Najee Goode
Goode is excellent against the run, but his coverage skills are developing. Against Washington, Goode showed those skills are emerging with nice pass coverage on Niles Paul to save a touchdown with under a minute left in the first quarter. Goode recorded a tackle for loss to stop on Royster for a loss of a yard, assisted Tandy with 10 yard tackle on Helu, and stopped Dorson Royce for a short gain. Goode has played well on special teams and is very solid against the run, but has a lot of competition from Dekoda Watson, Adam Hayward, Jacob Cutrera, and Rennie Curran for a roster spot.

Keith Tandy
For the second week in a row, Tandy was one of the most impressive Buccaneer defenders and should have guaranteed himself a spot on the final roster. Tandy is a smart, versatile defensive back who has been playing as a safety the past few weeks, but is capable of playing nickel and cornerback as well. On the opening Washington drive, Tandy was able to grab Josh Morgan’s ankles and drag him to the ground and followed that up a play later getting inside the box to tackle Evan Royster for five yard gain. Tandy had a laser on Royster, nailing him again after a pass on third down midway through the first quarter. Tandy had a misread on a play, but was able to recover as fellow rookie Baker made the tackle. Tandy ended the night with two more tackles for a total of five, adding to his already team-leading 13 tackles entering the contest.

Johnson allowed the first complete pass of the game as Anthony Armstrong was able to get inside Johnson. Terrence Austin made a catch on the right sideline, but immediately Johnson immediately shoved him out of bound, then was able to drag Roy Helu down shortly thereafter. An undrafted local player out of Largo High, Johnson was signed by the Bucs following the draft. Thought early in the draft season to be a top-10 talent, Johnson fell down the board and eventually off of it completely due to his lack of press-man cover skills. The Bucs decided to give him a shot and the Clearwater native may end up on the final roster due to his upside as a developmental player.

Sean Baker
If you haven’t seen much about Baker from PewterReport.com until now, it’s because he had been incredibly quiet for the first three preseason games. Once he was given the opportunity, however, Baker came alive in the second quarter and didn’t look back the rest of the game. Baker is a high energy guy who had three tackles on the Redskins’ fifth possession, which would have been for if not for a Redskin penalty that negated the play. Baker continued to make a case for himself to start the second half with a possible point-saving tackle on Helu and then followed it up two plays later with his first interception of the game. Baker displayed above average read and react skills, evident by his second interception at the end of the third quarter and a fumble recovery, which Baker returned four yards in the final quarter. Baker was outstanding in his first look with extended playing time, and may have made the Bucs roster decisions even harder when it comes to the secondary.