Buccaneers 2016 53-man roster: Three things we learned

With the team's post-preseason roster cuts done, we now have a 53-man roster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It had basically been reported on Friday already, but now it's official. It looks largely the way we'd expected, although a few more undrafted rookies made the team than most had predicted, and the Bucs declined to keep sixth-round pick Dan Vitale.

Let's go over three things we learned, while you can find the full roster at the bottom of this page.

The Bucs like defensive line depth

The Buccaneers decided to keep 10 defensive linemen, which certainly is a lot given the fact that only four of those will be on the field at any time -- and just three in some other situations. In addition to the predictable starters and backups, the Bucs chose to keep two undrafted rookies: defensive tackle Davonte Lambert and defensive end Channing Ward.

Most of that depth likely won't see the field much, if at all. There's only so much you can rotate defensive lines, after all. It's good to have some depth, though, and it's good that the Bucs have some undrafted rookies who beat out veterans -- either that, or those veterans weren't worth much to begin with.

Wide receiver could use some depth, again

The Bucs are one injury removed from giving Russell Shepard or Evan Spencer a lot of playing time at receiver. And that one injury will happen, at some point. It always does. Hopefully, it won't be long-term.

Neither Spencer nor Shepard has been particularly productive at wide receiver in the past, though they both have potential and Shepard has generally looked good when he's gotten on the field. Then agains, Shepard also had a handful of balls go through his hands this preseason. Whatever the case, I wouldn't be surprised if the team picked up a receiver off waivers over the next couple of days.

The Bucs like Ss

That is, the letter 's'. Not safeties. Of the 12 players whose last name started with 'S', every single one made the 53-man roster. Weirdness.

On a more serious note, the Bucs don't actually have much depth at safety. Keith Tandy is the first backup, but he's at his best as a situational player. Ryan Smith is a small-school rookie who looked promising in preseason, but is hardly ready for a job as a full-time starter. They could use some added depth there.

And they could easily create room for that, by cutting a cornerback. The Bucs kept six, which is a fairly large number. That's likely in part because both Josh Robinson and Johnthan Banks made a good case to make the roster, and it's not uncommon for teams to use five or six cornerbacks throughout the regular season. One other intriguing option: the team might, maybe, cross-train Banks at safety. Not that he's shown much affinity for the position, but he does have the physical traits to succeed there.

Buccaneers' 2016 53-man roster

Quarterbacks: Jameis Winston, Mike Glennon, Ryan Griffin

Running backs: Doug Martin, Charles Sims, Mike James

Wide receivers: Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, Adam Humphries, Russell Shepard, Evan Spencer (Louis Murphy on PUP)

Tight ends: Cameron Brate, Luke Stocker, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Brandon Myers, Alan Cross (fullback)

Offensive linemen: Demar Dotson, Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Kevin Pamphile, Joe Hawley, Evan Smith, Leonard Wester, Caleb Benenoch, Gosder Cherilus (J.R. Sweezy on PUP)

Defensive ends: Noah Spence, Robert Ayers, Jacquies Smith, William Gholston, Channing Ward, Howard Jones

Defensive tackles: Gerald McCoy, Clinton McDonald, Akeem Spence, Davonte Lambert

Linebackers: Lavonte David, Kwon Alexander, Daryl Smith, Devante Bond, Adarius Glanton

Cornerbacks: Vernon Hargreaves, Brent Grimes, Alterraun Verner, Jude Adjei-Barimah, Josh Robinson, Johnthan Banks

Safeties: Bradley McDougald, Chris Conte, Ryan Smith, Keith Tandy

Specialists: Bryan Anger, Roberto Aguayo, Andrew Depaola