What Buccaneers young face has to show in training camp to keep job

Ke’Shawn Vaughn needs to step up for the Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers and Ke’Shawn Vaughn has not exactly played out at the rate than anyone expected when the pick was made, but the Buccaneers running back still has a chance to make a name for himself in camp for the future.

While training camp generally matters very little, there are certain things in it that you can take away that show whether or not a player is prepared for the season to begin.

This is not the time to really look at veterans or what they’re doing, especially established guys, but this is a decent chance for the young faces to make a name for themselves and show what they been working on during the off-season.

No player shows this better on the Bucs than running back to Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

Vaughn came to the team at a difficult time where running backs like Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones emerged at various points to take over the starting job. Both had great seasons at various points that took the ball away from guys like Vaughn.

Ronald Jones was great at the start of 2020. Leonard Fournette was excellent in the playoffs and 2021. Both of these guys ended up taking on lead-back roles when the Bucs didn’t really have reps to give to guys like Vaughn.

This left Vaughn on the bench and we are now moving into year three. There is still time to introduce a bit of an upside and some consistent from the third-year back in this backfield.

What Ke’Shawn Vaughn needs to do is catch the football with some level of consistency.

Tampa runs a pass-first offense, sorry to break it to you. This unit is at its best when running backs can catch out of the backfield and block well, and that is how a guy like Vaughn is going to establish himself in a room that has three other guys that can do these relatively well.

The Bucs care about whether or not guys can catch and block above all else with their running backs, and Vaughn runs the risk of getting relegated to the third role if he can’t do this well during camp and the preseason.

There is still time for Ke’Shawn Vaughn to turn into the play that the Bucs thought he could become when they drafted him, but none of that will happen if he can’t get a bit more consistency through the air and on third downs.

Want to write about the Buccaneers? Apply below!

Want your voice heard? Join the The Pewter Plank team!

Write for us!