Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans got their first good look at most of the team's rookie class during Saturday night's preseason opener against the Titans. To the surprise of absolutely no one, wide receiver Emeka Ebuka stood out and needed just two catches to get everyone excited about what he can do.
It wasn't just Egbuka who impressed. Safety J.J. Roberts was a stud in coverage and helped force a turnover late in the game, and fellow undrafted rookie Nick Jackson stood out in all the right ways as well.
One player we didn't see was cornerback Benjamin Morrison. He was Tampa Bay's first selection of the second round this year and comes to the Bucs with a ton of hype after an outstanding career at Notre Dame.
Morrison was projected at various points in the draft process as a first-round pick, but injuries lowered his stock. It's that same issue which is now preventing him from taking the field and it might be some time before we see him actually do that.
Buccaneers rookie Benjamin Morrison expected to miss entire preseason, if not more
JoeBucsFan had an ear to the Buccaneers Radio Network when GM Jason Licht delivered some less-than-stellar news about Morrison. There doesn't seem to be a clear timetable for his return from a hamstring injury, and it sounds like we'll have to wait until the regular season to see his debut -- if we're lucky.
Licht noted that Morrison will "hopefully back for the regular season" which hardly sounds promising.
Morrison injured his hamstring at training camp, which is a bummer for a few reasons. For starters, it seems Buccaneers players have a knack for injuring their hamstrings, as we saw more than a few players go down last season with the same sort of ailment.
Of course, the headline issue here is that Morrison is missing valuable time this preseason to develop his game and fit into the defense. Tampa Bay used a premium pick on him with the idea he could help turn things around in the secondary, an area that has needed a boost for a few seasons now.
Here's some potential upside: Tampa Bay has watched rookies start the season slow due to injury before only to watch them shine once they hit a stride. Calijah Kancey's much-anticipated rookie campaign got off to a staggered start thanks to injuries but he's developed into an essential piece of the defensive line.
Morrison has a ton of expectations when it comes to how he can help get the secondary back on track. Hopefull,y this ends up being another situation that was worth the wait, and we should be doubly hopeful that this isn't the start of bad injury luck holding a potentially key player back from having an impact.
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