Jon Gruden appears to love collecting TEs like QBs as he has four decent ones.  26-year old Alex Smith is the best of the TE bunch for 2008.  He played in 14 games for the Bucs last season and he caught 32 passes for 385 yards (12.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Bucs would like to use Smith more in the offense but he needs to step up and win the starting job outright.  Smith has now played in 44 games in his NFL career and he has caught 108 passes for 1,002 yards (9.3 avg) with 8 TD grabs.

6′4″, 270 pound Ben Troupe has always been very highly touted but he has never been the big time player many expected of him.  He played in all 16 games last season for the Titans and he caught only 5 passes for 47 yards (9.4 avg).  Look for Troupe to catch more passes than he did last season but he still won’t make a huge impact.  Troupe has now played in 55 games in his NFL career and he has caught 106 passes for 1,056 yards (10.0 avg) with 7 TD grabs.

28-year old John Gilmore was brought in as a free agent and his game is blocking for the run.  He played in 15 games for the Bears last season and he caught 3 passes for 14 yards (4.7 avg).  Don’t expect him to catch more than 5 passes in 2008 for the Bucs but that doesn’t mean that he won’t be able to help the team win with his blocking.  Gilmore has now played in 86 games in his NFL career and he has caught 21 passes for 194 yards (9.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

The Bucs have re-signed Jerramy Stevens despite his off field issues.  He played in 15 games for the Bucs last season and he caught 18 passes for 189 yards (10.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Stevens has the most talent of any of the Bucs’ tight ends on the roster but he never seems to be focused on the job at hand as he drops too many passes.  Stevens has now played in 86 games in his NFL career and he has caught 148 passes for 1,647 yards (11.1 avg) with 19 TD grabs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C