The Pewter Plank
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The Buccaneers must end the Vernon Hargreaves era now

By Cory Kinnan

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 27: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans grabs the facemask of Vernon Hargreaves III #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at Nissan Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 27: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans grabs the facemask of Vernon Hargreaves III #28 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at Nissan Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 10: Jamel Dean #35 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes his first career interception thrown by Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium on November 10, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 10: Jamel Dean #35 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes his first career interception thrown by Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium on November 10, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Bench him and let the youngsters grow

Over the past two drafts, the Bucs have selected four cornerbacks on day-two (in the second and third round); because of the age and youth of these players, Arians and company must let them on the field as to evaluate who deserves to hang around for the future. From the 2018 draft class, Carlton Davis and M.J. Stewart have seen the field quite a bit, but Stewart had been a healthy scratch the past two weeks before yesterday’s win.

This past April, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean were the newest cornerbacks added to the roster in the second and third round of the 2019 NFL Draft respectively. These two young guns have been seeing the field quite a bit over the past few weeks, especially with the injury to Davis.

When Davis returns to the field, the Bucs should consider fielding him and Dean on the outside with Murphy-Bunting in the nickel as a way of attempting to put their best foot forward for the future. An undrafted free agent who also put together a solid summer and landed on the practice squad was Mazzi Wilkins from the backyard of Raymond James Stadium at the University of South Florida.

While Wilkins is young and obviously not as talented (hence, on the practice squad), the Bucs have gotten a good enough look at both Hargreaves and Stewart to know that they are not contributing in a successful manner. If the Bucs’ season slips any further away, they should consider promoting Wilkins just to get a better look at him in live action in the nickel.

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