According to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed their last draft pick, former USC RB Allen Bradford. With him in the fold, the Bucs have all their draft picks and signed and ready to train in camp. While Allen Bradford took a while to sign, none of the other Buccaneer rookies missed the first practices yesterday.
It was important for the Bucs to get their draft picks into camp as quickly as possible. Last season the Bucs leaned heavily on the rookie class, starting 10 different rookies throughout the year. While they're not going to replicate that unless a massive injury wave hits the team, the Bucs are looking at a number of rookies to provide key contributions.
Da'Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn are both expected to step in and start as defensive ends, while Mason Foster has a chance to be the starting middle linebacker. Luke Stocker should get significant playing time as a tight end, while Ahmad Black and Anthony Gaitor could carve out a role for themselves in some defensive sub packages. Finally, Allen Bradford will challenge Kregg Lumpkin for touches as a backup running back.
Getting these rookies into camp was vital to get them ready for the regular season - or at least to get them as ready as possible. The Bucs have at least put the rookies in position to make an impact to the best of their abilities.
UPDATE: According to Pewter Report the Bucs have signed all of their restricted and exclusive-rights free agents. Rudy Carpenter, Connor Barth, Micheal Spurlock, James Lee and Elbert Mack had already signed their tenders yesterday. The Bucs now added Demar Dotson, Michael Bennett, Frank Okam and Corey Lynch to that list.