In the preseason audition for a final spot on the coveted 53-man roster, Buccaneers' undrafted rookie and inside linebacker, Olakunle Fatukasi put on a show in Nashville. The former Rutgers standout took strides in solidifying a roster spot with the Bucs. After two straight drives against the Miami Dolphins in preseason Week 1 culminating with a Fatukasi third-down stop, he continued the productive trend versus the Titans. Fatukasi led the Bucs with nine combined tackles on Saturday night and posted 1.5 sacks, fortifying the defensive front and garnering praise from Head Coach Todd Bowles.
"He's smart and he's tough," said Bowles. "He's a guy that we're looking at. Got to see what he did on [special] teams. That's another battle spot that we are looking at between him and J.J. [Russell], obviously, and Grant [Stuart] and K.J. [Britt]. He's made his presence known, he's made his presence felt and we've just got to look at the tape."
Fatukasi currently sits as the fifth inside linebacker on the depth chart behind starters Lavonte David, Devin White and reserves, Grant Stuard and K.J. Britt. With Fatukasi's dominance at the line of scrimmage and vision to navigate around traffic, he has transitioned from an under-the-radar player to a defensive tone-setter in the preseason. As a Scarlet Knight, Fatukasi began his career on special teams as a kickoff coverage player, before earning a permanent defensive role his junior year. He quickly took the college world by storm, amassing 275 tackles, six sacks, six pass deflections, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries from 2019-2021. In 2020, Fatukasi became Rutgers' first-ever All-Big Ten first-team selection and led the conference with 101 tackles - an impressive 11.2 stops per game. His success during that span earned him several spots on All-Conference teams and landed him as a two-time semifinalist for the Butkus Award – given to college football's top linebacker.
Fatukasi has displayed the ability to get to the quarterback and to disrupt plays in the backfield. He can blitz, cover running backs out of the flat and tight ends traveling up the seam. On Saturday against the Titans, he showed little to no, wasted motion and effective pursuit angles.
"I wake up every day with a great mindset," Fatukasi stated. "I'm undrafted, I play with a chip on my shoulder … I'm just trying to make open field tackles and I take a lot of pride in that."
As he continues to refine his skillset in Tampa Bay and produce on the turf, Fatukasi moves towards securing a final roster spot.
