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2012 roster: Donald Penn, Demar Dotson, Jeremy Trueblood, Jamon Meredith, Desmond Wynn, Mike Remmers
2013 roster: Donald Penn, Demar Dotson, Gabe Carimi, Jamon Meredith, Jace Daniels, Mike Remmers, Brice Schwab, Jason Weaver
Advantage: 2013
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter training camp with both solid starters and solid depth at a position. I'm shocked! Donald Penn has the ability to be a very good starter, but hasn't really lived up to that billing in recent years. He hasn't been bad, far from it, but apparent struggles with weight and some up-and-down play have been issues.
Demar Dotson is a physical specimen who looked to be an improvement over Jeremy Trueblood last season as a pass protector, but who struggled in the run game. Being pushed by former first-round pick Gabe Carimi should help him as his limited football experience leaves a realistic expectation that he'll improve with each offseason. Carimi, meanwhile, could prove to be a really good addition -- if his knee can hold up.
Behind those three, Jamon Meredith is the only player with some experience. He isn't very good, but he isn't bad either. I wouldn't feel comfortable with him as a starter, but he could do if absolutely necessary. The rest are complete question marks, as is usually the case with players at the bottom of a training camp roster.
Did the Bucs improve, though? Mostly, they replaced Jeremy Trueblood with Gabe Carimi and gave Demar Dotson an extra year of experience. Whether Carimi's an improvement will depend on his knee and fitness -- he certainly wasn't any good last year, but he was still recovering from injury and looked decent at guard late in the season. I'm not sure whether this is all a massive improvement, but I'm still leaning toward a yes.
For previous previews and other training camp content, check out our training camp section.
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