Top Picks Shine; Bucs Rookie Camp Notes
May 10th, 2025
Another strong day for rookie CB Jacob Parrish.
Joe guesses the cynics would say top draft picks ought to stick out amongst the future camp meat and beer truck drivers of the world. So, in Day 2 of Bucs minicamp this afternoon, the top skill position players drafted were evident among the undrafted free agents and tryout players.
Roughly 45 minutes into practice, lightning alarms went off, chasing everyone into the air-conditioned Glazer Shed. The entirety of team periods were indoors, which means all 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 play.
As always, a reminder that this is underwear football. No pads. No hitting of any sort. And positively zero tackling.
Some play-by-play:
11-on-11
* First play was a boot to the right by quarterback Connor Bazelak (Bowling Green). Joe could hear Warren Sapp hollering at Chucky on the first play of training camp in Chucky’s first year as Bucs coach, “If you’re scared, say you’re scared!” Bazelak got a really nice gain out of it.
* Bazelak throws to the right sideline aiming for Emeka Egbuka, but the throw is wide, and there is cornerback Jacob Parrish to pick the ball off and house it. All practice, the third-round pick looked like the best defender on the field.
* Josh Williams (LSU) runs up the middle to the right side between the right guard and tackle.
* Egbuka is open over the middle and Bazelak throws way behind him. Egbuka was unable to reel the ball in.
* Connor Watkins (Villanova) tries to hit Jaden Miller (UTEP) over the middle down the right seam but the ball was very underthrown.
* Shane Watts (Fort Hays State) runs up the middle on the right side.
* Benn’d Around: Winston Wright (Eastern Carolina) tries to run an end around/jet sweep from left to right and safety Shilo Sanders reads the play like a book. Would have been an open field tackle, maybe a tackle for a loss if tackling was allowed.
* Owen Wright (Monmouth) runs up the middle on the left side. Guess shoving is OK if you can’t hit. Joe could have driven his F-150 from Bill Currie Ford through that hole.
* Jordan McCloud (Texas State) rifled (and Joe means rifled) the ball down the middle medium depth and receiver Tez Johnson skied for the catch. He took a tumble as he hit the turf, bounced up and spun the ball on the field to put an exclamation point on a solid play.
7-on-7
* Bazelak throws to Egbuka short and Egbuka weaved through traffic to get open and secure the ball.
* Same play this time Egbuka catches the ball near the left seam.
* Bazelak hits Johnson on a slant pass and Johnson catches the ball, turns up field, hollers something seemingly directed at corner Roman Parodie (Ohio) and houses the ball.
* Bazelak hits tight end Justin Ball (Mississippi State) on a short pass up the left sideline.
* Watkins connects with Johnson on a short pass to the right.
* Man, this Johnson has some wiggle to him.
* Watkins to Wright to the left side for a medium-depth pass.
* Make it two!: Some Big XII on Big XII crime here. Parrish steps in front of Melquan Stovall (Arizona State) along the right sideline and houses it for his second pick-six of the afternoon!
* Wright is able to grab a Watkins pass in traffic along the right sideline.
* Watkins hit Johnson on the right side. Johnson then spins away from safety Gervarrius Owens (Houston) and goes bye-bye.
* McCloud finds Egbuka over the middle between a pair of defenders. Egbuka looks so smooth out there. Finds green.
* This time Egbuka runs a crossing pattern from right to left and he catches a McCloud pass with three defenders right on top of him. No alligator arms.
* McCloud connects with Johnson on the right side. This Johnson appears to have solid hands, too.
More 11-on-11
* Joe didn’t catch who broke through the middle of the line like a jailbreak but Bazelak just tosses the ball away over the right sideline to avoid the rush. Play was doomed from the snap.
* D.J. Williams (Arizona) runs up the middle.
* Bazelak throws towards Egbuka down the left sideline and the Ohio State product skies high to pull the ball in.
* Watkins way overthrows Johnson down the left sideline. Johnson may play bigger than his size but not that big.
* Bazelak throws to Egbuka down the left sideline and Parodie steps in front of Egbuka and gets his hands on the ball but couldn’t secure it. He immediately facepalms as he walks off the field.
* Baselak is chased out of the pocket for a minimal gain. Joe isn’t sure if that would have been a sack or not.
* Baselak throws to Egbuka along the right sideline. Egbuka had to reach out to grab the ball but didn’t forget to get both feet in as he goes out of bounds. Very smooth.
May 10th, 2025 at 3:35 pm
funny how we take for granted the qb hitting receivers when it is flag football. Goes to show when ordinary qb’s are throwing in this type of play and still can’t hit the receiver, may not be as easy as the veterans make it look.
May 10th, 2025 at 3:38 pm
Thanks for the notes Joe. It’d be nice if there were better QB play out there
May 10th, 2025 at 3:48 pm
These QBs sound pretty bad with the errant throws
May 10th, 2025 at 3:51 pm
Can’t wait for Baker to start getting reps with EE and Tez.
