Bucs Mailbag: Draft Steal, Big Question At LG, Robert Hainsey’s Future

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: What was it we saw in wide receiver Jalen McMillan that we drafted him over other guys?

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo courtesy of Washington

ANSWER: Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan was an absolute steal for the Bucs. I really like this pick and I didn’t think he would make it to the end of the third round. Neither did the Bucs, and some teams were trying to trade up to get him before Tampa Bay did. Some minor injuries led to a drop in his production for the Huskies this season and that seemed to cause his draft stock to slide a bit. McMillan was essentially the third wide receiver on the Huskies’ stat sheet in 2023, as he caught 45 passes for 559 yards (12.4 avg.) and five touchdowns.

He missed four games due to a knee injury, but when he returned, he made a huge impact. McMillan had nine catches for 131 yards in the PAC-12 championship win over Oregon, a touchdown against Texas in the playoff victory, and Washington’s lone TD in the loss to Michigan in the national championship game. He’s a smooth route runner who has enough size and speed to beat man coverage and the football I.Q. to quickly identify holes in zone coverage and settle down in zone to pick up first downs.

In 2022, McMillan was actually the Huskies’ leading receiver with 79 catches for 1,098 yards and nine touchdowns. Rome Odunze, a Top 10 pick this year, had 75 receptions for 1,145 and seven TDs that season. Had McMillan stayed healthy last year, there is a very good chance his numbers would’ve rivaled Odunze’s again and he could’ve possibly outperformed Ja’Lynn Polk, too. McMillan is really good on third downs and in the red zone. He gives off some Godwin vibes – and it’s interesting that Godwin was a third-round pick as well back in 2017.

I liked McMillan over the next two receivers who went after him in the draft – Rice’s Luke McCaffrey at the end of the third round and Oregon’s Troy Franklin, who went early in the fourth round. Because WR3 is essentially a starting position in Liam Coen’s three-receiver set offense, it was more of a need than inside linebacker. North Carolina State’s Payton Wilson went a few spots after McMillan in the bottom of the third round and North Carolina’s Cedric Gray went early in the fourth round.

QUESTION: What Bucs draft picks got you pumped up and which ones left you head-scratching?

Bucs HC Todd Bowles, OL Graham Barton and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: To be honest, I’m really a big fan of this draft haul by Jason Licht and Todd Bowles. I actually think they’ve nailed the draft the last three years, finding some really quality starters and some players who can eventually develop into starters in a year or two.

This year’s draft hit on just about every need they have, and I didn’t see any reaches. It should also be noted that Licht didn’t make any trades, either. He was patient and stuck to his draft board.

I think some Bucs fans may think that Bucky Irving was a reach in the fourth round, but he really isn’t. This isn’t a Ke’Shawn Vaughn-type pick, as Vaughn was a reach in the third round of the 2021 draft and was ultimately a bust. Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema loves Irving as a running back, and I think he runs like a big back trapped in the body of a smaller back. His film is excellent. Irving had a fourth-round grade from most draft analysts.

I’m pretty pumped up about all the picks, really. Duke lineman Graham Barton and Georgia defensive back Tykee Smith were Bucs Best Bets and I absolutely love both players. I think they are perfects fits – Barton at either center or guard, and Smith is just a Todd Bowles-type defensive back through and through.

Pewter Report actually had Alabama pass rusher Chris Braswell in our very first Bucs Mock Draft back in January when we’re basically throwing darts because it’s before the college all-star games and any athletic testing. Draft boards are just starting to come together at that time, and it became clear at the Senior Bowl that Braswell was more of a second-round prospect than a first-rounder because he had a mediocre week in Mobile, Ala. But I really like his effort and his talent, and I think he can develop into a starting-caliber outside linebacker in Bowles’ defense.

QUESTION: It appears the expected roles of the Bucs’ first six picks are somewhat known, whether it be starter, role player or reserve. But what does the team expect from Devin Culp? I get he’s a seventh-round pick but I’m just curious if the team views him as a TE or possibly an H-back role.

