A brand new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts each Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Every week, the Pewter Reporters sort out one other robust query. This week’s immediate: Who’s one of the best Bucs participant to return from the Senior Bowl within the Jason Licht period?
Scott Reynolds: Ali Marpet Was An Unimaginable Discover In Cell
Former Bucs LG Ali Marpet – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
When it comes to sheer expertise the Bucs have had a few superb guards within the staff’s historical past – each from the Senior Bowl. Davin Joseph, the staff’s first-round choose in 2006, made two Professional Bowls earlier than a knee harm within the 2012 preseason prematurely ended his profession trajectory. Ali Marpet, Tampa Bay’s second-round choose in 2015, was in all probability probably the most gifted guard in staff historical past, however was snubbed for a number of Professional Bowls due to the staff’s struggles and 5 playoff-less seasons till Tom Brady arrived and helped the staff win Tremendous Bowl LV in 2020. Marpet was named to his lone Professional Bowl the subsequent season in 2021 after serving to Tampa Bay win a franchise-best 13 video games earlier than abruptly retiring on the age of 28 with a number of years left in his prime.
Marpet turned heads on the Senior Bowl in 2015 after a stellar profession at left sort out at Hobart Faculty in New York. His superior athleticism, play power and tenacity had been on show in Cell, Alabama when he moved inside to protect. The Bucs had been in search of one other guard to pair with Logan Mankins, one other gifted guard who was acquired in a commerce with New England in 2024 on the age of 32 and made the Professional Bowl in Marpet’s rookie season. He caught the attention of common supervisor Jason Licht, who confirmed an affinity for locating diamond-in-the-rough offensive linemen within the draft starting with Marpet that yr.
Licht liked Marpet a lot he traded up from the third spherical into the second spherical to safe him after deciding on left sort out Donovan Smith out of Penn State within the second spherical. Mockingly, the 2 performed subsequent to one another on the Senior Bowl that yr and wound up changing into greatest buddies in Tampa Bay and helped the staff win Tremendous Bowl LV collectively. Licht’s success of drafting small faculty offensive linemen from the Senior Bowl to play guard continued with Humboldt State’s Alex Cappa in 2018 and North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch in 2023 – however it began with Marpet in 2015.
Matt Matera: Zyon McCollum Has Rapidly Gone Up By The Ranks
Bucs CB Zyon McCollum – Photograph by: USA At this time
In relation to Zyon McCollum and his worth to Tampa Bay, it’s vital to level out that McCollum performed on the FCS faculty Sam Houston and wound up being a fifth-round choose (157th total). From there he turned an eventual starter and one of the best nook in Tampa Bay over the past two seasons. Gamers don’t sometimes journey that kind of path too typically.
McCollum, who attended the Senior Bowl in 2022, was additionally invited to the East-West Shrine recreation that yr as nicely, however opted for Cell. He turned the primary defensive again from his faculty to get drafted since 1989, and the primary participant at any place out of Sam Houston to get drafted since 2018. These had been massive sneakers to fill, and fill them he did. Whether or not it was on the Senior Bowl or with the Bucs, the primary noticeable trait about McCollum is his velocity. His dedication to getting higher each season has additionally been nice to see.
Though McCollum struggled as a rookie with tackling, he made it some extent of emphasis and improved leaps and bounds in yr two. That 2023 season additionally confirmed how vital he was for the Bucs, as he began in 9 video games changing injured corners. In 2024, he turned the total time starter and recorded the primary two interceptions of his profession. There’s nonetheless a methods to go, however together with his dedication to his craft, McCollum is proving to be an absolute steal by the entrance workplace after three seasons.
Bailey Adams: Anthony Nelson Has Given The Bucs Immense Worth
Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
My unique choose was going to be exterior linebacker Yaya Diaby due to the way in which he went from comparatively unproven to Senior Bowl standout to the Bucs’ sack chief as a rookie in 2023. However it could be too early to present the nod to Diaby, and on second thought, the worth that Tampa Bay has gotten out of Anthony Nelson makes him an under-the-radar choose for this immediate. Nelson, an Iowa product, was on the 2019 Senior Bowl, and the Bucs favored him sufficient to make him their fourth-round choose in that yr’s draft.
