The Buccaneers' fourth-round draft pick, out of Michigan State, Gholston is trying to win a spot in the team's defensive end rotation, with Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers the presumptive starters. Gholston could be getting a larger share of reps at right end in the camp days to come, as Clayborn sustained a groin injury on Wednesday that could keep him off the field for a bit.

On Wednesday, starting QB Josh Freeman singled out James as a rookie who is having a fine training camp, and it's obviously good to get an endorsement from the man who distributes the football. While Doug Martin is the clear starting tailback, the shape of the rest of the offensive backfield is still to be determined. James has plenty of competition from the likes of Peyton Hillis, Brian Leonard and Michael Smith, but the most field time could go to the player who proves most versatile.

Most training camps feature at least one or two undrafted rookies who immediately make you wonder just why they weren't drafted. Melvin fits that bill for the Buccaneers this year, coming in as a rookie free agent out of Northern Illinois. While Darrelle Revis is the obvious starter at left cornerback, the Bucs must determine who will start on the other side and who will join the secondary in nickel and dime packages. Second-round rookie Johnthan Banks and 2012 holdovers Leonard Johnson and Danny Gorrer are strong candidates, but Melvin has apparently performed well enough on the practice field to be in the conversation.

Like James, Glennon is slotting in behind a clear starter at his position in Josh Freeman, but the rookie's performance in August could say quite a bit about how the quarterback depth chart shapes up in September. Will the Bucs be confident enough in a rookie to make him the primary reserve to Freeman, active on game day and one snap away from taking the field? And with experienced reserve Dan Orlovsky also on the roster, will the Buccaneers choose to keep two or three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster this year? On Thursday, after Glennon led a strong two-minute drill to end practice, Head Coach Greg Schiano said that Glennon has been sharp throughout camp.

Schiano on Spence, one of the primary candidates to fill the open nose tackle position: "He's a very strong guy physically and he's made some big improvements, even from his college tape, as far as technique and stance and hands. He's got a lot of upside. The problem is, we need that upside to be [realized] soon. We're trying to accelerate it in every way we can, and he knows that." DT Gerald McCoy, the Pro Bowler Spence hopes to line up next to on the D-Line, has marveled at the strength Spence displays in the weight room.

Melvin isn't the only rookie corner trying to crack the roster in this summer's camp; Georgia's Branden Smith and Arizona State's Deveron Carr are in the same category. For any player on the bubble, an ability to contribute on special teams right away can end up being the deciding factor. In addition to the usual jobs covering and blocking on kicks, Smith might be able to get his foot in the door as a return man. He at least is one of the players who has been in the rotation when the Bucs are catching kickoffs on the practice field in camp. At Georgia, Smith averaged 17.8 yards on kickoff returns and 11.2 yards on punt returns, and he was occasionally used on offense in all four of his collegiate seasons, finishing with 38 carries for 363 yards.

After using their first-round pick to pry Revis away from the Jets in April, the Bucs used their highest remaining selection, a second-rounder, on Mississippi State's Banks just five days later. Those two could end up as the team's starting corners on opening day, and Banks has certainly raised the team's confidence level in him with a string of strong practices during the opening week of camp. It seems like a good bet that Banks will have some sort of prominent role in the Bucs' defense, but again, there is a lot of competition at cornerback in this year's training camp.

On Wednesday, Coach Schiano likened Means to a "mustang" and noted his explosiveness off the line. As is to be expected, Means sometimes looks very much like a rookie on the practice field, according to Schiano, and the trick will be for the fifth-round pick out of Buffalo to pull all of his talents together with the proper technique so that he can be an asset on defense. With a great ratio of size to speed, the 6-4, 260-pound Means is also a strong bet to earn a job on special teams, even if it takes more time to develop into a defensive contributor.

Wright came to the Buccaneers as an undrafted wide receiver out of Rutgers, where Schiano was the head coach through 2010. However, he knew that a potential part of the plan was a conversion to tight end, and indeed that position switch became official just before the end of the offseason program. That means Wright is simultaneously trying to learn all the details of a new position and find a place with the team beyond August, which is a significant challenge. There are currently 13 rookies in the Bucs' training camp, all of whom have a shot at making the team if they can prove they belong. Rounding out that group, in additiont to the nine pictured so far, are CB Deveron Carr, T Jace Daniels, LB Ka'lial Glaud and G Adam Smith.

At some point every fan is a rookie, too, and perhaps this is the first year for this youngster to forge a connection with the team. The open practices at the Buccaneers' 2013 training camp have been a popular destination for Bay area families looking for an interesting way to spend a morning (and get a handful of player autographs, to boot). This well-dressed young man looks like he's well on the way to being a Bucs fan for life. And who knows, maybe someday he'll be a part of the Bucs' rookie class of, say, 2026.