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Buccaneers: Preseason debut takeaways

By James Yarcho

CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 11: Jeremy McNichols of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs the ball ahead of Jordan Willis of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter of a preseason game at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 11: Jeremy McNichols of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs the ball ahead of Jordan Willis of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter of a preseason game at Paul Brown Stadium on August 11, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Roberto Ag-bye-o

Enough was enough for Dirk Koetter and company as Roberto Aguayo was given his walking papers Saturday following another poor performance. Aguayo missed an extra point in the first half then missed a 47-yard kick at the end of the game to get the Bucs back within one score.

Koetter wasn’t kind in his words about Aguayo after the game and it spilled over into his conversation with Licht Saturday morning – which apparently has been an ongoing conversation since last season;

"“At any position, you just hope it plays itself out and there’s a clear-cut winner. Jason (Licht) and I – we’ve been talking about this since last year – we’ve been talking about this for a long time. I think just in general it’s time to make a move on from Roberto, let him have a chance with another team and we’re confident in Nick (Folk)”"

Aguayo had his chances. There isn’t really a less pressure situation than an extra point in the first preseason game. At this point, moving on from a bad draft pick is the best decision for a team with so much potential. There doesn’t need to be a distraction for a team with so much potential to have a guy on the team that you can’t rely on to do their job.

The players – at this point – can’t have the confidence that when Aguayo goes out for a field goal or an extra point that he’s going to come through. With the game on the line, you need a guy that you’re shocked missed a kick rather than a guy you’re shocked actually made it.

Folk doesn’t have the job locked up quite yet as the Bucs will bring in another kicker before the team heads to Jacksonville for joint practices before their game Thursday night.

At the end of the day we wish Aguayo the best but certainly aren’t upset the team decided to move on. This team is too talented to have to worry about the kicker being a mental mess. A fresh start and new scenery may allow Agauyo to become the kicker Licht thought he was going to be, but he was never going to straighten things out in Tampa Bay.

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