2 days into the start of Bucs training camp at Celebration resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and I'm offering up my predictions on the final 53 man roster as the Bucs head into week 1 of the 2008 NFL season.
Already released, and waived, RB Corey Boyd, LB Teddy Lehman and WR Taye Biddle.
Moves to the PUP list which I believe will happen, RB Carnell Williams, and OT Luke Petitgout.
Here is how I see the 53 man roster shape up for the upcoming season. Their listing does not have any bearing on the depth chart. They are listed by position, followed by the number at that position, and then who I feel will remain.
QB (4)- Garcia, Griese, McCown, Johnson
OL (8)- Penn, Sears, Faine, Joseph, Trueblood, Economos, Davis, Zuttah
TE (4)- Smith, Stevens, Troupe, Gilmore
WR(7)- Galloway, Bryant, Clayton, Stovall, Jackson, Lucas, Warren
RB (4)- Askew, Graham, Bennett, Dunn
K- Bryant
P-Bidwell
DL (8)- Adams, Carter, White, Haye, Moore, Douglas, Hovan, Peterson
LB (7)- Brooks, Black, Ruud, June, Hayes, Cash, Nece
DB (9)- Barber, Buchanon, Talib, Wilson, Jackson, Phillips, Allen, Davis, Piscitelli
Some surprises of camp I believe will be:
The release of Ike Hillard, Mr. 3rd down. Stovall makes the team again as a monster on special teams as he was last year before a broken arm in the San Francisco game. Chad Lucas comes on as well. Ike will most definitely be gone if Paris Warren regains the form he had prior to his injury in preseason last year.
Michael Spurlock will be released. He will forever be remembered as the man which broke the curse, and finally returned a kickoff for a touchdown. However, he struggled as a returner and fumbled the ball a few times later in the season, and with the depth this Bucs team is bringing to camp this season, he'll find himself enjoying all those free meals at Tampa locales.
Antonio Bryant- This young, troubled wideout, is going to breakout in this system. This isn't David Boston V2.0, this is another Bruce Allen smart decision. I simply have a feeling that Joey Galloway is going to start showing his age this season and Bryant is going to take over as a possible CPOY candidate with 80 catches, 1200 yards and 8 touchdowns in this offense.
Return game- Gruden said one area he really wanted to improve on this offseason was the return game, punts or kickoffs. I hope there is some serious consideration given to the possibility of a Mike Bennett and Dexter Jackson backfield duo for kickoffs this season. The two of them have outrageous speed and it would be nice to see the Bucs start a drive around the 40, rather than the 25 all the time.