Trading Places

Well Buccaneer fans, it looks like you are going to have at least two new starters this year.

On Monday, two days after the Buccaneers' 20-15 win over Kansas City in preseason Week Two, the team issued an updated depth chart that featured several new starters.

On offense, 10th-year veteran Keydrick Vincent has supplanted incumbent Jeremy Zuttah as the starter at left guard. The Buccaneers signed Vincent as an unrestricted free agent on July 9 after he had spent the previous two seasons as a starter with the Carolina Panthers.

And on defense, seventh-year veteran Sean Jones has moved ahead of 2009 starter Sabby Piscitelli in their head-to-head battle for the starting strong safety spot. Jones, who has started 53 games over the last four seasons in Cleveland and Philadelphia, signed with the Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent on March 17.

Morris has stated that the starting lineups for the third game of the preseason would likely be a good indication of who the team will field to open the regular season against the Cleveland Browns on September 12.

The Sean Jones promotion wasn't much of a surprise to me seeing as how I predicted it just this morning and gave the justification for it.

The Keydrick Vincent promotion however was still mildly surprising to me. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people said from the moment he was signed that it was just a matter of time before he supplanted Jeremy Zuttah. However in my opinion, at least as far as the games went, Zuttah played well enough to keep his starting job. Which is to say I thought overall he played noticeably better than Vincent at left guard.

I will say that he totally sucked at center though which may have created a bad impression with the coaching staff. Or maybe the coaching staff was looking for a reason anyway. I really can't say at this point. I do like Vincent, especially when it comes to run blocking, and he is the much more physical player. But I do worry about him when it come to pass blocking when its an athletic guy he is matched up with.

Now I don't want it make it seem like this was some kind of travesty or something. Vincent can play and the guy has an impressive resume. Its just that for me and to me when it comes to the games I didn't think Vincent outplayed Zuttah at all. Of course the games are just a snap shot and I can't say what has been happening at practice. Either way, no matter who starts, we have some quality depth at that position now. And that was one of my worries going into this preseason.

Bucs Release Their First Depth Chart

Looks like the Bucs released their first depth chart for their upcoming preseason game this Saturday

OFFENSE

POS First Second Third Fourth Fifth

QB J. Freeman J. Johnson R. Carpenter
RB C. Williams D. Ward C. Smith K. Huggins
FB E. Graham C. Pressley K. Taylor
WR1 M. Williams R. Brown M. Spurlock T. Nunn C. Brooks
WR2 M. Stovall S. Stroughter A. Benn M. Clayton P. Parker
TE K. Winslow J. Stevens J. Gilmore R. Purvis J. Mastrud
LT D. Penn J. Lee X. Fulton
LG J. Zuttah K.Vincent
C J.Faine J. Compas D. Raiola
RG D. Joseph M. Dile
RT J.Trueblood D.Dotson D. Hardman

DEFENSE

POS First Second Third Fourth
LDE K. Moore T. Crowder B. Gilbeaux E. Lorig
UT G. McCoy R. Sims C. Powell
DT R. Miller B. Price D. Moore
RDE S. White M. Bennett G. Johnson J. Ruffin
SLB Q. Black D. Watson L. Robinson
MLB B. Ruud A. Hayward N.Koutouvides
WLB G. Hayes J. Alston R. McCoy
LCB A. Talib M. Lewis E. Biggers B. Anderson
RCB R. Barber E. Mack D. Roberson D. Pasco
SS S. Piscitelli S. Jones C. Lynch
FS T. Jackson C. Grimm D. Hall

Not a lot of surprises here. I will give you my thoughts though.

-Michael Clayton is listed as 4th string. Not a lot more than that needs to be said.

-I wouldn't expect Benn to be 3rd string after a few preseason games.

-Even though he's listed as 4th team I really hope we get a chance to see Kareem Huggins with the 2nd team O Line some. No way to judge how talented he is at the end of he 4th quarter behind the 3rd team line in my opinion.

-I wondered out loud if the Buccaneers silence on Xavier Fulton during the Donald Penn holdout meant he wasn't doing so hot or maybe they had big plans for him on the right side instead. It appears to be the former as he is listed at 3rd string for now. Might end up being the only miss of the draft last year.

-Although Jeremy Zuttah is listed as a starter there is no doubt his job is on the line. If Keydrick Vincent outplays him in these preseason games he will end up being a utility backup.

-The same can be said for the Sabby Piscitelli/Sean Jones position battle.

-Its very curious to me that the depth chart has Tim Crowder behind Kyle Moore at left defensive end but most of the people I have talked to have seen Crowder primarily backing up Stylez G. White on the right hand side. I have to wonder if its just one of those "on paper" deals with Crowder having no shot at all to start. The proof will probably be in the pudding. If Crowder gets preseason game reps at left end he probably still has an outside chance. If not its already over. Still if he hasn't been practicing left end much its kind of a bad deal to have to go out and play it under the lights. But hey that's life in the NFL for ya.

--Ryan Sims at 2nd team undertackle is not going to be pretty. I know they are grooming Brian Price to start at nosetackle but I would much rather see him at undertackle on the 2nd team with Sims at nose. Price is probably going to have to backup McCoy a lot anyway and for right now Roy Miller has no plans on giving up his starting spot anyway.

-I am mildly curious about Cody Grimm being 2nd string at Free, not Strong Safety. He was after all a linebacker in college. And I would think coverage would be his weakest area at the moment. But hey maybe they see something I don't. Gotta wonder how Cory Lynch feels about it though since he is stuck at 3rd string behind Sabby and Jones. Not that his feelings matter.

-Myron Lewis is already 2nd team and he's my odds on favorite to be the starting nickel back.

Did I miss anything?