Sleeper Receiver Woke Up Today
June 15th, 2023
Bucs WR Deven Thompkins.
Joe isn’t sure why, but there seems to be a number of folks who are closet (and not so closet) Deven Thompkins fans.
It could be that the Bucs’ reserve receiver is from Fort Myers, so he is sort of local. It could be because Thompkins put up crazy numbers at Utah State. It could be because Thompkins is lightning-fast.
In OTAs, Joe noticed second-year Thompkins seemed to make a play every day. In minicamp, Joe thought yesterday, “Where’s Thompkins?” Joe hadn’t noticed him at all.
Even in the comments from Joe’s practice notes yesterday, someone asked what happened to Thompkins. Good question. Joe made a mental note driving in today to scan with his binoculars to see if Thompkins was at least on the sidelines, or if hurt he worked on a side field.
Well, Thompkins showed up today. In a major way. Thompkins easily had the play of the shortened practice, probably the play of the week. Maybe the play of underwear football season.
Very early in the 11-on-11 period, Baker Mayfield dropped back, pumped left, and launched a ball down the middle a good 30 yards. Thompkins was sandwiched in excellent coverage by Anthony Chesley (Coastal Carolina) and Antoine Winfield.
But here is what Chesley and Winfield couldn’t defend. Thompkins made like Derrick Jones and went cloud-hopping. Joe couldn’t believe Thompkins, 5-8, could sky that high. He looked like he was going up for a tomahawk slam.
Thompkins grabbed the ball and hauled it in before slamming to the ground. Chesley and Winfield also each hit the ground after jumping for Mayfield’s pass. Both sat on ground with their heads in their hands not believing what just happened.
The offensive Bucs players went nuts.
Winfield consoled Chesley, putting his arm around Chesley’s shoulder as if to say, you couldn’t defend much better.
Joe caught up with Thompkins later after practice and told Thompkins he didn’t know he could rise like that. Thompkins just smiled and said, “Yeah.” As if saying, “I know.”
Joe knows new Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales is a big fan of Thompkins. That catch should certainly help Thompkins make the final-53 in September.
June 15th, 2023 at 11:29 am
The more the merrier man, we could have 5 studs. Just need you to stay healthy Gage, you got it
June 15th, 2023 at 11:33 am
Speed kills… I hope he is a burner this season…
June 15th, 2023 at 11:39 am
Thompkins, and Palmer running crosses, Godwin, and Evans going vertical, visa, versa, oh boy! If Canales turns out to be the real deal, enjoy him while he’s here.
June 15th, 2023 at 11:44 am
I’m hoping this kid gets some run on offense, but what I’d love to see more than anything is to seem him bring a kick back for a TD, punt/return our sideline would probably explode
June 15th, 2023 at 11:46 am
If he shows up on kick returns of course he’ll make the roster. Haven’t heard much about who’s competing for that position
June 15th, 2023 at 11:58 am
5’8” 155 lbs?
June 15th, 2023 at 11:59 am
Doesn’t Thompkins have a 40” vertical?
I think there has been a lot of talk on him doing Parkour.
He is special but little. Hopefully he can continue to use his body right and avoids injury. Year 2 is always a little better for WRs and year 3 they break out if they are worth it.
June 15th, 2023 at 12:07 pm
Larrd:
Yes.
June 15th, 2023 at 12:12 pm
These types of athletes show up every offseason before the physical game begins. All Thompkins needs to do is stay consistent on special teams. He will get snaps on offense this season. Just make a play when you get the chance. Scooter made a couple of plays and stuck around. I think its good to pair young and hungry receivers with pros like Evans and Godwin. I bet we get better value out of Thompkins than we get from Gage this season.
June 15th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
We have some serious speed with Thompkins, Palmer & at RB with this kid Sean Tucker….
June 15th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
The few times I saw this kid play he flashed to me. I just feel like he has that “it” factor. @Hodad man don’t get me excited I’m envisioning Palmer & Thompkins on the field with Evans and Godwins, those are some really good pairings of different size and speed combinations. I like the possibilities with the two TE sets featuring Otton and Durham as well. The only question mark is the run game but I believe Canales will be far more creative than leftwitch and he’ll get the most out of the brief flashes we’ve seen from White and Vaughn.
Licht did an excellent job at retooling the defense. Dean, Davis, Winfield, and Neal will be tough to throw on for as long as they’re healthy and playing together. I expect Calijah Kancey will be have a pretty good rookie season. Yaya Jose Ramirez give us much more depth behind Tryon and Nelson at OLB if Shaq isn’t quite himself.
We have potential for top 10 finishes on offense (with decent QB play) and defense. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of these ”experts” who expect us to be one of the worst teams in the leagues.
June 15th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
That’s fair. Underwear football is made for the athletes to shine. (Kenny Bell says “hi.”)
June 15th, 2023 at 1:11 pm
@Joe…True, but we’ve also seen Thompkins look good during the regular season. Albeit a small sample size (pardon pun) but I believe we have a very explosive addition for the coming year.
June 15th, 2023 at 1:14 pm
Joe —
Any sightings or comments on Ronnie Brown?
