Buccaneers: Key takeaways from 2021 preseason opener

Other takeaways for the Buccaneers

Jaydon Mickens 

Mickens is having a great camp and was the most competent return man last night. The Bucs may end up keeping him as their sixth guy if Johnson doesn’t start producing on offense. Between Darden and Mickens, the Bucs may finally have a decent return game to lean on.

O.J. Howard 

Howard is back and made his presence known in the first game. Some fans may forget that Howard is one of the best blocking and receiving tight ends in the game when he’s healthy, and it looked like he hadn’t lost his chemistry with Brady during his time out with injury.

Cameron Kinley 

Everyone will be watching that last corner spot closely with Kinley in the mix. Kinley looked decent in his debut with six tackles, but a pass interference call was his biggest slip-up.

Kinley still has a chance to make the final roster, and the best opportunity to earn this job is staying ready on special teams.

Kicking 

There wasn’t much to gather on the kicking front. Some special teams shenanigans by the Bucs had a PAT negated, and Succop was the starter for the first half.

Hopefully, next week we will get to see more field goal attempts to see if Succop has finally exorcised his demons or if the Bucs need to make a change.

Grant Stuard 

Stuard plays so hard. It’s impossible not to see the rookie LB running all across the field, but he currently projects to be a practice squad player at best. The Bucs have a much better group of inside linebackers that bring more on defense and special teams, and Stuard will unfortunately not make the cut against legitimate NFL completion.

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