A light dreary rain fell over part the Bucs' OTA finale Thursday.

Leave it to pro-bowler Gerald McCoy to lighten the mood with his dance moves. The 300-pound defensive tackle was light on his feet with what's become sort of an OTA tradition for him.  

Head coach Dirk Koetter also took the weather in stride.

“Handling the wet ball, quarterback-center exchange, all the ball handling," said Koetter.  "It makes it a little bit sloppy at times, but it’s actually good for us in the long run.”

With no live contact throughout OTAs, standing out takes on a whole new meaning, but Koetter singled out tight end Cameron Brate.

"Obviously, kind of with the year I was able to have last year, just looking to kind of build off of that," said Brate, who scored a league leading eight touchdowns by a tight end last year.  "Kinda the successes and the failures, learn from those."

"As far as the offense goes, Cam's probably the most consistent player throughout OTAs, but Luke's the leader in that room," said Koetter.

Luke Stocker that is.  He and Brate have been mentors for 19th overall pick O.J. Howard.

"It’s been awesome having O.J. in the tight end room and out on the field with us," said Brate.  "He brings a lot to the table, a lot to our offense. He is doing an unbelievable job of picking up on everything."

Overall, Koetter says the Bucs are about where they should be, but it’s hard for the players not to get excited.

“From a year ago, we’re light years ahead of where we were," said Brate.

“OTAs its hard to tell much improvement, but guys are playing with a lot more swagger, said wide receiver Mike Evans.

"You've got to temper everything this time of year because you're playing in shorts," said Koetter.

The voluntary tag has been lifted at One Buc Place.

Next week the team begins mandatory mini-camp.

Monday the players will go through brief physicals.

Camp runs June 13th-15th and then it's five weeks off before a highly anticipated training camp.