TAMPA, Fla. — Day three picks in the NFL Draft aren’t usually counted on to be key contributors for teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This fact is a little more profound this year as the team returns a championship caliber roster for the 2021 NFL season and every starting job is spoken for. If first-round pick Joe Tryon is a longshot to earn a starting job, then everyone is.
Even making the roster is going to be a bigger challenge for some this year compared to how hard it might have been in years passed. This won’t keep seventh-round pick Grant Stuard from bringing confidence and energy to every rep he gets though, starting with this past weekend’s rookie mini-camp.
“I feel like I have the opportunity to be dominant in [special teams],” Stuard said to the media after his first weekend working as a pro football player.
“It’s about the matchup and it’s pretty hard to match up with me when you have thirty yards of space between us. If you’re a [defensive back] or a receiver, I’m stronger than you. I kind of look at my matchup, feel the matchup, and attack them whichever I need to. But I really feel like I’m unblockable in that area of the game so I’m trying to be one of the best players in the league year one in that area of football.”
Year one. This year. Mr. Irrelevant is looking to put his mark on Bucs football, draft position be damned.
Of course, he isn’t the only one. In fact, he isn’t even the only linebacker looking to contribute on special teams as he climbs the position group depth chart behind stars Devin White and Lavonte David.
“I played special teams all four years of college,” said fifth-round draft pick K.J. Britt out of Auburn. “Even when I was a starter, I played special teams. Special teams is something that I do. We embrace it at Auburn. Most starters play special teams; that’s just the standard there. I feel like people try to downgrade it, but it’s just part of the game, it’s just part of ball. I’m just looking forward to playing ball and special teams is part of ball, so I’m ready to play.”
No coincidence the two linebackers carry a similar mentality. Both were teammates at the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl and stood out for a lot of the reasons they’re standing out now: Leadership, communication, and energy.
Britt even stayed at Auburn in 2020 after suffering an early season-ending injury so he could continue to be a voice of leadership for the defensive unit.
Of course, a good rookie minicamp doesn’t make a career and doesn’t indicate the Buccaneers have found two more diamonds in the rough like they’ve become so good at doing over the years. It isn’t a bad start though, either. Bucs fans know all too well the tales of players like Kenny Bell, for example, who look great in shorts but less than stellar in pads.
For the rookies this past weekend, the biggest test was one of fitness (Florida heat is no joke!) and adaptability mixed with football I.Q. The phrase ‘drinking from a firehose’ comes to mind.
The group seems to have done pretty well for themselves, and four tryout players who joined the rookies even earned contracts.
Still, there’s plenty to prove for guys like Britt and Stuard, but also plenty more opportunities ahead. Knowing they’ll need to make an impact on special teams helps them set their sights on a target. Having the desire to do so makes them fun to watch, and players to lookout for, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offseason programs move forward.
For more on this story and for more on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, check out the Locked On Bucs Podcast.
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