Buccaneers lose important competition piece ahead of cuts

The lose of Kenjon Barner doesn’t seem like it would be much for the Buccaneers when you see him as the fifth running back, but what about his kick returns?

Kenyon Barner wasn’t going to make the Buccaneers roster on his running back abilities.

Despite a long career in the NFL, Barner has never been much of a pass-catcher or a rusher. The area where Barner truly shined was on special teams as a returner, and this is still one of the areas where the Bucs struggled the most.

The Bucs need someone to step up and right the ship at the position, and while it seemed like an outside chance as of the most recent game that Barner would make the roster, he is still the most recent returner to actually look decent.

Jaelon Darden didn’t cut it last season. Deven Thompkins and Rachaad White didn’t jump off the screen in the preseason game. Jaydon Mickens is no longer with the team.

The return job has been wide open for the Bucs for quite some time now, and the recent loss of Barner for the season is only going to hurt the odds of finding someone who can actually hold up well under the pressure for a full season.

Barner probably wasn’t going to win the job based on how everything was going and was certainly not going to be the fifth running back on the roster, but he does have a lot of experience in the one area where the Buccaneers need it.

Even if Barner didn’t win the job, simply having him on the field and taking reps was going to mean that the guy who won the job was going to have to beat the veteran out; upping the overall level of play.

The competition is still going to be tight as the Bucs look for a way to right the ship, but it did just lose some of its fire without arguably the best competitor for the position.

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