The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now exactly one week away from taking the field for the first time in their 2024 training camp. However, due to the ramp-up procedure the NFL mandates for the start of a camp, the players won't actually put on pads until their fifth practice, on Tuesday, July 29. It's not until then that things truly get serious for the players in 70s jerseys, most of whom are offensive linemen.

The Buccaneers used their offseason program to begin the installation of new Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen's playbook, which is expected to utilize a wide variety of run schemes. During the team's meetings and workouts in April, May and June, the linemen could watch tape and go through the motions of, say, a wide-zone run or a duo blocking arrangement, but they couldn't really put their muscles into it. That will change pretty soon.

Coen has made the revitalization of the Bucs' running game a top priority in 2024, so that will clearly be a team-wide goal in training camp. Within that wider structure, each individual player is sure to have his own set of goals. As we close in on reporting day for training camp, where going through the Bucs' 91-man camp roster in sets of 10s, taking a guess at what those individual goals might be. Unlike the 60s, the group of Bucs wearing jerseys in the 70-79 range does include a couple of men on defense, but most of this group is the remainder of the offensive line room.

#70 OL Robert Hainsey: The Buccaneers have drafted six offensive linemen in either the first or second round during Jason Licht's tenure as general manager, and each of the first five was in the starting lineup in Week One of his rookie season. The sixth is this year's top pick, Graham Barton, who primarily played left tackle at Duke but is initially going to slot in at center for the Buccaneers. All of which means Hainsey, who admirably held down the pivot the past two seasons while Ryan Jensen was trying to return from a knee injury, is most likely to have a new assignment this season. Fortunately, the Bucs have been touting Hainsey's valuable versatility since they drafted him in the third round in 2021, so there could be multiple pathways to playing time for the former Notre Dame star. The goal for Hainsey in training camp would presumably be to battle for the largest role possible, whether that means holding off Barton at center or getting into the mix for the open left guard job. If a Week One starting job does not prove to be in the cards, Hainsey could still use camp to show how much value he brings to the team by being a trusted reserve option at several different positions.

#71 OL Lorenz Metz: Metz made it to the NFL through the International Player Pathway program, and in fact it's that status that allows him to be exempt from the current roster limit, letting the Bucs bring 91 man into camp. The Buccaneers are Metz's second NFL team, after he signed with the Bears last summer as an undrafted rookie out of Cincinnati. However, Chicago waived him just before training camp, so this is his first opportunity to put on pads for an NFL club. At 6-9 and 310 pounds, Metz, a native German, has the size to play in the league; now he needs to demonstrate to Bucs' coaches that he has the raw talents to be a legitimate prospect. He didn't play a down of football until he was 18 years old, but he definitely showed potential with the Bearcats, making starts at both guard and tackle and earning first-team All-AAC honors as part of a powerful Bearcats offense in 2022. Metz is listed as an "OL" on the Bucs' roster, which means the coaches may take a look at him at several different positions. He'll be hoping to show he can handle one or more of them well enough to, at the least, get a shot at a practice squad spot.

#72 OL Luke Haggard: Haggard was one of three undrafted rookies in 2023 who performed well enough in camp to earn a spot on the Bucs' practice squad to start the regular season. He held onto that spot for the entire season and then signed a new contract with Tampa Bay, so he'll get an opportunity to take another step forward in his NFL journey. The goal for camp will surely be to show the progress he made over a full year with the club and hopefully follow the type of path previously taken by Nick Leverett, among others. Leverett also spent his rookie season on the Bucs' practice squad but then made the active roster in his second year and eventually rose to starter status. Haggard played left tackle at Indiana but the Buccaneers slotted him at guard in training camp last year. His scouting report prior to the 2023 draft listed good foot quickness and body control for his height but suggested that he might need to get stronger to handle power rushers in the pros. Haggard could head into his second camp looking to demonstrate that he has indeed made strides in that area.

#73 OL Brandon Walton: Walton took an important step forward in his NFL career in 2022. Originally an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic, he had joined the Buccaneers, his third NFL team, as a waiver claim in mid-August of 2021. He ended up on the practice squad that year but came the following summer and earned a spot on the active roster, after which he appeared in 11 games and made two starts at left tackle. Walton was on the roster again last season but Justin Skule assumed the role of the Bucs' primary swing tackle, which left Walton on the game day inactive list for most of the campaign. Barring injury, the Bucs are set at the two starting tackle spots with Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, so that would appear to leave Walton and Skule as the two primary competitors for that swing tackle job in 2024. That would certainly be a worthwhile goal for Walton this year, as he tries to get back to having a helmet on for game days and continue the upward trajectory of his career.

