Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Photos: Five Mini-Camp Questions
From the order of the cornerbacks on the eventual depth chart to the efficiency of the quarterbacks in a new offense, there are several questions that might see the first hint of an answer this week. - Scott Smith
Alterraun Verner is essentially a lock to start at left cornerback, but after that the depth chart is far from set.
The Buccaneers' offensive line features a strong and underrated performer at right tackle in Demar Dotson, and coveted free agency acquisitions at left tackle and center in Anthony Collins and Evan Dietrich-Smith, respectively. The question arises at the two guards. If Nicks is ready for the regular season, half of the issue will be resolved in very emphatic fashion, but this week the Bucs will be auditioning plenty of others.
There has been talk of more up-tempo possessions, but no real confirmation or explanation of what that might mean. So we may have to wait a bit longer to see how Tedford's group will attack the opposition, but we can tell now if McCown and Glennon are picking the offense up and delivering the ball on target.
Lavonte David will start at weakside linebacker for the Buccaneers. We also know that there will be a starting middle linebacker and a starting strongside linebacker. Those starting jobs are much less obvious, although the field of candidates is pretty small. Of course, Mason Foster surely intends to keep his gig in the middle, which he's held for the last three years, and there are some who think he could flourish in the Bucs' new defense.
Both Jorvorskie Lane and Lonnie Pryor were more than fullbacks on their college teams; Lane, in fact, was pretty distinctive as a 280-pound featured back at Texas A&M. Both could probably give the Buccaneers the occasional short-yardage or goal-line run, but does the team really need that option?
