Training Camp has arrived for the 2026 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The first practice is on Wednesday and the first appearance of full pads since the end of the 2025 season is scheduled for next Monday. (Click here for a full rundown of all camp practices open to public viewing.)

Now that camp is here, the battles that were lightly bubbling during the offseason program will come to a full boil. Over the next month or so, the Buccaneers will determine what they believe is the best 53-man roster to pursue a return to the playoffs in 2026. A handful of starting jobs are also up for grabs.

But it's not all about roster spots and starting lineups. Some positions have rotations that need to be honed. Some players are looking to graduate to larger roles. There are rookies looking to show that they should be in the mix immediately when the season starts. Some veterans are returning from injuries.

Before all the action begins on Wednesday, we wanted to take one more pre-camp look at the current roster and depth chart (the theoretical depth chart, as an official one won't be released until the week of the first preseason game) and see which positions offered the richest combination of storylines for the next month. Since this is obviously subjective, we thought a Roundtable debate on the subject was the way to go.

Therefore, Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabe Kahaian and I are putting our heads together one more time to discuss this question: Which position group are you most interested in watching in this year's training camp? We had five other Roundtable sessions during the Fourth of July week, which you can review here. In that series, we rotated the order of choices, since we are not duplicating picks, and continuing that rotation means I get to go first in this one, followed by Gabe and then Bri.

Scott Smith: Outside Linebacker

Let's be real: Is there any single player we're all more excited about watching in training camp than Rueben Bain Jr., the Buccaneers' first round pick? He has already gained reputation for being intense and hyper-focused on football. He's just a rookie, but I fully expect him to be a tone-setter; in fact, I'm guessing the coaching staff will at times have to work with Bain to dial things back a bit, simply to stay in compliance with training camp rules. Bain should be particularly fun to watch in OL/DL one-on-one pass-rush drills.

Bain is just the beginning. The Buccaneers also added a key figure to the edge rotation, signing former Lion Al-Quadin Muhammad after he produced 11.0 sacks last year despite only playing 41% of Detroit's defensive snaps. How big will his role be in Tampa? Will he or Bain start opposite last year's Buccaneer sack leader, Yaya Diaby? Might we have a Shaq Barrett-type of situation on our hands, in which an interesting reserve for another team comes to Tampa and thrives in a starting role? It's not a perfect one-for-one comparison, since Barrett never had a double-digit sack season before signing a one-year prove-it deal with the Bucs in 2019, but there are certainly similarities.

Also, will David Walker be able to regenerate the hype that was building around him before his unfortunate mid-camp knee injury last year, which forced him to spend his rookie season on injured reserve. Before the injury, there were rumors that Walker, a fifth-round draft pick, had already secured a prominent spot in the edge rotation.

And what is Diaby's ceiling if he truly does find himself in the best rotation of quarterback hunters he has been a part of in his four seasons in the NFL. Diaby has 19.0 sacks over his first three campaigns, which is excellent production, particularly for a third-round pick who was initially thought of as more of an edge-setter against the run. Still, there is reason to believe he has double-digit sack seasons in his future, including the fact that he was eighth in the entire NFL in quarterback pressures last year.

On paper, those would be the four players most likely to make up the top of the rotation, and the Buccaneers rarely include more than four in that rotation during a game. However, there are plenty of other candidates for significant roles and training camp could alter that picture, or at the least build confidence in the depth at the position.

Anthony Nelson, who has produced between 3.0 and 5.5 sacks in each of the past five seasons, is highly regarded by the coaching staff and a high-volume player on special teams. Chris Braswell could still make good on the promise of his second-round pedigree as he heads into his third season. Mohamed Kamara has been with the team for almost a year now and turned some heads on the practice field last season. Undrafted rookies Yasir Holmes and Jack Pyburn will be looking to catch the coaches' eyes and hopefully secure a spot on either the active roster or the practice squad.

In the offseason, it was easy for a receiver or a defensive back to stand out with big catches or interceptions, but the guys in the trenches were obviously limited by the lack of pads and prohibition of intentional contact. Well, now it's time for contact and pads, and we're about to see what this edge rush group can do. I'll be watching that more than any other position this summer.

Gabriel Kahaian: Linebackers

Scott went with the slam dunk pick at outside linebacker and I can't blame him. That sent me back to the drawing board. The more I thought about it, the more I kept landing in the same place. The group with the most intrigue and the most unanswered questions is still in the front seven. I'm talking about our retooled linebacker corps with two new starters in the fold.