#74 DL Earnest Brown: Brown was one of the last three players added to the Bucs' current 91-man roster, signing with the Buccaneers on May 22 after he had been waived a week earlier by the 49ers. Originally a fifth-round pick by the Rams in 2021, Brown does have some regular season playing experience, getting into 12 games over two seasons in Los Angeles. He even made three starts for the Rams in 2022. The Buccaneers have a crowded defensive line room heading into camp, having re-signed Will Gholston, Greg Gaines and C.J. Brewer, gotten Mike Greene back from injured reserve and added Judge Culpepper, Lwal Uguak, Eric Banks during the offseason. Of those younger additions, Brown has the advantage of NFL experience and will surely be looking to snag a reserve spot on the regular season roster. If that fails to materialize, it's worth noting that Tampa Bay carried two defensive linemen – Brewer and Deadrin Senat – on their practice squad for most of last season, and Senat is no longer with the team. Brown should and surely will set his sights higher than that, but even a practice squad spot would keep him in the game and give him further opportunities to get back into regular season action.

#75 DL Lwal Uguak: Uguak didn't see much action in his four college seasons, the first three at Connecticut and the last one, in 2002, at TCU. Accordingly, he didn't get much attention from the NFL in 2023, instead going to the Canadian Football League as a first-round pick by the Montreal Alouettes. He became a starter for Montreal by the end of the season, recorded three sacks and helped the Alouettes win the CFL championship. All of that led to a tryout with the Buccaneers last December and a reserve/futures contract in February. Uguak is listed at 6-4 and 269 pounds and he showed off quick feet during the Buccaneers' offseason workouts. Since this will be his first NFL training camp, the Sudan native will presumably be looking to show that he does indeed have the raw skills to be a developmental player at the highest level of the game. He could be hoping to duplicate the path of Mike Greene, who also went undrafted in 2022 but used a year on the Bucs' practice squad to improve to the point that he graduated to the active roster and saw some playing time last year.

#76 G Sua Opeta: Opeta was one of two veteran offensive linemen with NFL starting experience the Bucs signed in the offseason, along with former Giant Ben Bredeson, and Head Coach Todd Bowles said both would get an opportunity to compete for the open left guard position. Opeta was part of an extremely talented offensive line group in Philadelphia, and while he wasn't a starter when everyone was healthy he proved to be a valuable fill-in when that wasn't the case. An undrafted free agent out of Weber State in 2019, Opeta started two games each at tackle in 2020 and 2021 and six at guard last season, appearing in 38 games overall. Opeta is a powerful blocker who can drive defenders back and create lanes in the run game, a trait he will surely be looking to demonstrate in training camp as the Buccaneers look to make the aforementioned improvements in their ground game. He handled pass blocking reasonably well during his extended playing time last season but will probably want to show the coaches that he can do even better in that regard, particularly when going one-on-one with the Bucs' quicker interior linemen. The main goal, of course, will be to win that competition at left guard.

#77 T Justin Skule: Skule first joined the Bucs in September of 2022, landing on the practice squad after he had been released by the 49ers in the final roster cutdown. Originally a sixth-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2019, he had logged 12 starts at left tackle over his first two seasons in San Francisco but then spent 2021 on injured reserve. After finishing out 2022 on the Bucs' practice squad – and getting multiple game day elevations along the way – he made it back to the active roster last year and, as noted above, won the primary job at swing tackle. That made him active for all 17 games, though he didn't make any starts as Wirfs and Goedeke both made it through the season without missing any contests. With Wirfs and Goedeke back for more, Skule's projected role in 2024 would seem to be the same one he held last year. Retaining that job should be a primary goal for the sixth-year blocker, as there are some potential competitors in Walton, second-year player Silas Dzansi and some other young players the team signed this offseason.

#78 T Tristan Wirfs: Last summer, Wirfs had the most clearly defined primary camp goal of any player on the Bucs' roster, as he was making a high-profile switch to left tackle after three seasons of All Pro-caliber play on the right side. While Buccaneers coaches and most NFL observers were confident he would handle the new position as well as he did right tackle, Wirfs later admitted to experience some anxiety over the switch, as he worried about letting his teammates down at a critical position. Of course, the coaching staff was right, Wirfs made the Pro Bowl and became a team captain for the first time. Wirfs was serious about growing as a team leader last year, and he succeeded in that as well, but that is an ongoing pursuit and he will likely be looking to continue developing in that role this summer. The Buccaneers are absorbing a new playbook and a new, more varied approach to running the ball, and Wirfs will surely be trying to lead the way for his group as they handle that process.

#79 G Elijah Klein: Unlike the Bucs' recent first and second-round picks, offensive linemen drafted in the sixth round are not often earmarked for starting jobs at the beginning of their rookie seasons. The Buccaneers selected Klein out of UTEP with the 220th overall pick in April and immediately touted his versatility. He played both guard and tackle in college and the Bucs think he could even handle the center position if needed. Still that doesn't mean Klein himself should dismiss the idea of earning a starting job early in his career, particularly since there is one spot that is wide open on that unit right now. Bucs Director of Player Personnel Mike Biehl said Klein fits the mold of what the Bucs look for in offensive linemen, as he is "tough, smart and dependable," and has "a good chance to make it and contribute." That, too, is a reasonable goal for any late-round pick, to demonstrate that the traits the team saw during the draft do indeed translate into a valuable contributor, even if a starting role is a little farther down the road.