Injuries have already started to chew through the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster, most notably hitting the team’s young group of talented rookies.
First it was edge rusher David Walker who was placed on IR after suffering an injury in training camp. This time around it’s the secondary that is being hit.
Pewter Report confirmed that J.J. Robert’s injury is significant enough that he’ll miss the entire season. The Bucs placed the rookie on season-ending IR on Saturday, halting what had been an otherwise incredible ascent for a player the team had invested heavily in.
Roberts left joint practice with the Steelers earlier after he suffered a significant knee injury while on special teams. The team was initially mum about how bad the injury was, and there was hope that it wouldn’t be as serious as it seemed.
Those hopes were dashed this weekend, and the rise one of the Buccaneers most exciting and promising rookies has been stunted.
J.J. Roberts injury opens the door for Shilo Sanders to make the Buccaneers 53-man roster
Tampa Bay invested heavily in Roberts, giving him a three-year rookie contract that paid him $300,000 guaranteed.. That’s not an insignificant amount of money for a team still trying to spend cautiously, and it’s a pretty big figure to give an undrafted free agent.
Roberts backed up the hype right away, shining at camp and showing off in the first preseason game against the Titans. He helped force a turnover and was locked down in coverage all night. It backed up the praise we’d been hearing about him all offseason and is one of the main reasons news that he’ll miss the entire season so devestating.
It’s not a total nightmare situation, though.
Losing Roberts is tough blow but placing him on IR means a clear path now exists for Shilo Sanders to make the roster. He’s also been impressing all of the right people at training camp and similarly showed off in the preseason opener last Saturday.
Sanders’ biggest hurdle to making the final 53-man roster was how well Roberts was positioned to box him out. With Roberts now on IR and set to miss the season, a spot just opened up in the safety room and the Bucs have a perfect candidate in Sanders to fill the void.
He still needs to continue to prove himself, but a team that lacked secondary depth so badly last season might be in a position to replace the loss of Roberts easier than they otherwise might have.