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Rueben Bain was locked in prior to his first Bucs practice.
If the Bucs have an open practice, then Joe’s going to take notes, even if only (maybe) six or seven guys out there on the practice fields behind One Buc Palace will be employed by the Bucs in four months.
_As always, minicamps of any sort are underwear football practices. No pads; only helmets. No hitting of any sort._
Though practice barely met the threshold of “hot” for Floridians, Bucs coach Todd Bowles noted after practice the Bucs had to take it easy as several players were not used to Florida weather, and as a result were struggling.
\* Unlike last year, the Bucs have quarterbacks this rookie minicamp who can give receivers a chance to catch the ball. Last year — and Joe knows exactly who was there and what a certain quarterback is doing now — Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson barely got a chance to show their skillsets because the guys throwing the ball were wilder than Ricky Vaughn. Joe honestly thinks Jacob Parrish got more hands on the balls last year at rookie minicamp than Egbuka. Today, Jalon Daniels (Kansas), Chandler Morris (Virginia) and Gaston Moore were throwing passes, though Daniels by far got the most reps.
\* Tight end Ademola Faleye (Washington State), 6-7, 253 is a very tall man.
\* Offensive tackle Paul Rubelt (Central Florida) is even bigger. He stands 6-10, 310. Joe would try to find a way to keep the German-born Rubelt just to play nose tackle on the field goal defense. He has a wingspan of 83 inches!
**Seven-on-seven**
\* Finn Hogan (Bowling Green) caught a pass from Daniel coming from the left and he was able to get some yardage as he was forced out of bounds on the left sideline.
\* Dean Patterson (Georgia Tech) catches a pass from Daniels on the right side.
\* Tight end Kenny Fletcher (Rutgers) catches a Daniels pass in a crowd near the left sideline.
\* Keontez Lewis (Oklahoma) catches a perfect pass from Daniels that hit him in the hands on the right sideline.
\* Running back Rashad Amos (Georgia State) gets about eight yards on a run to the left.
\* Running back Kadarus Calloway (New Mexico State) has a short run to the left.
\* Bonding: Later, Joe noticed Amos with his arm draped around the shoulder of Bucs running backs coach Skip Peete.
\* Daniels connects with Bucs’ third-round pick Ben Hurst on the left side in a crowd of defenders. No problem for the 6-4 Hurst.
\* Daniels to Fletcher along the right sideline.
\* Daniels tries for Noah Short (Army) in the left seam but it’s broken up by Jarod Washington (South Carolina State).
\* Daniels throws to an unknown receiver in the left flat but no one was home, though Washington was nearby.
\* Morris throws to the right sideline and if he was trying to put the ball at a spot that only Devin Voisin (South Alabama) could only get the ball, then Morris perfectly succeeded. Voisin used every fraction of his 69.36-inch wingspan to catch the ball.
\* Fletcher bobbles a pass from Morris along the right sideline but recovers and turns upfield for a nice gain.
**11-on-11**
\* Daniels throws to Anthony Fries (UCLA) to the left sidelines for maybe 10 yards.
\* Daniels aims for Hurst along the right sideline and JayVian Farr (Augustana) races in and blows up the play.
\* Daniels connects with Junior Vandeross (Toledo) down the right sideline.
\* Joe has no idea if the Bucs keep Daniels but he’s shown he’s accurate (yeah, Joe knows, one practice in shorts) but he’s mobile, which gives the Bucs an added dimension they currently do not have. Many of the passes Daniels completed, he was on the move. He may have only taken two steps but he looks very comfortable and smooth in a moving pocket.
\* Daniels tries a long pass down the right side of the field and it hits Jackson Zimmerman (Colorado School of Mines) right in the chest but he couldn’t haul the ball in.
\* Daniels to Lewis for a first down.
\* Gary Bryant (Oregon) hauls in a pass in a crowd from Daniels.
\* Play of the day comes on the second-last play of practice. Hurst flies down the right sideline and puts a double-move on a corner to gain separation and hauls in a Daniels pass for about a 30-yard score.