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In a matter of just a couple of days, the Bucs have a situation on their hands at the safety position. The season-ending knee injury to JJ Roberts, a story that Pewter Report broke on Saturday, really disrupts the outlook of Tampa Bay’s roster configuration with one last preseason game to go.

This doesn’t even include that starting safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who missed the last week with a lower leg injury. Then in Saturday night’s preseason game at the Steelers, Christian Izien injured his oblique and was ruled out for the remainder of the game at halftime. It didn’t appear as if Izien was going to play much longer anyway, but nonetheless it’s another obstacle that the Bucs might have to deal with.

Did The Bucs Lose Another DB?

“He’s got a sore oblique,” Todd Bowles said on Sunday. “He’ll get more tests and we’ll see how sore they are.”

Christian Izien was already important to the Bucs’ defensive plans, but he became that much more important to the team after the J.J. Roberts news. Going into his third year, Izien has been a hybrid of safety-nickel cornerback for Tampa Bay, and has experience as a starter at nickelback role at nickel. But with the Roberts injury, it might be best to keep Izien as a backup safety to Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith while rookie Jacob Parrish takes over the slot cornerback role.

Bucs DB Christian Izien – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That’s just one part of the story for Tampa Bay. The other part of it is finding out which safety is going to take the final spot on the depth chart on the active roster. There are three legitimate candidates remaining in third-year player Kaevon Merriweather, second-year player Rashad Wisdom and rookie Shilo Sanders, who has received plenty of fanfare as the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

Each player is an undrafted free agent that has had different experiences with Tampa. Merriweather is the only one to play in regular season games for the Bucs out of the three, but has also spent time on the Lions’ practice squad. Wisdom was on the practice all of last season, while Sanders is taking part in his first NFL training camp.

Todd Bowles Weighs In On Safety Competition

Todd Bowles shared his thoughts about all three safeties and how crucial the third and final preseason game is for each of them.

“I know they played a lot (on Saturday night), I’m not finished with the tape all the way yet,” Bowles said. “Merriweather’s probably got the most experience becasue he was here last year and he played the last half of the season. He knows both positions. Wisdom being on the practice squad last year actually played nickel in the second half because we were down all the corners and he did a heck of a job playing nickel, strong safety and free safety from a knowledgeable standpoint.

Bucs S Kaevon Merriweather – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“And Shilo’s very aggressive, very young, very hungry. He can make plays in the box and we know he can run down and give us 100 percent on special teams so this last week is going to be very important for those guys to show up.”

Given the experience that Merriweather has with the team, he seems to be the most likely to make the roster. Merriweather has two interceptions in camp and has looked good in each preseason game. That includes tying the team lead with four tackles in Saturday night’s game.

The positional flexibility of Wisdom is also a trait that Bowles holds in very high value. Sanders has had an interesting camp. He’s made some nice pass breakups and is at his best when playing up front and blitzing into the backfield. His coverage on the back end, though, is shaky at times. Sanders seems destined for the practice squad, but a great last preseason game could alter any plans the Bucs have going in.

Bucs S Shilo Sanders and Steelers WR Roc Taylor – Photo by: USA Today

Next Saturday’s preseason game for the Bucs when they host the Bills has more ramifications at safety than perhaps any other position.