Nelson didn’t flash a lot as a rookie in 2019, although he did report a compelled fumble and a go defensed whereas taking part in sparingly over 9 video games (one begin). In 2020, he performed 16 video games (one begin) and recorded his first profession sack as a part of Tampa Bay’s Tremendous Bowl LV-winning staff. After that, the large 6-foot-7 exterior linebacker actually started to thrive. He notched a career-high 5.0 sacks over 17 video games (two begins) in 2021, then topped that in 2022 with 5.5 sacks and three compelled fumbles in 17 video games (eight begins).
Nelson dropped to a few sacks in 2023 and went again as much as 4 in 2024, plus he had what wound up being a season-saving compelled fumble in time beyond regulation of a Week 13 win over the Panthers. Over 92 profession video games in Tampa Bay (18 begins), Nelson has 18.5 sacks, 42 quarterback hits, 26 tackles for loss, 5 compelled fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 5 passes defensed. The fourth-round choose has develop into a dependable hand in Todd Bowles’ protection. He’s somebody who Bowles trusts to do something at any given second, and the truth that Tampa Bay has gotten a lot worth out of him getting into his seventh season makes Nelson an ideal Senior Bowl success story for Jason Licht.
Josh Queipo: Cody Mauch Is On The Verge Of Being A Professional-Bowler
The Bucs have had an unimaginable run of excellent fortune from Cell attendees over time. The very best might but to return. Mauch is coming off of a powerful sophomore marketing campaign the place he had the bottom stress charge amongst all beginning guards within the NFC. He additionally paired nicely with Adam Slivon’s choose under to kind probably the most spectacular double staff tandems within the league.
With two years left on his rookie deal, Mauch might vie for a Professional Bowl and presumably even an All-Professional nod in yr three. That’s fairly the ascension from a former left sort out out of North Dakota State who solely took his first significant snaps on the inside when he first arrived on the Senior Bowl in 2023. Since then, he has efficiently navigated the leap to the NFL, a place change from sort out to protect, and a facet swap to the suitable. Professional Soccer Focus has him solely permitting 19 whole pressures and simply two sacks in all of 2024, whereas crediting him with a 98.5 go block effectivity ranking and a 74.2 total grade.
However the actual cause Mauch stands head and shoulders above everybody else is that this superb overview he gave on yelp whereas in Cell.
Try this Yelp overview for Stroll-On’s Sports activities Bistreaux – Cell Restaurant!https://t.co/Icfs3NMRbm
@walk_ons
— Cody Mauch (@CodyTud) February 3, 2023
Adam Slivon: Luke Goedeke Ended Up Being Nice Worth From Senior Bowl Pipeline
Luke Goedeke was a participant within the 2022 Senior Bowl, months earlier than he turned the 57th total choose by the Bucs within the 2022 NFL Draft. Goedeke briefly practiced in Cell, Alabama earlier than struggling a hamstring harm and was out for the remainder of the week. Nonetheless, he did sufficient to get on the map of Tampa Bay’s entrance workplace, and apparently sufficient, labored as an offensive sort out throughout particular person drills.
Bucs RT Luke Goedeke – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Since then, Goedeke has solely confirmed worthy of his Senior Bowl – and draft – standing. Though it was well-documented that he struggled as a rookie at left guard, he rapidly settled again in as an above-average proper sort out over the previous couple of seasons. Head coach Todd Bowles even mentioned after the season that he made a number of the greatest strides in 2024.
“I actually like the place Luke Goedeke performed – I favored the way in which he got here again this yr and performed,” Bowles mentioned. “Even after he acquired damage with the concussion, he got here again and he made loads of strides this season, as nicely.”
He has graded out because the Twenty seventh-best offensive sort out in 2023 and 2024 per Professional Soccer Focus. Enjoying in 13 video games this previous yr, Goedeke allowed simply three sacks regardless of typically matching up towards top-tier go rushers. His gritty angle has radiated inside the offensive line room and onto the sector, the place he’s recognized for his trash-talking. Luke Goedeke’s identify was first mentioned as a sleeper throughout Senior Bowl Week. Now? He’s solidified himself as probably the most underrated offensive tackles within the NFL.
