“Maybe Just The Right Type Of Crazy”
May 5th, 2026
Joe smells a preseason favorite coming fans’ way.
In Round 6 of the draft two weeks ago, the Bucs traded up to selected LSU tight end Bauer Sharp. He was a Southeastern Louisiana quarterback as a freshman in college, then transitioned to tight end, transferred to Oklahom and played his senior season at LSU.
Sharp is considered a do-it-all tight end prospect, but it seems his mentality is a big part of what caught the eyes of important people in Tampa, if you believe the words of Bucs insider/employee/Hall of Fame cornerback Rondé Barber.
“He’s a bit quirky, like maybe just the right type of crazy,” Barber said of Sharp. “He’ll be a competitive Y-type tight end, a guy that likes to block and do it the hard way.”
Barber said Sharp is suited for many different roles, including being a hybrid tight end/slot receiver. His straight-line speed is faster than Cade Otton, but he’s no Devin Culp in that department.
Barber said Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht is fired up about his late-rounds haul. “Jason talks about those last three picks as guys that he could not be more excited to add to your football team,” Barber said.
Joe will be pleased if Sharp isn’t seen on the field come the regular season. That likely means the Bucs are moving the chains proficiently with Otton and lots of three-receiver sets.
May 5th, 2026 at 1:17 pm
Sharp may not be as fast as Culp, but if he can block and catch, then he’ll be an upgrade.
May 5th, 2026 at 1:19 pm
Be nice to have another weapon like we did when we had 4 monsters to gaurd with Evans,Godwin,Brown, and Gronk
May 5th, 2026 at 1:30 pm
Please, they barely use Culp….Coaches are clueless. I’ll be shocked if our TE room is an asset.
May 5th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
I believe this will be another Licht failure!!!!
May 5th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
The Bucs carries 4 Tight Ends every season
And only one of them will have 5 pass receptions
That makes as much sense as carrying 2 punters
May 5th, 2026 at 1:47 pm
Special teams?
May 5th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Goodbye Ko Kief. He’s younger, faster, cheaper. He’s not competing for a TE spot, he’s competing for Ko’s gig.
May 5th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
Culp has had years here. Why do fans pine for him based upon 40 times?
Fans are clueless — guy was what a 6th or 7th round pick. There is a reason why all the NFL GM’s thought so little of him.
At least this year’s 6th rounder might be hungry for a job and be an asset on special teams if he makes the 45-man roster.
May 5th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
He was a QB previously. I wonder if they might give him some goal line packages. He ran a 4.63 at 249 pounds, also at 6′ 5″ he’s got 35″ vertical, which isn’t bad, certainly not at that size.
A 100% dart throw, he wasn’t ranked on any site I saw, not even one that went over 400 players deep. So we’ll see what happens, if he makes the roster or not.
May 5th, 2026 at 2:04 pm
He is best known as a willing and strong blocker. Ok is a great blocker but that’s it. Could be a nice upgrade.
At first glance this seems to be a great draft. We all know the trolls will say the exact opposite. That’s fine.
Hoping for the best. Otherwise, what’s the point?
May 5th, 2026 at 2:06 pm
Hodad Says:
May 5th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Goodbye Ko Kief. He’s younger, faster, cheaper. He’s not competing for a TE spot, he’s competing for Ko’s gig.
was thinking the same thing especially if he can block as good as Ko….
the run game went down the drain once Ko got hurt in addition to the OGs…
GO BUCS!!!!
May 5th, 2026 at 2:15 pm
Dump Durham for Sharp. Payne is a tweener that’s not a great blocker like Ko, nor a better receiver than Culp. The problem with the TE room is targets. Most of the targets go to the WRs and RBs. Maybe Zach will target TEs more, but maybe he’ll adjust his plays towards a stacked WR room or RBs that can catch.
May 5th, 2026 at 2:16 pm
Bit of a logjam at TE, it will be an interesting story to follow thru the pre-season.
May 5th, 2026 at 2:22 pm
No, he is coming for Culp’s roster spot. At least Kieft contributes-Culp does nothing. And I don’t believe it is because the “coaches don’t know how to use him.” If he could play, he would.
May 5th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Well, Licht obviously wanted him badly enough to trade up for him….maybe he will surprise us…..Culp could be the odd man out.
May 5th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
I really wish people would understand that if guys like Devin Culp was so good – they’d be playing. Same thing with Sean Tucker. If Sean Tucker and Culp were freaking Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe then they’d be starting and not coming off the field
May 5th, 2026 at 2:49 pm
He will be a Mayfield favorite, boomer sooner… I’m looking for a Taysom Hill type
May 5th, 2026 at 2:58 pm
Hodad … ‘Goodbye Ko Kief.’
Not so fast. Every time I’ve written Ko Kieft off in the past, he’s survived. Not based on catching, but on blocking. Both of them are 6’5″ but Ko outweighs him by at least 15 lbs (249 to 265). Plus he’s got a ton of Special Teams experience. It’ll be interesting how the TE situation shakes out in Training Camp.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:16 pm
I agree with Defense Rules. I would be pretty surprised if Ko Kieft does not make the roster. He is the best special teams player that is a TE and he is the best blocker. He offers nothing as a receiver, but those other two areas should be enough for him to not only earn a roster spot but to be active on game day.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:33 pm
No one else would’ve drafted dude. Dude could’ve been signed UDFA. Genius.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
He will be good on special teams if he adds to the tighend room on offense then that’s a plus.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:43 pm
@JimBobBuc- coming for Culps job. Durham is a much better receiver than Culp. And a better blocker.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:44 pm
The new OC, and/or special teams coach, might have weighed in on that pick.
