The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finished training camp, and the early read on their rookie class is starting to sharpen. With one preseason game still left against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bucs have already seen enough to start sorting out which draft picks look ready to matter right away - and which ones still have work to do.
At the bottom of that list is Elijah Roberts Schrauth, the only one of Tampa Bay’s seven draft picks who hasn’t been able to log much time this offseason. A knee injury early in camp has kept him on the sideline for a big chunk of the summer, and that has limited his chance to battle Dan Feeney and Luke Haggard for the swing guard job. The injury is not season-ending, but with so little practice, it’s tough to see Schrauth making much of an imprint in 2026.
A little higher sits defensive tackle Elijah Roberts Capehart, a fifth-rounder who has shown enough to suggest he could rotate in here and there next season. He’s looked solid in camp and in preseason action, and Friday’s game against the Jaguars gives him another chance to show out.
Capehart has also been learning in a room with A'Shawn Robinson and Vita Vea, and that mix of veteran guidance and raw athleticism gives him a path to develop into a useful player over time. For now, rotational snaps feel like the most realistic role.
Tight end Tez Johnson Sharp has also made noise. The sixth-round pick has pushed himself into the conversation for the team’s fourth tight end spot against Devin Culp, and he’s not just hanging around - he’s looked better, gotten some first-team reps, and played well in preseason so far. He’s still a work in progress, but the Bucs clearly like the athletic upside and haven’t been shy about using him.
Cornerback Jacob Parrish Scott looks like he could carve out a much bigger job than a lot of rookies do. The nickel corner spot appears to be there for the taking, and Scott has flashed the kind of aggressive, physical game that fits what Todd Bowles wants to do.
He’s delivered strong tackles and pass deflections throughout camp and preseason, and his work with the starting defense for the first two drives against the Kansas City Chiefs stood out. That nickel role has mattered in Bowles’ system before, and Scott’s style gives Tampa Bay another piece who can help open up the defense.
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka Hurst was always the big question in this class: how much would the archetypal X wideout really matter as a rookie? The answer, at least based on camp, might be a lot.
Injuries to Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan have given Hurst more chances, and he’s run with them. After a quieter start, he’s stacked together circus catches and touchdowns in the back half of camp and has already become a dependable option for Baker Mayfield.
Egbuka and McMillan still matter, but Hurst looks ahead of schedule and could end up in the end zone often.
Linebacker J.J. Trotter has been one of the most impressive rookies in the group.
Drafted in the second round out of Missouri, he’s shown the speed to shoot gaps, the force to finish plays and enough coverage ability to ease some of the concerns that followed him into camp. He’s also brought a little edge, talking trash to veterans and earning praise for it.
SirVocea Dennis is still ahead of him on the depth chart for now, but that may not last long if Trotter keeps playing like this.
And then there’s edge rusher Donovan Bain, the pick who may have done the most to change minds already. He slid to No. 15 in the draft because of arm-length concerns, but the offseason has only made those worries look sillier.
Bain’s motor has been relentless, his hump move has already beaten plenty of left tackles, and his work after practice has stood out just as much as what he’s done in drills and games. Even with only six preseason snaps, he’s been Tampa Bay’s highest-graded PFF rookie in preseason so far.
Todd Bowles liked enough of what he saw to keep him out of the first preseason game, and Bain looks like the kind of pressure player the Bucs can lean on even if the sack totals don’t come fast.
In Other News...
Bucs Win Total Is Suddenly Becoming A Real Debate
National analysts are starting to sound a lot more intrigued by the Buccaneers than they were a few months ago. After a rough finish last season and the usual offseason noise around contracts, the conversation has shifted toward whether Tampa Bay might be better positioned than the broader public assumed, with voices like Dominique Foxworth, Kimberley Martin and Dan Pompei all leaning more optimistic about the coming year.
Pompei went so far as to suggest the Bucs could clear an eight-win expectation, and the reasoning behind that outlook is becoming easier to follow. Rookie Rueben Bain Jr. adds another layer of intrigue, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson gives the offense a different feel, and Baker Mayfield enters the season with plenty of motivation after the way things unfolded a year ago. For a team that was being written off not long ago, that kind of quiet momentum has made Tampa Bay one of the more interesting debates in the league. [Read more 🡒]
Baker Mayfield Just Reopened A Buccaneers Question Fans Know Too Well
The Buccaneers joint practice with the Jaguars ahead of the preseason finale offered a familiar backdrop for Tampa Bay fans, with Baker Mayfield taking a moment to revisit one of the more meaningful coaching relationships of his recent run. Mayfield spoke highly of Liam Coen, his former offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay and now the Jaguars head coach, pointing to Coens adaptability and the way he communicates with quarterbacks. It was the kind of reminder that can make a practice field feel a little more like a reunion, even with the season still ahead.
For the Buccaneers, though, it also nudged open a question they know well: what exactly did Coens arrival mean for Mayfields game, and how much of that success followed him out of Tampa Bay? Coen has since helped both Mayfield and Trevor Lawrence turn in strong performances in recent seasons, giving his rsum a broader reach and keeping his name in the same conversation whenever quarterback development comes up. For a team that has already moved on, the connection is still hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Rookie LB Is Forcing His Way Into A Bigger Role
Josiah Trotter has kept turning heads throughout Buccaneers training camp, and his play in the joint practices has only strengthened the case that he belongs in a much larger role right away. The rookie inside linebacker has flashed as a run stopper, as a blitzer and in coverage, giving Tampa Bay a look at a player who seems comfortable doing just about everything asked of him.
The buzz picked up even more after he intercepted a Trevor Lawrence pass during work against the Jaguars, the kind of play that tends to stick with a coaching staff. Todd Bowles has already praised Trotters instincts and football intelligence, and with injuries thinning the linebacker room, the path is opening for him to line up next to Alex Anzalone and handle an every-down workload sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]