'He Flew Around!' Bucs Safety Preseason Debut Evaluated

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers giving a lot of playing time to second-string players early in the preseason, it is a chance for these players to get full game reps and make a name for themselves.

Bucs safety Kaevon Merriweather was one of those players on Saturday night that turned a lot of heads among observers.

Head coach Todd Bowles had a chance to speak to the media following the game, saying, "Merriweather flew around. He kind of fit the run game where needed. He was active."

The undrafted free agent wasted no time getting in on the action when he recorded a slick pass breakup of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on the first drive. The first quarter was where Merriweather shined as he also had a nice QB pressure on Burrow that forced him to throw the ball into the dirt.

That wasn't it for Merriweather, either, as on that same drive he recorded a tackle for loss.

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Merriweather is a microcosm of how the Bucs young defense played as a whole on Saturday. After the first possession where the Bengals scored a touchdown, the Bucs settled down mightily after that and started to fly around the ball making it really hard for the Bengals to progress down the field.

Some other players who really showed out were linebacker J.J Russell and defensive back Keenan Isaac. Isaac was the lone Bucs defender who recorded a turnover.