The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 17-14 on Saturday night in the teams' opening preseason action ahead of the 2024 season. However, it's never about the score of the game as much as it is about who stood out - and who didn't . There were a number of Buccaneers who had noteworthy performances and helped their chances of either making the roster or earning a key role.
Of course, a number also fell short of expectations and put themselves in a spot where they need to bounce back next weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Here's whose stock is rising (and falling) after Saturday night. Stock Rising 1) Graham Barton The rookie center had a strong first professional showing.
The run game was noticeably better when he was in there. He worked well in tandem with Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch alongside him. Oh, and that block on the Bucky Irving touchdown run was a thing of beauty.
Manhandled his defender and drove him into the ground. Round 1 certainly went the way of the rookie in the battle for the starting center spot. 2) Sean Tucker Tucker ran hard, fast, and with a purpose on Saturday night.
He was the Bucs' best runner on Saturday, although Irving also had a solid showing. He totaled 68 yards on 10 carries with a long of 26 yards. Right now, he's looking like a player who's trending towards a roster spot, and one that could actually be useful as a part of the running back rotation this fall.
3) Kyle Trask It was kind of a mixed day for Trask because of .