Winners and losers from Buccaneers 20-7 loss to Jaguars

It was an objectively less fun night for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers than what happened in the preseason opener last weekend.

The Bucs looked flat out of the gate and never found the right gear, eventually losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-7. Bright spots were much harder to come by this week, with miscues and mistakes stunting momentum and holding the team back in frustrating ways.

None of the team's key starters played, which could be used to wash away the loss and chalk it up to simply being the preseason. That would be to ignore not only some things that need to be corrected but also overlook the few good things that happened and deserve celebration.

Winners and losers from Buccaneers 20-7 loss to Jaguars

Winner: Jose Ramirez, LB

Easily the best part of the night was watching second-year linebacker Jose Ramirez shine. He finished with three sacks and four solo tackles, and his performance couldn't have been more perfectly timed.

It was announced in the middle of the game that the Bucs had reached an agreement with Randy Gregory that would lead to his release later this week. With Gregory officially gone -- not that he every showed up -- the door is wide open for Ramirez to step up and earn a roster spot.

The way he played on Saturday is the first big move in that direction. He stuck around last year as part of the practice squad and has earned the right to fight for a roster spot. If he keeps up what he did against the Jaguars, that won't be a very hard argument to make.

Winner: Cody Thompson, WR

While there wasn't much to write home about offensively this week, perhaps the lone bright spot was the play of wide receiver Cody Thompson.

The Bucs have filled their top four receiver slots with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and Trey Palmer. The Bucs carried five players at the position into the season last year and likely will again, but they don't have a clear-cut WR5 on the depth chart.

Thompson made an intriguing argument for that role on Saturday night in Jacksonville.

He finished as the Bucs leading receiver with 66 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't just that he racked up some stats, it's that he was seemingly everywhere and on the end of almost every good throw that was made.

Rakim Jarrett and Ryan Miller are both in competition for that fifth receiver role as well, but Thompson threw his hat in the ring in a big way on Saturday. Todd Bowles said after the game that coaches wanted to see what Thompson had and the fact that he impressed them could go a long way in him earning some sort of role with the team down the road.

Loser: Chase McLaughlin, K

Saturday made it back-to-back games with missed kicks for the usually reliable Chase McLaughlin. He's missed two field goals in in three attempts so far this preseason, matching the total number of kicks he missed all of last season combined.

That's not great, especially after the Bucs gave him a nice new contract this offseason.

It's still early, and McLaughlin has proven to be more reliable than he's looked, but it wouldn't be the first time a kicker gets the yips and starts unraveling. Tampa Bay invested a lot in McLaughlin and can't afford to have this be the start of some sort of spiral right before the season starts.

Winner: Markees Watts, LB

Jose Ramirez wasn't the only pass rusher to make a mark against the Jaguars. Markees Watts was part of the Bucs' UDFA haul last offseason and he showed why the team kept him around on Saturday night.

Watts punked Jaguars offensive lineman Javon Foster so bad that you can already hear his coaches yelling at him during the next film session.

Much like Ramirez, Watts is trying to make the roster at one of Tampa Bay's deepest position groups. Randy Gregory's release helps open a lane for Watts to potentially make the team, something he did last year and seems well on his way to doing again.

Loser: Buccaneers making dumb mental errors

An unfortunate common thread throughout the last few seasons has been the Bucs inability to stay out of their own way. Last Saturday was a relatively clean game but things went the other direction against the Jaguars.

Trey Palmer stepped out of bounds at his own ten yard line after fielding a punt. Kyle Trask threw the ball away on third down rather than take a sack and run time off the clock before halftime. An awesome John Wolford scramble for a first down was nullified by a holding penalty.

It's not just that these were bad mental mistakes; it's that they haven't been coached out. Most of the mistakes were made by players who won't be starting on Sundays, but it's a frustrating theme that haunts the Buccaneers everywhere they go, and the inability to exorcise the mistakes is baffling.

Loser: Offensive Line

There's not nice way to put it, the offensive line was putrid on Saturday night.

Kyle Trask and John Wolford were constantly under pressure, and the run game failed to get going behind a line that couldn't stop making mistakes. The game's last drive was particularly shameful; the Bucs had a first-and-goal at Jacksonville's one-yard line but ended the game back at the 20-yard line.

Wolford left with an injury and Trask came in to eventually get sacked for a 14-yard loss as time expired. There were three total sacks given up on the night and the rushing attack produced just 75 yards. Even though Tristan Wirfs wasn't playing, which is a major variable to account for, the way the game ended is not exactly an endorsement of the Bucs' offensive line depth.

There's still plenty of time to sort things out, but that lack of depth could be something that comes back to bite the team later in the season.

Winner: Graham Barton, C

Let's not end on a negative. While the offensive line was objectively awful, Graham Barton continued to be a massive bright spot.

He got the start at center and even though he alternated drives with Robert Hainsey, Barton once again showed exactly the type of promise the Bucs invested in back in April. Not only did he help open up some running lanes for Sean Tucker and Bucky Irving -- the top two rushers on Saturday -- but he displayed some elite pass blocking as well.

Barton helping the run game is one of the main selling points on him, but to see him doing the same with pass protection is another reason to get really excited about how special he can be moving forward.

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