"We felt like Ryan was one of the better guys we could add," said Warhop. "We weren't looking to move Ali from center, but because of the fit and with Ali's flexibility, it allowed us to do that. So, I think we've improved ourselves, we've added another good football player and we've had a good football player that plays center and right guard who's flexible enough for us to play him at left guard. So, I think it helps us add a good player and gives us flexibility with the guys up front."

The right side of the line is a little less settled, if only due to some lingering injury issues from last season. As noted, right guard J.R. Sweezy and right tackle Demar Dotson finished the year on injured reserve. Sweezy has still not returned to field work and it's fair to say the team is uncertain about his timetable. Dotson required a second surgery on his knee this spring and that took him out of OTAs. It is hoped that he will return for training camp and be ready for the start of the season.

Assuming Dotson, who had a strong season in 2017, is in the lineup to start the season, that leaves right guard as the primary point of contention. As noted, Benenoch would be a top candidate to start there, particularly if Sweezy is not an option. Cappa played his college ball at Division II Humboldt State and thus would face a difficult and rapid transition to win a starting spot this early in his career, but he's now teammates with a player who pulled off something like that three years ago in Ali Marpet. Cappa has also been receiving tutelage from former Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley.

"Alex is fortunate in one regard - he's been working out with LeCharles Bentley, so his foundation is a little bit better than most, but other than that, he's a rookie," said Warhop. "He's a young guy that played at a Division II school. He's got a long way to go. He was a tackle in college, we are moving him to guard, teaching him how to play center. So, we will see how he rolls. Like I've said before, we added him, he checks most of the boxes, he's got to learn how to play and learn how to compete with the rest of the guys and we will see how it goes from there."

The only newcomer in the Bucs' offensive line room is rookie Ruben Holcomb, another small-school prospect (Indianapolis) who was impressive in a tryout during rookie mini-camp. However, there are some other relatively unknown young players in the mix, including tackles Brad Seaton, Cole Gardner and Givens Price. Seaton and Price were both on the Bucs' practice squad when the 2017 season ended, while Gardner was a 2017 undrafted rookie signee who spent last year on injured reserve but is now back on the field. Veteran guard Adam Gettis, who has a small amount of NFL starting experience, was also re-signed in March; he spent the last few weeks of last season on the active roster after the Bucs' rash of injuries thinned the line.

Notable 2017 Numbers: The Buccaneers' per-game rushing target under Dirk Koetter is 125 yards, and they fell well short of that in 2017. Tampa Bay's 90.6 yards per outing ranked 27th in the league, as did it's average of 3.73 yards per carry. Individually, the Buccaneers didn't have a player reach 500 rushing yards, though leader Peyton Barber did get most of his 423 yards in a promising December finish to the season.

One thing the Buccaneers rushing attack didn't struggle with was negative carries. Not counting kneel-downs, the Bucs' 33 runs that lost yards were the fourth-lowest total in the league. Of course, some of that had to do with a lower-than-average number of total carries, but even in terms of percentage of their runs that lost yards (8.6), the Bucs were eighth-best in the NFL.

The problem, of course, was on the flip side of that coin: Big plays. The Bucs finished 31st in carries of 10+ yards (30) and tied for 20th in carries of 20+ yards (five), and for the second year in a row they did not crack a plus-50 run. That does not all fall on the offensive line, of course, as running backs have to make some plays for themselves and the tight ends and wide receivers are involved in the blocking. And the lack of negative plays is an indication that the Bucs' line wasn't consistently being driven back.

Still, there is clear room for improvement, and an obvious desire on Koetter's part to establish a consistent rushing attack at the center of his offense. Tampa Bay ran on only 37.6% of their plays last year, which was the third-lowest percentage in the NFL. That was a steep drop from Koetter's first two years calling plays, however, as the Bucs ranked ninth in that category in both 2015 and 2016.

Another thing worth noting: Ryan Jensen played 99.9% of Baltimore's offensive snaps in his first year as a full-time starter. He's joining a line that also includes Donovan Smith, who hadn't missed a single offensive play in his three years as a Buc until he sat out 30 of them at New Orleans in the middle of last season. He started up a new streak after that, not missing another play over the final eight weeks. Ali Marpet missed a few games as a rookie and was on I.R. for the last five of last year, but he's similarly been an ironman for most of his young career. Other than Demar Dotson, who has fresh legs for a 32-year-old, the Bucs presumed starting line is relatively young and should be less susceptible to time missed due to injury.

The Bucs' pass protection was adequate last year, though it saw a downturn at the end when three starters were on injured reserve. Tampa Bay ranked 15th in the NFL in sacks allowed per pass play, though some of that credit goes to Jameis Winston, who is good at extending plays (sometimes extending them a bit too long).

Key Question: Will Donovan Smith rise to the ranks of the NFL's elite left tackles, as his coaches believe he can?

The Buccaneers have had Smith manning Winston's blind side ever since they were the team's first two picks in the 2015 draft. Tampa Bay coaches have consistently sung Smith's praises and spoken of his elite potential. Indeed, the Buccaneers' internal opinion of Smith – and, indeed, their O-Line as a whole – is higher than that of outside analysts. Warhop said he would not "trade out" Smith for another left tackle.

"You guys got something here that's special and in terms of his mentality and what he wants to be and how he goes about his business, I would be in no hurry to try to find somebody else to replace him," Warhop emphasized.

"First of all, you evaluate him compared to his draft class, I don't think I would take anybody in his draft class over him, nobody, in terms of a tackle. Then you start evaluating him with other left tackles in the league. I have to really think about it, but I can count on one hand how many guys I would like to have to replace him. The next thing, he is a young player who has never missed a start. I think he's missed 25 or 28 snaps when he was out the second half of the New Orleans game. The next game, they didn't think he was going to play. After Tuesday he said, 'There is no way I am missing that game.' How are you going to trade out that kind of mentality? Now, can he play better? Yeah. Does he have elite ability? Yeah. Has he played to that on a consistent basis? No, so that's my job to get him to that level consistently."