Bucs starters look sharp in pre-season opener
The Buccaneers opened the 2017 pre-season with a 23-12 loss in Cinncinnati against the Bengals. By just looking at the score you would think the Bucs did not have a good performance. Outside of Roberto Aguayo (more on that later) the Bucs starters looked pretty sharp.
The Bucs took the opening kickoff right down the field and were able to run the ball at will. Jameis Winston was razor sharp hitting 9/13 for 99 yards. Mike Evans made some terrific catches and the much maligned offensive line was able to open up some holes for Doug Martin as the Bucs took the ball to the Benagals 3 yard line. Then the Bucs offense stalled and Roberto Aguayo kicked a 26 yard FG. That would be his only points of the night as the Bucs took a quick 3-0 lead. That would pretty much be the night for the starters as Winston gave way to Ryan Fitzpatrick late in the first quarter.
Defensively some real good performances especially from the DB's. Vernon Hargraves with a pick at the 1 yard line late in the first quarter was outstanding. The Bengals had driven the length of the filed and would have scored a touchdown if not for the Hargraves pick. What made the pick even better was Hargraves was in 1 on 1 coverage with Bengals receiver AJ Green and fought him off for the ball. Koetter had said numerous times during the off-season they were looking to see more aggressive play from Hargraves and we saw that in the Interception.
Ryan Smith was the other Bucs defender that stood out with his play. Very solid in his game hustling to make the tackles, his pursuit on the run was good, and I think he will become a key player for the Bucs this season With Jude Adjei-Barimah out for the season.
The one dissapointment was the play of the run defense. I thought the Bengals ran the ball at will and pretty much dictated the pace of play on the first drive when the majority of the starters were In. Definately something that will need work in Jacksonville this week and the Bucs should get plenty of practice against the Jags No. 1 pick Leonard Fournette.
Roberto Aguayo was the Aguayo we have come to know and love and as missed 1/2 FG's and missed an extra point in the loss. Aguayo was promptly cut the next morning and the kicking duties handed over to Nick Folk who has an 81.8 FG percentage in the NFL. GM Jason Licht has made some really good moves as GM. Good draft picks, good free agent acquisitions, but this Aguayo pick in the second round will go down as his worst move as GM so far. The fact that he traded a 3rd and 4th round pick and moved up too get Aguayo stings even more.
--LB Davonte Bond will be out a few weeks with an injury. This will will be a good opportunity for the rookie LB Kendall Beckwith to make his mark, get some reps and get a shot at a starting position.
--QB Ryan Griffin injured his shoulder in the loss and will miss significant time. That means Ryan Fitzpatrick has probably won the back-up job to Jameis Winsto. Fitzpatrick was just ok in Cincy competing 6/13 for 45 yards with one pick. He did have a nice scramble for a 6 yard TD run in the second quarter. Sefo Liufau will be the third QB for now Liufau was 4/5 for 31 yards in his pre-season debut. He is an undrafted rookie out of Colorado and will see probably about a quarter of work in Jacksonville Thursday night.
--RB Russel Hansbrough has a concussion and will not play against the Jags.