Boys need to get used to catching those fastballs.
Promising signs for Parrish and Tez!
It is what it is – very early in the process but how can you not be optimistic?
I’m sure the turd hunters have an answer to that 🤣
May 10th, 2025 at 3:52 pm
Thanks for the notes Joe 👍🏼
May 10th, 2025 at 3:52 pm
Yes Guys we are aware the QBs suck. The goal is to make every QB uncomfortable so that they throw errant throws as well. And to fill the roster with DBs who can catch those mistaken/effected throws!!
May 10th, 2025 at 4:01 pm
One of the fun thing with these notes is googling highlights of players you never heard of before. Note these observations are based on just a few mins of videos, still if I say they’re never going to make it in the NFL below and they do, feel free to call me out. (Note – that won’t happen, I’m never wrong).
Connor Watkins (Villanova) – No idea why this guy is even in this camp, he has no arm at all. Pretty good college rusher, but not the type of rusher that would translate to the NFL. Half his highlights were rushes, didn’t see a single pass that was anywhere close to an NFL pass.
Shane Watts (Fort Hays State) – Level of competition is so low it’s hard to take much from it, except that he has very good balance and hands.
Winston Wright (Eastern Carolina) – I don’t see much, did have a nice kickoff return TD. Seems to lack the size/speed/quickness you’d need to do anything at the NFL level.
Jordan McCloud (Texas State) – Hey a rookie camp QB that actually throws with NFL velocity! A true rarity. Oh, he was at USF, I thought the name looked familiar, he’s a Tampa kid. Nice to actually see highlights of a guy who can throw an NFL pass. Not a huge arm or anything, but at least throws with zip unlike the other jobber above.
May 10th, 2025 at 4:21 pm
Not at all worried about the QB’s errant throws this 10 May!
May 10th, 2025 at 4:24 pm
Joe, any way you could get weight gain/loss on Florida’s Watson? I’m guessing if he gets to 280 he makes the team or practice squad.
May 10th, 2025 at 4:29 pm
BucsfaninOregon Says:
May 10th, 2025 at 4:24 pm
Joe, any way you could get weight gain/loss on Florida’s Watson? I’m guessing if he gets to 280 he makes the team or practice squad.
———–
If he dropped all the way down to 280, he’d be too small to be a DT. Also dropping nearly 200 pounds in a few months, I don’t think that is very healthy, and could probably only be done via amputation.
May 10th, 2025 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for the practice notes Joe!
Sounds like Parrish, Tez and Egbuka were the standout players today.
Not so much for the QBs….
May 10th, 2025 at 4:41 pm
So is that 3 pick 6s in 2 practices for Parrish? Bro!
May 10th, 2025 at 5:09 pm
BucsfaninOregon Says:
May 10th, 2025 at 4:24 pm
Joe, any way you could get weight gain/loss on Florida’s Watson? I’m guessing if he gets to 280 he makes the team or practice squad.
———–
Obviously meant to say 380. If he could get down that low, I’d be curious to see how much quicker he is.
May 10th, 2025 at 5:09 pm
If there is no hitting of any kind, what do the offensive and defensive lines do to improve their skills? Some detail would be nice.
May 10th, 2025 at 5:25 pm
Watched Parrish play a few games and he looked like the best player on the field then too. A 5’9” outside corner doesn’t bother me a bit especially when he’s the best player on the field. I wouldn’t bet that he doesn’t play more outside than slot(nickel).
May 10th, 2025 at 5:43 pm
Don’t worry. None of them will be around come September.
May 10th, 2025 at 5:44 pm
Joe’s written this several times before: Footwork, handwork, get off, fundamentals.
May 10th, 2025 at 5:46 pm
Dropping 80 pounds in a four months is a big task.
May 10th, 2025 at 6:20 pm
Thanks Joe, nice camp report
May 10th, 2025 at 6:26 pm
I’d like to see McCloud get more reps based on the notes Joe provided and how the others looked. I understand this battle is probably for practice squad position since Pratt is QB3 but having the arm and what seems to be accuracy with our quick throwing scheme and fast receivers, it certainly would be a benefit for sure
May 10th, 2025 at 6:41 pm
Just footwork and hand placement? Well then how does a running back break through the line if no one is allowed to stop him? Maybe the better question is how does a running back not break through the line if he can’t be hit? And how does a defensive lineman get a ‘sack’ if no offensive lineman is allowed to stop him?
I’m not trying to start anything here, just trying to understand what’s going on in the trenches when there are no videos to show the details.
May 10th, 2025 at 7:07 pm
okay get parrish off the field he’s too important to our future to be practicing unnecessarily 🙂
May 10th, 2025 at 8:44 pm
Egbuka and Johnson may be the real deal. Let’s hope they don’t have to keep leaping for passes in practice. The WR room is going to be insane. They seem to be route running technicians.
May 10th, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Joe, thanks for doing this. Much appreciated!