Grading the Bucs' Preseason Opener vs. the Jets

The Buccaneers won. The scoreboard says 24-16 and nobody can take that away. But a win in the preseason doesn't mean everything went smoothly, and if you watched Friday night at MetLife Stadium with honest eyes, you saw the full spectrum of what this roster is. Let's break it down.

THE PEWTER (The Good)

Jalon Daniels, QB
Let's start here because this is the conversation everyone needs to be having Monday morning. The undrafted kid from Kansas took over under center in the second half and was flat-out sensational. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and directed two second-half touchdown drives while making plays with his legs, capping the night with a one-yard touchdown run that sealed the win. He was poised, decisive, and looked completely unintimidated by the moment.

Elijah Roberts, DE
This man was a menace all night. Roberts tallied a sack and a tackle for loss and was consistently in the Jets' backfield disrupting timing, forcing hurried throws, and creating chaos in the run game. He was one of the most consistently impactful players on the entire field from either team.

Ayden Garnes, CB
With David Walker collapsing the pocket, Garnes read Bailey Zappe's throw perfectly, jumped the route, and returned the interception 47 yards for a touchdown that completely shifted the game's momentum. For a young corner making his NFL debut under the lights, that is a play that requires instincts, confidence, and athleticism. He made it look easy.

David Walker, DE
No sack on the official stat sheet but Walker was the unsung engine of the entire defense on Friday night. Both Buccaneers interceptions were directly set up by his pocket collapse forcing hurried, off-platform throws. His pressure up front sped up the signal-caller's progression on both takeaways.

Josh Williams, RB
After everything he went through in his rookie year, Josh Williams delivered. A 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter on a decisive cut through the C-gap. Clean. Powerful. Confident. But it wasn't just the touchdown that stood out. All night long, Williams looked noticeably more explosive than Sean Tucker. His burst through the hole, his acceleration after contact, and his ability to make a defender miss in a phone booth were on a different level than what Tucker showed Friday.

THE PROBLEMATIC (The Bad)

Ayden Garnes, CB (Tackling)
Here's where we have to be honest about the full picture. Garnes is going to get a lot of well-deserved praise for that pick-six, and rightfully so. But Bucs fans need to see the other side of his game too. Throughout the game, Garnes looked like exactly what he is: a raw, undrafted rookie still figuring out the physicality of NFL football. His tackling was inconsistent. He looked hesitant in run support at times and missed assignments in his gap responsibilities. The big play instincts are real. The finishing and physicality still need significant development. Both things can be true at the same time.

Damarion Williams, CB
This is the more troubling conversation. Williams has been around long enough that the word "green" doesn't apply to him the way it does to Garnes. And yet on Braelon Allen's 31-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Williams whiffed on the tackle in his assigned gap in a way that was deeply concerning. Allen found a hole over the right side and sprinted past the defense for the 31-yard score with Williams in position to make the stop and coming up empty. It wasn't a case of being out of position. It wasn't a missed read. It was a cornerback who simply did not want to insert himself into a run play and make a physical tackle. That is a mentality issue, and mentality issues are harder to coach than technique issues. Against a running back with Allen's power, a miss like that at the NFL level is a score.

Connor Bazelak, QB
To be fair to Bazelak, he was thrown into a tough situation with no starters around him and Jake Browning sidelined with a back injury. But 12 of 20 for 72 yards in the first half, getting sacked on the first drive's third down, and failing to generate any real offensive momentum is not the kind of performance that locks up a roster spot. The clock is ticking on Bazelak's case, and Jalon Daniels is making it tick faster.

THE PAINFUL (The Ugly)

Kick Coverage Units
This one didn't make many headlines because the Bucs won, but it absolutely should not go unnoticed. The kick coverage units were a mess Friday night. Gaps were not filled consistently. Contain responsibilities broke down. And the directional execution that new special teams coordinator Danny Smith is supposed to be installing looked sloppy and uncoordinated at multiple points throughout the game. Remember, this was already the most scrutinized unit on the entire roster coming into 2026 after a disastrous 2025 special teams campaign under the previous regime. One preseason game is not a full verdict, but when coverage breakdowns are happening at this stage of the preseason against a Jets return unit that isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, it is absolutely something that needs to be flagged, addressed, and cleaned up before the regular season. Danny Smith has work to do.

The Vita Vea Situation
It didn't happen on the field Friday night, but it was the shadow hanging over everything. Multiple teams have reportedly called about Vea, and the Buccaneers are steadfast about not trading him. But steadfast doesn't put him on the field. Every preseason snap he misses is conditioning, chemistry, and cohesion lost. The defensive line looked serviceable Friday. But serviceable isn't what this defense needs to be in January. Fix it.

The bottom line: The Buccaneers won Friday in a way that showed real promise from several young players who could contribute meaningfully in 2026. But the tackling issues, the kick coverage breakdowns, and the gap responsibility failures are all real things that need real attention before the Chiefs arrive at Raymond James Stadium on August 22nd. Celebrate the win. Acknowledge the problems. Fix them before they become habits.

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