Bucs Skill Positions Shine in Preseason

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off their preseason schedule Saturday night with a 17-14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals . The first half of the game is when we were able to see how the Bucs' young playmaker's skills translated into a "real'' game.

The Bucs still have an open competition for a couple of starting spots on the offensive side of the ball, including the slot receiver position and backup running back.

Running back Bucky Irving has emerged as a favorite for the backup position, and he started the game for the Bucs at tailback.

Irving played much of the first couple of drives and capitalized on his opportunity by scoring the first touchdown for the Bucs, and the first touchdown of his career. He finished with 28 yards on six carries.

Irving is a quick downhill runner with the ability to make sharp cuts and evade tackles. This will be beneficial to the Bucs on special teams as he will likely be a kick returner.

As good as Irving was though, running back Sean Tucker, a second-year player from Syracuse was also really impressive. Tucker played most of the second quarter and into the second half.

Tucker led the game in rushing with 68 yards on 10 carries with his longest rush being 26 yards. Tucker also shined in last year's preseason, but for a player who has also had a good camp it's good to see it translate smoothly to the field.

Related: Bucs vs. Bengals Preseason Week 1: Bucky Irving Punches in First NFL Score

The other skill group competition is for the third receiver position, where it's rookie receiver Jalen McMillan and Bucs sixth-round pick in 2023 Trey Palmer.

McMillan just played for a couple of series, but he looked the part and hauled in two catches for 23 yards. Palmer caught just one catch for 21 yards, but again this was in very minimal playing time.

We'd like to see a little bit more time on the field in the next couple of weeks for Sean Tucker and Jalen McMillan. Tucker runs as if he has a lot to prove, and McMillan has an explosive factor to his game that we think a lot of Bucs fans want to see more of before the season.

All of these skill group guys are likely to make the 53-man roster, but determining each's role in the offense is what's so exciting about these young players.