Buccaneers Roster Reset: Recent top draft pick finds himself in heated battle
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2023 roster is nowhere near a final product, but, the NFL Draft has certainly cleared up some questions. At the same time, a new question has been raised: What happens with Logan Hall now that the Buccaneers drafted Calijah Kancey with the 19th overall pick in the first round? Hall will […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2023 roster is nowhere near a final product, but, the NFL Draft has certainly cleared up some questions.
At the same time, a new question has been raised: What happens with Logan Hall now that the Buccaneers drafted Calijah Kancey with the 19th overall pick in the first round? Hall will still have a good chance to compete for a starting role on the defense, but he's no longer the de-facto starter like he was pre-draft.
With that in mind, let's take a look at where the Buccaneers roster stands after the 2023 NFL Draft. Note: single asterisks (*) represent 2023 draft picks and double asterisks (**) represent undrafted free agents.
Quarterback
- Baker Mayfield
- Kyle Trask
The skinny: Mayfield is the front-runner to win the job and Trask is going to have to have what amounts to a near-perfect offseason in order to win the job. Even if Mayfield is just "meh", Trask will have to be very good in order for the coaching staff to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Running back
- Ronnie Brown**
- Chase Edmonds
- Patrick Laird
- Sean Tucker**
- Ke'Shawn Vaughn
- Rachaad White
The skinny: The Buccaneers RB room seems pretty set. They'll certainly add some UDFAs to the mix, but odds are they'll carry three RBs into the season and Laird will return to the practice squad.
Wide receiver
- Taye Barber**
- Mike Evans
- Russell Gage Jr.
- Chris Godwin
- Kaylon Geiger
- Rakim Jarrett**
- Ryan Miller**
- Trey Palmer*
- Kendrick Thompkins
- Kade Warner**
The skinny: The Buccaneers need to add some more depth at receiver. Considering the injuries the top-3 options in Evans, Godwin, and Gage suffered last year, the Buccaneers would be foolish to limit bodies, here. In terms of pecking order, Palmer should win the WR4 job, with Geiger and Thompkins filling in behind that. The Athletic's Dane Brugler gave Jarrett a 6th-7th round grade and he has a ton of talent, so don't be surprised if you hear his name mentioned often in the coming months.
Tight end
- Dominique Dafney
- Payne Durham*
- Ko Kieft
- Cade Otton
- Tanner Taula**
- David Wells
The skinny: Otton is TE1 heading into the season and Durham should win the backup job. Don't worry – Kieft is still safe. He's just not the same kind of player the aforementioned guys are. The Buccaneers will continue to incorporate him in the offense every and now then while Durham and Otton steer the ship, so to speak.
Offensive line
- Silas Dsanzi**
- Matt Feiler
- Luke Haggard**
- Robert Hainsey
- Grant Hermanns
- Ryan Jensen
- Nick Leverett
- Cody Mauch*
- John Molchon
- Chris Murray**
- Michael Niese
- Justin Skule
- Aaron Stinnie
- Brandon Walton
- Tristan Wirfs
The skinny: Jason Licht said that Mauch will start off at guard, so it looks like the team is going to give Goedeke his shot at RT, which means Tristan Wirfs moves to left tackle in the near future. That, or Brandon Walton will get a crack at the starting LT job, Wirfs will stay at RT, and Goedeke will join the fray that is the guard competition. Either way, the interior of the Bucs offensive line is full of competition and will be a fun battle to watch.

Defensive line
- Greg Gaines
- Mike Greene
- Logan Hall
- Calijah Kancey*
- Nelson Mbanasor**
- Pat O'Connor
- Willington Previlon
- Deadrin Senat
- Vita Vea
The skinny: All of a sudden, Hall's future is a big question mark. That doesn't mean he's going to get cut by any means, but it's safe to assume Kancey beats him out for one of the starting jobs on the defensive line. Hall had a pretty disappointing rookie campaign, but showed some improvement toward the end of the year. It wasn't enough improvement to cement his status, however, and he's going to be in the fight of his life come training camp. Vea and Gaines will hold down the other spots while Hall and Kancey duke it out (figuratively, of course).
Outside linebacker/EDGE
- Shaquil Barrett
- YaYa Diaby*
- Cam Gill
- Anthony Nelson
- Jose Ramirez*
- Hamilcar Rashed
- Charles Snowden
- Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
The skinny: This is going to be a fun group to watch during training camp. No one knows when Barrett will be a full-go, which leaves the door wide-open when it comes to playing time. Tryon-Shoyinka is entering the most important season of his career and Nelson is typically best suited as a rotational guy. Can Diaby, Ramirez, or one of the other guys break into the starting lineup? We'll see.
Inside linebacker
- Jeremy Banks**
- Brandon Bouyer-Randle**
- K.J. Britt
- Lavonte David
- SirVocea Dennis*
- Ulysees Gilbert
- J.J. Russell
- Devin White
The skinny: It'll be interesting to see what Dennis brings to the mix. The top-3 linebacker positions appear to be set, well, the top-2 definitely are and Britt seems to have a good hold on the LB3 job. Dennis is an instinctive 'backer that could surprise some people over the next few months.
Cornerback
- Anthony Chesley
- Carlton Davis III
- Jamel Dean
- Dee Delaney
- Don Gardner
- Joshua Hayes*
- Keenan Isaac**
- Duron Lowe
- Zyon McCollum
- Derek Pitts Jr.**
The skinny: The Buccaneers have their top-2 perimeter guys locked in place, but they need to figure out who the nickelback is going to be. Enter Hayes, who is probably the front-runner heading into offseason workouts. The team does have interest in seeing what Delany can do, so don't rule him out.

Safety
- Chris Izien**
- Kaevon Merriweather**
- Ryan Neal
- Nolan Turner
- Antoine Winfield Jr.
The skinny: It's pretty surprising the Buccaneers didn't add a true safety in the draft. They added a couple of UDFAs in Merriweather and Izien, but it certainly feels like there is more work to do, here.
Special teams
- Jake Bates (K)**
- Jake Camarda (P)
- Evan Deckers (LS)**
- Chase McLaughlin (K)
- Zach Triner (LS)
- Jake Verity (K)
The skinny: It'll be interesting to see what happens between McLaughlin and Verity. McLaughlin has a better leg, but is inconsistent when it comes to mid-range kicks. Verity is a complete wildcard who has attempted zero NFL kicks in his career. He did make 75.5% of his field goals in college, however, so he has a shot to win the job.
