Assessing Buccaneers’ 2018 Rookie Class: A mixed bag
By Ryan Doyle
With the 2018 season behind them, now is the time to take a look at how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookies fared in their first seasons in red and pewter.
The expectations were high for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2018 rookie class.
The Bucs had five picks in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. It was clear that this group had the potential to play significant roles from the start.
General manager targeted positions of need early on. He selected a running back, a guard and multiple cornerbacks to try and fill the remaining holes on the roster. From a logical standpoint, his moves made sense.
The problem with Licht’s strategy was that the 2018 roster would rely too heavily on rookies. If they weren’t ready to play right away, the Bucs would be relying on some subpar options to play meaningful snaps.
Quickly, multiple rookies showed they weren’t quite ready for the NFL. Ronald Jones and Alex Cappa spent the first month of the season inactive on Sunday’s while M.J. Stewart couldn’t hang with any of his matchups in the slot.
All while Vita Vea dealt with a calf injury that forced him to miss all of training camp and the first three games of the season.
Despite a rough start for most of the Bucs rookies, as the season went along, they began to come into their own. Let’s take a look at each Draft selection and see how they fared in their first NFL seasons.