NFC South Notes: Buccaneers, Panthers

When Buccaneers cornerback Ryan Smith was suspended for the first four games of the season earlier this week it seemed to spell trouble for him. Smith’s standing was already in question after the Bucs used multiple early picks on cornerbacks during April’s draft, and the suspension didn’t look good. However, it turns out that at least Tampa wasn’t caught off-guard by the news. “They’ve known about it since before the draft and have already done things knowing it was coming. This is news to us, but not to them,” tweeted Greg Auman of The Athletic.

Auman also added “don’t look for the Bucs to do anything in response to today’s news of Ryan Smith’s suspension.” For now it doesn’t look like Smith’s roster spot is in danger. The 2016 fourth-round pick has played a big role the last two years, starting a combined 16 games. Last year he played around 40 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, while also playing a huge role on special teams. While the Buccaneers knew it was coming and appears to be standing by him for now, he’s not exactly in the clear. The young guys will be getting more run while he’s out, and there might not be much playing time left for him by the time he returns if they seize the opportunity.

Here’s more from the NFC South:

• Speaking of the Buccaneers, there were also some interesting nuggets in Auman’s recent roster projection. Notably, Auman projects Alex Cappa to start at guard. A third-round pick last year, Cappa appeared in only six games with no starts as a rookie. Cappa was an upside prospect from D-II Humboldt State, so he was always going to take a while to develop. It’s especially interesting because there have been rumblings that Cappa isn’t progressing like the team was hoping. Jenna Laine of ESPN.com was recently told that Cappa “still isn’t where they’d like him to be yet,” and she floated the potential acquisition of additional interior offensive linemen (Twitter link). Cappa had dominant film in college (look it up, some of it is hilarious), but he was always facing off against weaker competition. It’ll be interesting to see what he looks like when he finally steps on a pro field.
• We’ve seen a few notable players switch agents recently, including Kenny Stills and Duke Johnson. Add Panthers receiver D.J. Moore to the growing list. Moore is now with NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic. Person reports that Moore decided to switch agents after his former agent Damarius Bilbo was suspended for three months back in January. Moore just finished his rookie season so he won’t be eligible for a new contract for a while, but this is still something to keep an eye on. Rosenhaus has a reputation for playing hardball with teams, and this could come back into play in the future. A 2018 first-round pick from Maryland, Moore had a promising rookie season, racking up 788 yards on 55 catches.
• In case you missed it, Saints rookie Carl Granderson was recently sentenced to six months in jail.