Following a 17-14 win over the Bengals in Cincinnati to open the preseason last week, the Bucs will finish up their week in Jacksonville with a game against the Jaguars on Saturday night.

Given Tampa Bay and Jacksonville held joint practices together on Wednesday and Thursday and the starters will have gotten a lot of reps in on those days, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is likely to employ a similar strategy to the one he went with last week. That means most starters, including quarterback Baker Mayfield, will not play against the Jaguars.

Bowles previously said that he was targeting next week’s preseason finale against the Dolphins as the one where his starters would get their game reps.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of intriguing players to keep an eye on when the Bucs and Jaguars kick off the second game of their respective exhibition slates at 7:30 Saturday night. After taking a look at one player at each offensive position to watch in the game against Jacksonville, we’ll do the same with the defense today.

Bucs To Watch vs. Jaguars: Defense

Here are some of the Bucs to watch on the defensive side of the ball in Week 2 of the preseason on Saturday night:

DT Logan Hall

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: USA Today

Most starters didn’t play last weekend in Cincinnati, and all indications are that a similar group will open the game Saturday in Jacksonville. That would mean third-year defensive lineman Logan Hall should be in the mix again, even if it’s only for a drive or two. Hall played 13 snaps last week without much to show for it, grading out about average per PFF with a 58.2 overall grade, a 55.7 run defense grade and a pass rush mark of 62.6.

Given how important Hall is to the Bucs defense and the strides he needs to show, perhaps he’ll get more play against the Jaguars. However much he does play, he needs to make the most of his reps.

The 2022 second-round pick has underwhelmed thus far in his Tampa Bay career, though now that he has added some weight and gotten two full seasons under his belt, it’s time for him to take the next step in 2024. While there isn’t exactly another defensive lineman breathing down his neck for his starting position, Hall needs to show progress this season to avoid being replaced as a starter next year.

He flashed some pass rush ability as a rookie before seeing his snap share decrease last year, but more consistency out of the former Houston Cougar would be a welcome sight. Getting things going Saturday night would be a good first step.

OLB Jay Person

While the Bucs have the first four outside linebackers on the depth chart pretty locked in with Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson leading the way, there is an intense competition for whatever spots remain, whether that’s just the OLB5 role or if Tampa Bay keeps a sixth player at the position as well. Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez have long been the favorites, but Jay Person may be emerging as a dark horse option, as Scott Reynolds mentioned in Friday’s SR’s Fab 5. The former UT-Chattanooga pass rusher registered the game-ending tackle last week and had a strong showing in this week’s joint practices.

Person posted 233 tackles (133 solo), 56 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, nine forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during his time with UT-Chattanooga, and the Bucs liked him enough to sign him when a roster spot opened up due to Sua Opeta’s season-ending knee injury. The 6-foot-2, 237-pound rookie had a sack in Wednesday’s practice and could see more time on Saturday than the seven snaps he got last week against the Bengals. Watts and Ramirez are still bound to be the leaders for whatever outside linebacker spots remain, but as Scott Reynolds said Friday, keep an eye on Person.

ILB J.J. Russell

Bucs ILB J.J. Russell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It was easy to buy into the Kalen DeLoach hype given his Florida State career and his impressive start to camp. But everyone (including myself) quickly forgot what a menace J.J. Russell is during the preseason and may have been too eager to hand his roster spot over to DeLoach.

That’s not to say the former Seminole star deserves to now be forgotten about and his chances of making the final 53 are shot, but Russell’s performance last week against the Bengals was a good reminder of what he can do. Not to mention, he proved last year that he’s plenty capable of stepping in and stepping up whenever the Bucs need him at linebacker.

If Russell continues to play solid, assignment-sound football while flying around and making tackles like he did against Cincinnati (and has often done in past preseasons), it’s going to be hard for Tampa Bay to push him out the door in favor of DeLoach. So, what happens?

Well, if Russell keeps playing well and the team doesn’t want to risk losing DeLoach by trying to stash him on the practice squad, might five inside linebackers make the team? There could soon be a dilemma that the Bucs brass is faced with, and Russell is going to keep doing his best to ensure that such is the case.

DB Tykee Smith

Tykee Smith, one of the Bucs’ 2024 third-round picks, appears to be the favorite to win the starting nickel job out of camp. But the versatile rookie has been cross-training at nickel, free safety and strong safety and has been praised by teammates and coaches for how quickly he’s picking up Todd Bowles’ defense. Veteran safety Jordan Whitehead even said earlier in camp that Smith is way ahead of where he was as a rookie, which is high praise for the former Georgia Bulldog. Smith played 20 snaps last week in Cincinnati, with 19 coming in the slot and one coming in the box. Might he get some snaps at safety in Saturday’s game?

Tampa Bay has two top-tier safeties in Antoine Winfield Jr. and Whitehead, but both are sure to be among the group of starters sitting against the Jaguars. And while the Bucs have plenty of players they want to get looks from at the safety position, Week 2 of the preseason could be a chance for Smith to get some game time in at safety. While he’s bound to be the primary nickel cornerback come time for the season, the team wouldn’t be cross-training him at the safety spots for nothing. Whether he sees the majority of his time in the slot or he does get snaps at safety, Smith will continue to be one to watch throughout the preseason.

CB Keenan Isaac

Bucs CB Keenan Isaac – Photo by: USA Today

With Tyrek Funderburk’s impressive summer and strong start to camp, he began to look like a real threat to win the CB5 job in Tampa Bay come time for the roster cut-downs. That would be at the expense of second-year cornerback Keenan Isaac. Well, Isaac had his say in the preseason opener.

He may have only played 16 snaps, but he graded out as the Bucs’ best defender, per Pro Football Focus. He finished with a 92.6 overall grade, with a 92.4 coverage mark. That was certainly helped by the fact that he picked off Jake Browning in the first half. That was the only time he was targeted in his 14 coverage snaps.

Isaac, at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, has impressive size for the cornerback position and initially burst onto the scene in camp last year after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama State. He was signed to the practice squad out of preseason and was elevated to the game day roster twice before being signed to the active roster when injuries struck in November.

Isaac would certainly love to build on his performance in the preseason opener and further strengthen his case to stick with the Bucs come September.

S Kaevon Merriweather

Outside of Isaac, Kaevon Merriweather was perhaps the other big standout from the Buccaneer secondary in last week’s preseason opener. He graded out pretty well himself, but his performance on the first drive of the game against the Bengals’ starters was a good snapshot of how much he’s grown as a player over the last year or so.

First, he broke up a deep ball from Joe Burrow that was intended for Tee Higgins, knocking the ball away to prevent a touchdown. Soon after, he forced an incompletion on a blitz before coming up with a tackle for loss to force a third-and-long situation. Talk about doing it all, right?

If Merriweather continues doing it all, the Bucs’ safety group will be as robust as it’s been in years – perhaps since 2020 and 2021. The group is led by Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead, but the aforementioned Merriweather, the versatile Tykee Smith and potentially the also-versatile Christian Izien rounding out the room would give Tampa Bay some serious depth.

Considering Merriweather tied J.J. Russell for a team-high 38 snaps last week, the second-year safety is likely to get another chance to show out and further cement his roster spot Saturday night in Jacksonville.