with a shoulder injury in 2022, he racked up impressive totals in QB hits (13) and pressures (46) in 2021, his first year as a starter.

#97 LS Zach Triner: Originally an undrafted free agent (like almost all long-snappers) in 2016, Triner took until 2019 to nail down an NFL job, in the process spending time with or getting tryouts from eight different teams. A tryout with the Bucs late in the 2018 season got him a reserve/future contract in January of 2019 and he would go on to earn the job that year as the team moved on from veteran Garrison Sanborn. Triner has handled that job well for four seasons, giving the Buccaneers no reason to move on or generally bring in any competition. However, Triner is not alone at the position as he heads into his fifth camp in Tampa, as the team signed former Duke long-snapper Evan Deckers as an undrafted free agent in May. It remains to be seenhow serious that competition will be, but Triner will surely take it very seriously and seek to show that he remains as consistent and dependable as ever. There won't be much nuance to this particular battle, as both snappers surely know they need to be as close to perfect as possible at their very specific job.

#98 OLB Anthony Nelson: Nelson finished up his fourth season in Tampa as a starter and had a chance to hit free agency before re-signing with the Bucs for two more years. That seems like a good move for the Buccaneers, given other results for edge rushers on the open market this spring. Nelson has recorded 10.5 sacks over the last two years. Zach Allen (Cardinals to Broncos), Samson Ebukam (49ers to Colts), Arden Key (Jaguars to Titans) and DeMarcus Walker (Titans to Bears) all got relatively lucrative three-year deals from new teams after recording between 9.0 and 11.0 sacks over the previous two seasons. After the Bucs added Yaya Diaby and Jose Ramirez in the 2023 draft, Nelson could be seeking to demonstrate that he should remain among the top three in the team's OLB rotation along with Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. In each of the last two seasons, Nelson has shown down the stretch that he could be productive with increased snaps after injuries took several other players out of the rotation. He had 3.0 of his 5.0 sacks in the last three games in 2021 and 3.5 of his 5.5 in the last seven games last year, not to mention all three of his team-high forced fumbles. The Bucs wanted Nelson back in 2023 and know he could have landed a deal elsewhere; now the hard-working fifth-year player out of Iowa will try to take his game to another level in terms of consistently applying pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

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TAMPA, FL - June 11, 2023 - Cornerback Jamel Dean #35 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during 2023 Asset Shoot at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers