Buccaneers rookie step back not a cause for concern
By Rob Leeds
Deven Thompkins didn’t have a dominant second game in the NFL, but this shouldn’t be a cause of concern for the Buccaneers right now.
Rookie wide receiver and special teamer Deven Thompkins turned a lot of heads with the Buccaneers in his first professional game last week.
The return game had been lacking an explosive player for a while, so Thompkins coming in was an excellent change of pace in a game that didn’t have a lot of bright spots (thrashing by the 49ers).
With another tough game coming up in the Bengals, many wondered how Thompkins would do in another big situation.
The result was more of a mixed bag, if not a bit of a step back. There were some good moments, one on offense and a few decent returns early, but the second half of the game got messy for Thompkins about as much as it got messy for everyone else on the Bucs.
Thompkins’ returns were a bit less confident. The speed to hit the hole seemed to lapse when there was a bit more uncertainty.
To be fair, that Bengals team was feasting across the board, but it still wasn’t the best from Thompkins.
Regardless, this shouldn’t be a point of concern for Tampa. Thompkins is a rookie and still has a better body of work than Jaelon Darden through two games, so that is always going to be the main litmus test.
Long 35-yard returns aren’t going to happen every touch. In fact they may not happen every game. Volume is the key here, and based on what we have seen, it seems to us that it would be a safe bet that Thompkis is going to look like a damn good player once he is able to find a rhythm and build some confidence in this vital role.
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