June 15th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
Deven Thompkins is an excellent athlete, one of , if not the , fastest guys on the team and going up between two defenders that way and coming down with the pass was an incredible play, however, the play itself demonstrated a disturbing weakness about Mayfield that many teams have already discovered, his arm is not that strong, he “ heaved” a thirty yard pass down field , thirty yards , if you look at Bakers stats , his average pass completion is a little over seven yards, here you had two defenders meeting the receiver , one of the fastest receivers on the team forced to compete with two defenders at thirty yards for a jump ball! Now Thompkins made a fantastic catch , but how many times could you realistically expect our receivers to make catches like that when defenders figure out that the limits of their coverage only has to be 30 yards? More of Bakers stats back that up , Yes , he has thrown for a little over 100 touchdowns during his career, but , when you add in , interceptions , blocked passes , and fumbles , it is almost exactly a one for one exchange, that’s not good , speedy receivers do you no good and you can’t stretch the field vertically if you can’t get the ball to them, I suspect Cleveland, Carolina and the Rams figured that out.
June 15th, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Joe mentioned him in the notes.
June 15th, 2023 at 2:15 pm
“Deven Thompkins is an excellent athlete, one of , if not the , fastest guys on the team”
Thompkins, Dean, McCoullum, & Palmer would make for a pretty interesting footrace
June 15th, 2023 at 2:53 pm
He’s tiny. Like super tiny.
But tough. Like super tough.
I hope he becomes a badass slot receiver and punt returner.
He’s too short with a short stride to be a kick returner.
We need a taller guy with a longer gait to be our kick returner.
June 15th, 2023 at 3:13 pm
The WR that quit on his Bucs teammates in the middle of a game doing sideways jumping jacks and then telling everyone his ankle was broken, I won’t say his name , but he too is only 5’9 – 5’10 on his tippy toes. And he had a great career before he took too many hits to the head and went all AB on everyone, lmfao 🤣
June 15th, 2023 at 3:16 pm
Point is that D.T. can have a good career if given the chance.
June 15th, 2023 at 3:57 pm
We’ve heard big thinks about these kinds of players in June before. Guys look awesome without pads on.
Come September is a different story.
June 15th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
@JDStill. I’m not a fan of Mayfield, but he has a very strong arm. The velocity on his throws are nice. He has many weaknesses, but arm strength isn’t one of them.
June 15th, 2023 at 6:10 pm
Somehow I’m feeling a Raheem Morris vibe. Could the Bucs be “Youngry” in ’23?
June 15th, 2023 at 6:55 pm
To Bucsfan 13: Yes , I have heard that he has a strong arm and I have also heard the term “ wounded duck” used with his passing, perhaps his arm is strong but his accuracy on deep passes is not what it should be. I read an article in Cleveland.com by Scott Platsco dated 15 Oct 2021 , after consecutive close losses by the Browns to the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers, titled “ Baker Mayfield is Struggling to Throw Deep Which Makes Game Winning Drives Difficult”, documenting his lack of success ,( and inaccuracy), in long end of game ,winning drives, obviously it was a problem at Cleveland and elsewhere, if a quarterback can’t close the deal in the closing minutes of close ball games, that is a real problem.
June 15th, 2023 at 8:38 pm
I might be wrong but I thought Sean Tucker had trouble blocking. If so they don’t need that.
June 16th, 2023 at 3:08 am
If you’ve never went and watched Thompkins college highlights, do yourself a favor and check them out – he looks like a small D-Jax. If he was a few inches taller and like 25-30lb heavier, he’d have been a 1st round pick. BUT, he wasn’t, and he’s always going to struggle as a WR because he’s so tiny (I think he was listed at 155lb or something ridiculously small). But, as a returner and perhaps a gadget player, I think he can add something to the team, because like Joe said, he’s really really quick – and I believe he ran a 4.42 so he’s pretty fast as well – but his main asset is quickness, he’s as sudden as it gets.
June 16th, 2023 at 4:58 am
Can he do it with the pads on?
Hope so. A real fast deep threat would be great. Palmer still hitting the highlight reels?
June 16th, 2023 at 8:15 am
THAT WOULD BE GREAT IF THOMPKINS MAKE CATCHES LIKE THAT DURING THE REGULAR SEASON ON OCCASION !WITH TREY PALMER, KADE WARNER & AT LEAST 2 OTHERS WHOSE NAMES I’VE BEEN HEARING MAKING CATCHES, I BELIEVE THAT WIDE RECIEVER ROOM IS GOING TO BE JUST FINE ! THIS TEAM HAS REALLY ACCUMULATED SOME TALENT AT ALL POSITIONS & IF THEY BEGIN TO GEL BY THE END OF TRAINING CAMP, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A VERY COMPETITIVE TEAM ON THE FIELD VS THE VIKINGS IN THAT 1ST REGULAR SEASON GAME ! ( OH, HOW I LOVE US BEING THE UNDERDOG’S THIS SEASON ! )
June 16th, 2023 at 8:37 pm
Thanks Joe for the update. I was the one asking yesterday. You truly are the man and not stated enough bit appreciate all you do for us Bucs fan. First and last thing I look at every day!
June 16th, 2023 at 8:42 pm
PA Buc Fan:
Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated!