Buccaneers take important step towards finding their next Earnest Graham
The Buccaneers haven't exactly been one that's seen a whole lot of homegrown talent become Tampa Bay area superstars on Sundays. However, there have been some former players from the surrounding areas that have gone on to make a name for themselves in the pewter and red. One such player was former University of Florida […]
The Buccaneers haven't exactly been one that's seen a whole lot of homegrown talent become Tampa Bay area superstars on Sundays.
However, there have been some former players from the surrounding areas that have gone on to make a name for themselves in the pewter and red. One such player was former University of Florida running back Earnest Graham. The Lee County product went on to star for the Gators from 1999-2002 before spending the better part of a decade with the Buccaneers from 2003 to 2021.
Several local college players hope to pen a similar script starting on Thursday at One Buc Place. Per Greg Auman, close to two dozen players will work out for the Bucs at their local predraft workout event.
This is likely the equivalent of the speech Sean Astin listened to in the movie Rudy when he was standing on the practice field. The coach bellying at the walk ons that maybe they'll take one or two of them for their practice squad.
However, then again, few general managers have done as good a job at finding quality late draft and undrafted free agent standouts than Bucs general manager Jason Licht. The Buccaneers kept six undrafted free agents on their initial 53-man roster back in August 2023: RB Sean Tucker, WR Rakim Jarrett, OLB Markees Watts, CB Derrek Pitts, and safeties Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather.
It's of course a long shot that any of the tryout players end up on the 53-man roster when the preseason ends. That's just a numbers game. However, if there's a team that's shown a willingness to give them a chance, it's the Buccaneers. We'll see soon enough if there's another local favorite in the making.