With Lavonte David hanging up his cleats this offseason, adding talented linebackers became a priority. The Bucs got to work in free agency, signing veteran Alex Anzalone, a core piece of Detroit's resurgence. He was one of General Manager Brad Holmes' first signings, brought in to run the defense. He went on to play the best football of his career in Detroit, racking up 490 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 26 tackles for loss across five seasons. He was also pivotal in the Lions' first playoff win in 32 years, leading the team with eight tackles and two tackles for loss in the Wild Card round against the Rams. Anzalone's range in coverage makes him a problem over the middle and his leadership will give the defense a sharp edge in 2026.

Now, enter Josiah Trotter. The son of Jeremiah Trotter, a member of the Eagles' Hall of Fame, was a second-round pick out of Missouri this past April. He rose to the occasion in the SEC, earning first-team honors against some of the best competition in the country. Put on the tape and two things jump out: his speed downhill and his motor. He profiles as a bruiser who can snuff out runs behind the line of scrimmage and he will have a major role next to Anzalone right away. Anzalone has done this before, helping mold Jack Campbell into a first-team All-Pro in Detroit. There will be a learning curve but Trotter has the mental makeup and the athletic profile to make an impact as a rookie. The Buccaneers are counting on it.

Outside of the two new starters, there are several more storylines that make this a fun group to follow. Tampa Bay also brought in Christian Rozeboom, who piled up 100-plus tackles for Carolina last year and picked off Baker Mayfield in Week 18. Then there's SirVocea Dennis, coming off a 100-plus tackle output and entering a contract year after three seasons in Todd Bowles' system. Former undrafted free agents John Bullock and Nick Jackson are back on the 90-man roster too after carving out depth roles last season.

Watching this group take shape during training camp will be one of the more telling stories of the summer and it could be a glimpse into the Buccaneers' ceiling this fall.

Brianna Dix: Wide Receiver

Following the departure of Mike Evans in free agency, a new era begins for the Bucs' receiver room featuring Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson and Ted Hurst III. Zac Robinson will be implementing a new system in Tampa Bay and excitement builds for the loaded receiver room and how each weapon will be maximized in 2026. Defensive coordinators will no longer be accounting for Evans; however, they will have to try and stop the versatile three-headed monster of Godwin, McMillan and Egbuka – all of whom can play in the slot and line up all along the formation.

Godwin missed five games in 2025 due to a fibula injury and played 428 snaps. Two games into his return from the significant ankle injury he suffered in November of 2024, Godwin sustained the aforementioned leg injury in Week Five at Seattle. Upon his return last season, he resumed his role in the slot and showcased his run-after-catch physicality, contested catch proficiency and blocking prowess to help spur the offense.

Egbuka played the most snaps of any Bucs receiver during his rookie campaign at 886 and lined up at all three receiver spots along the formation. His production hit a lull in the latter half of the season due to various factors but he emerged as a catalyst in the Bucs' 3-1 start. He effectively carried a heavy workload during a span in which Evans, Godwin and McMillan missed time. Egbuka concluded the month of September with 18 receptions for 282 yards (15.7 average) and four touchdowns, including a game-winner with 59 seconds left in the team's Week One victory over the Falcons. The savvy route-runner will get work in as the Z receiver and possesses a stellar catch radius, outstanding ball-tracking skills and the understanding of when to delay adjustments to keep defenders guessing.

McMillan suffered a significant neck injury in a preseason contest with the Steelers in August of 2025 that landed him on injured reserve and kept him in a constrictive brace for several months. He made his return against the Falcons in Week 15 and played 138 total snaps in 2025, including his first 100-yard receiving game against the Dolphins. He quickly carved out a role in the offense and showed his contagious energy that galvanized the squad and the long-strider displayed his ability to bait coverage with tempo, leverage and fakes. The route-running aficionado could end up being the X-Factor in the Bucs' retooled offensive system and he is adept sinking into breaks. Additionally, the Bucs' selected downfield threat Hurst in third round of the draft, and he has been getting work at the X spot. Johnson recorded 495 snaps in 2025 and is hard to bring down in the open field with explosion before and after the catch. With the talent in the room, I am looking forward to seeing this group on the grass in 2026.