Bucs TE Devin Culp – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I’m actually really pissed at myself because I was going to have Devin Culp as a Bucs Best Bet late Day 3 tight end, but swapped him out for Illinois’ Tip Reiman, who went way earlier than I expected him to. The Bucs had Reiman in for a Top 30 visit along with Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott, and I wasn’t sure if Culp, whom the team formally interviewed at the NFL Scouting Combine, did visit Tampa Bay.

It turns out he did. I just didn’t know if he was going to be drafted or signed as an undrafted free agent. As it turns out, if the Packers hadn’t drafted Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt one spot ahead of the Bucs in the seventh round, Tampa Bay would’ve drafted him instead and signed Culp as a priority free agent if he went undrafted.

Culp is a much smaller “move” tight end at 6-foot-3, 231 pounds. He’ll need to add some weight and strength at the next level, but he does have 4.47 speed and is easily the fastest tight end in Tampa Bay right now. He’ll likely play some H-back or the F role, which is typically a tight end lined up in the slot or flexed out in 1×3 set.

The Bucs plan on using Culp the way Sean McVay used Gerald Everett, a similarly-built receiving tight end, or Tyler Higbee in Los Angeles. Those Rams tight ends would often be isolated one-on-one against a defensive back or a linebacker to try to create some favorable matchups on the outside in the passing game.

QUESTION: After the draft how do Todd Bowles and Jason Licht view the battle for left guard at the moment? Is it a wide-open competition or is there any indication on them leaning towards someone already?

Bucs OL Graham Barton – Photo courtesy of Duke

ANSWER: That’s a great question about the left guard and that’s one I posed to assistant general manager John Spytek after the draft. Right now, it’s wide open with Graham Barton, the team’s first-round pick, slated to play center. I understand the reasoning because center is a more important position because it’s the tip of the spear up front, and the person responsible for all of the line calls.

But Spytek opened the door for Barton to possibly play guard, too. I think the Bucs plan on having an open competition for all three interior spots with Barton and Cody Mauch slated to fill two of those positions and Robert Hainsey, Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson challenging to be the other starter – whether that’s at center or guard. Sixth-round pick Elijah Klein could be in the mix if he’s ready, but he might need a year to develop and get stronger.

“I think the whole interior is up for grabs,” Spytek said. “Obviously Graham and Cody are going to factor into that somewhere. We obviously moved Cody from left tackle at North Dakota State to right [guard]. Could we move him back to left [side]? We could. It depends on who feels comfortable where. Sua and Bredeson and Klein now. We still like Robert Hainsey a lot. He’s played a lot of good football around here – and Brandon Walton.

“I look at from the standpoint of we have great competition in that room, which I think always elevates the play of the players who matter the most. Who is to rise to the occasion? Who knows how it’s going to shake out? And the fact that we can move these different parts different places … we’ll just let the guys compete, and we’ll plug-and-play the guys that do the best at wherever it is. We kind of got the two bookend tackles right now and then the rest of it is who wants it the most? We’ll be excited to see that competition.”

If Hainsey proves to be one of the best five offensive lineman – including tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke – then Barton could very well wind up playing guard as a rookie. Same with Bredeson at center. If Opeta winds up winning a guard role, then the interior would consist of Opeta and Mauch at guard with Barton at center. It will be interesting to see how the competition shakes out in camp and in the preseason.

QUESTION: Keeping Robert Hainsey as a backup center seems like a luxury. If he doesn’t have a shot at the starting left guard spot, what are the chances that the Bucs look to trade him?

Bucs C Robert Hainsey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I don’t know if Robert Hainsey has the size to play guard, especially with the Bucs wanting to get bigger up front across the offensive line. So I think he’s pigeonholed at center. He’s either going to win the starting job or be the backup center.

I don’t think Hainsey has much trade value at all. Maybe a late Day 3 pick. And if an injury were to happen to Graham Barton, there is more value in having an experienced backup like Hainsey to fill in rather than a sixth-round pick waiting in 2025.

Now if Hainsey were to lose the backup center job to Ben Bredeson, who can also play guard, it could be a different story. Yet most teams like to have three players capable of playing center on the roster because it’s such an important position. Ten centers were drafted this year, which is an unusually high number, so I don’t even think there would be big market for Hainsey if Jason Licht attempted to trade him in August.

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