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Buccaneers OTAs: D.J. Moore winning position battle, Goldson and Barron still out

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally let offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford talk to the media. That and more from today's OTAs.

By Sander Philipse
Brian Blanco

Injuries

Mark Barron and Dashon Goldson continue to watch from the sidelines, and according to Jenna Laine, they're not going to be on the field for next week's mini-camp, either. They should be back by training camp in July. Goldson's returning from foot surgery, while Mark Barron is struggling with a pulled hamstring.

Position battles

D.J. Moore is winning the battle for the nickel/slot cornerback position, Leslie Frazier told Pewter Report. Last I heard, Moore was competing with Leonard Johnson. Moore was brought in out of Chicago early this offseason, and he should plug right into Lovie Smith's defense.

The offensive line battle continues. The starting line, per Greg Auman: Anthony Collins, Oniel Cousins, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Jamon Meredith and Demar Dotson. The second string consisted of Kevin Pamphile, Kadeem Edwards, Jason Foster, Patrick Omameh, and Emmett Cleary.

Jeff Tedford speaks

Jeff Tedford finally came out of his shell and talked to the media. Nothing too revealing, given that most of the additions this offseason speak for themselves, but there were a few interesting tidbits. For one, he told Pewter Report that the Bucs would be looking at "different tempos at different times". Shifting from a no-huddle, up-tempo attack to a clock-draining, four-minute drill is a common tactic to keep defenses on their heels -- and it can help control defense substitutions, too.

Tedford also talked about the tight ends, noting that two-tight-end sets will create matchup issues, per Pewter Report. With Brandon Myers, Tim Wright and Austin Seferian-Jenkins the Buccaneers have a versatile group of tight ends they should be able to use in a variety of ways to create those matchup issues. And we know they've been asking ASJ and Wright both to line up all over the field.

There's also the speed-in-space issue, something that seems to be falling by the wayside. Tedford told Pewter Report that they have a few fast guys who are elusive in space (Charles Sims, Jeff Demps and Robert Herron come to mind). The coaches will have to find ways to use them to the best of their abilities.

Finally, the Buccaneers will alternate running backs. Per Pewter Report (again), Tedford noted that one back can't run the ball every time. The Bucs certainly have the depth to alternate backs. And they'll have a fullback to block for those guys, according to JoeBucsFan. RB coach Tim Spencer was very positive on Charles Sims, especially his blocking, according to Greg Auman.

Hair cuts!

Here's a few of the players who cut their hair in support of the fight against pediatric cancer today.

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Buccaneers offseason workouts, OTAs & training camp 2014

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