The NFL preseason, the first taste of football action for the season, gives fans a glimpse at what's to come each year.
Of course, it's not often the rosters' best players get crucial roles in these matchups; however, it becomes the most critical part of the year for new players on the roster as well as vets vying for those coveted backup roles, giving each game a natural state of competitiveness.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' supporting cast looked great against the Tennessee Titans. The preseason, of course, is a shell of what a competitive NFL game featuring the league's best looks like come kickoff September 4th. It does, however, give the coaching staff an opportunity to find some diamonds in the rough to support the Buccaneers' starting 2025 squad.
Based on what we saw in the preseason opener, Todd Bowles has a gnarly task on his hands when it comes to making roster cuts. A ton of guys stepped up in big ways and won't make any final decisions any easier.
Buccaneers’ breakout performers are making roster cuts a nightmare for Todd Bowles
One of those diamonds is Nick Jackson, an undrafted Iowa Hawkeye graduate, who was signed to the Bucs' roster off a tryout.
The rookie stood out in the Bucs' preseason debut with six solo tackles and an impressive pairing of a sack and an interception to show the versatile linebacker could do it all on defense. Jackson's impressive interception came in the third quarter against Titans' journeyman backup QB Brandon Allen.
Allen was battling back against the Bucs' defense, with the Titans trailing by just six points in the third quarter, when Jackson suddenly sealed Allen's fate, grabbing a batted pass at the line with one hand on the way to the ground for the pick. The Bucs went on to score sixteen unanswered points against the Titans after the impressive interception by Jackson, beating Tennessee 29-7.
Shilo Sanders, another undrafted college free agent of the Bucs, recorded a solo tackle paired with a QB hit in the matchup as well.
Buccaneer veteran Kyle Trask looked poised in his role in the preseason debut, delivering a consistent experience on offense with good production. Trask took the majority of the team's snaps under center for the game, totaling 129 yards on just sixteen attempts. He only missed on four of his passes on the night, averaging 8.1 yards per pass.
Third and second year running backs Sean Tucker and Owen Wright tallied a pair of scores for the Bucs on offense. Wright, going into his second season in the NFL, put up 87 rushing yards in the week one preseason game averaging 4.8 on the ground.
Tucker similarly had a good night racking up an explosive fifty yards on the ground on just 13 attempts. The two backs could make for a solid competition for the RB3 role on offense, especially with the early injury to Bucs vet Rachaad White.
On the receiving end of the offense, fans got their first look at Tampa Bay's 2025 first-round draft pick Emeka Egbuka. He's in no danger of being cut, but his debut in a Buccaneers uniform deserves to be shouted out. He didn't see the field for too long, but just long enough to snag a flashy 21-yard chunk play catch, moving the offense down the field. Egbuka was targeted once more in the game on a red zone look but lost the ball in double coverage, though he still was able to get his hands on the ball, making it more of a drop.
Returning second-year standout receiver Jalen McMillan was given a brief stint of action on the field, providing a flashy chunk play of his own with a 25-yard catch on his single target of the night. 2023 Bucs college free agent signing Ryan Miller of Furman College showed out in the preseason matchup with the most catches by any of the receivers on offense. Miller put up an impressive 66 yards, leading the receiver room, on six targets averaging an impressive eleven yards a catch.
The young and returning players alike made it look easy in preseason Week 1, and hopefully, Bucs fans can look forward to a similar experience in the games to come.
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