May 5th, 2026 at 3:51 pm
Zac Robinson runs a lot of 2 TE sets.
So expect to see this guy on the field.
May 5th, 2026 at 4:47 pm
@Geno711… I think some of us fans pine for seeing more Culp because in his limited action we have seen him snag balls over the middle with sure hands and catch a couple TDs.
I remember that first time he saw targets he made a couple good catches, flashing nice hands. Barely saw it again after that and if he has speed… it just didn’t seem to make sense. Especially when Mike and Chris and JMac were down with injuries! 5’11 Baker is trying to throw to a bunch of little guys … why not get a bigger body who can stretch the field out there and open some space for Tez and Shep?
It didn’t add up then and still doesn’t imo. Anyway, I’m sure he is on the chopping block. If Kieft is healthy and back to usual self I am sure he sticks as 4th for blocking and special teams. Personally, if this Bauer is a great blocker, keep him and Kieft for those purposes and keep Otton and Culp as pass catchers. Bye bye Durham.
May 5th, 2026 at 5:20 pm
He’s a monstrous, fierce blocker and teams really took note of him at the senior bowl week for technical route running and getting open frequently with smooth movement. He runs a 4.63 vs. Otton’s 4.78. That’s a pretty good jump in speed. I hope they take a good, long look at him this preseason. I’d love it if he took the starting job… I doubt Licht would want that to happen but if he wins it he should get it!
May 5th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
And Zac Robinson ran a lot of 2 TE sets because he only had 2 good (really, 1) wide receivers at Hotlanta. It was not by choice. He will run a ton of 11 with us since we are freaking **loaded** at receiver. I do hope they bring back the 13 sometimes for those awesome counter runs Bucky ran in 2024- specifically 96/97 F counter with an easy release which worked so great against the Chargers, for instance.
May 5th, 2026 at 5:45 pm
The one thing we have to remember is Gizzard didn’t even use Otten the right way last year so I put little stock in the stats of Durham or Culp. I believe Zac will be much better at utilizing the TEs talents so if Culp can’t get on the field this year he never will. Otten is already a top 15 TE and may be a top 10 with the new OC and ME13 gone .
May 5th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Yeah Matt, Maybe they will run the 13 package and get those TEs working and working together.
May 5th, 2026 at 6:02 pm
Worry about some of you guys and your inability to recall facts.
@saskbuc – Culp has only scored 1 TD in 2 years. Not plural and he has no “snags” over the middle. His TD was over the middle but uncovered route.
@StPete – Bauer played in the East West, not the Senior Bowl. He played well but big difference in talent in those 2 bowls. And if you think he will start over Cade who they just paid $20M guaranteed. Geez. I like Sharp and think he has a shot at making the team, but we need to see that ferocious blocking on something higher than the college level. .
May 5th, 2026 at 7:07 pm
Hodad Says:
May 5th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Goodbye Ko Kief. He’s younger, faster, cheaper. He’s not competing for a TE spot, he’s competing for Ko’s gig.
———-
Very unlikely, Ko is the best blocker on the team that isn’t an offensive lineman. If he makes the team, it’s almost certainly going to come at the expense of Culp who clearly isn’t all that highly thought of in the eyes of the coaches compared to what fans think of him based on his 40 time.
May 5th, 2026 at 8:53 pm
Last season’s pre-season favorite was Shiloh Sanders.. unfortunate
May 5th, 2026 at 9:10 pm
All of this over a 6th round pick. Good lord.
May 5th, 2026 at 9:54 pm
culp is a scrub…
sharp is a scrub…
maybe one scrub replaces the other scrub…
scrub swapping at one buc palace
also sometimes a scrub can be a shlubb
May 5th, 2026 at 10:48 pm
@Bigboibuc … my mistake on the TDs, I thought he got one rookie year.
And I may have misremembered the “snag” part of it… but go to YouTube and you will see multiple catches right in the middle of the field with defenders all around.
My point stands. Baker needed a guy like that to throw to when all our WRs were down. Tez and Shep didn’t have the size to be good primary targets for him.
May 5th, 2026 at 11:33 pm
Said since the moment they drafted him.
This guy can block a train off the tracks. And he’s smart.
Only scratched the surface on this guys talent as a WR
May 6th, 2026 at 12:35 am
^^^^^^
ok this is straight nuts…”Only scratched the surface on this guys talent as a WR”
like lol wtf
zero chance at being a wide receiver…
6’4′
250 pounds…
6th rounder who probably could have been scooped up as an UDFA…
and most of all white!…………..lol a 250 pound white wide receiver in the nfl……yeah right………keep dreaming
May 6th, 2026 at 11:01 am
Think most fans are overlooking the acquisition of a new offensive coordinator who likes to use two tight end sets quite often. Mixing and pairing him with autumn and whoever else makes a tight end room will be the thing not just one or two tight starting but the overall rotation
May 6th, 2026 at 12:56 pm
No question the league is having more plays with multiple tight ends
Were trying but no one has leaped to elite.
I was shocked otton got millions after his regression in the stretch run last year. Looks like a cap casualty soon to me
May 6th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Lost Light Losing it.
May 7th, 2026 at 1:04 pm
Geno712 Says:
May 5th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
Culp has had years here. Why do fans pine for him based upon 40 times?
Fans are clueless — guy was what a 6th or 7th round pick. There is a reason why all the NFL GM’s thought so little of him
<_______________________
Culp was a rookie last year. Who's clueless? Brady was a 6th round pick. Tons of great players came from rounds 6 and 7.
May 7th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
@Brasho⬆️ , who is clueless? Culp was in his second year last year. Was a rookie the year before. Geez…