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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Wide Receiver Decisions Coming Down to the Wire for Bucs

Wide receivers Kameron Johnson, Cody Thompson and Ryan Miller continued to make the Bucs' final roster decisions difficult with strong performances in Friday night's win over the Dolphins

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Rookie wideout Jalen McMillan had the highlight-reel play of the night for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 24-14 preseason victory over the Miami Dolphins on Friday night. On the game's opening drive, McMillan lined up wide to the right, got an outside release on cornerback Siran Neal and ran a go route down the sideline. Baker Mayfield lobbed it over the top and McMillan leaped to catch the ball between two defenders, just getting one foot and one hand inbounds. The Buccaneers scored a touchdown on the next play.

Chris Godwin also had a good play on the Buccaneers' opening drive, and a familiar one, as he took a tunnel screen out to the left for a gain of nine to get the ball over midfield. After running back Rachaad White finished the possession with a four-yard dash into the end zone, Godwin, McMillan and the rest of the Buccaneers' starters took their seats on the bench for the rest of the night.

Godwin and McMillan are clearly safe as the Buccaneers begin the process this weekend of shaving their 91-man camp roster down to 53 for the regular season. Mike Evans, who was given the night off for obvious reasons and not due to injury, is a lock as well. Second-year wide receiver Trey Palmer was held out of the game due to a minor injury but is squarely in the team's offensive plans after a promising rookie campaign.

After that, things aren't as clear. Will the Buccaneers keep five receivers on the active roster, or six? Is seven a consideration. And who fills out the final one, two or three spots available?

Three candidates appear to have separated themselves to be at the top of that discussion. That currently doesn't include Rakim Jarrett, who didn't play on Friday night and could be headed to injured reserve to start the season. Tampa Bay's coaches made sure the last bit of the receiver competition was on tape by giving the majority of the game's snaps to Ryan Miller, Cody Thompson and Kameron Johnson. Miller was on the field for 49 of the Bucs' 53 offensive snaps, while Thompson logged 42 plays and Johnson 24. It was the first NFL game action for Johnson, an undrafted rookie out of Barton College who missed the first two preseason contests while recovering from a ribs injury.

"Still some decisions to be made," said Head Coach Todd Bowles after the game. "We got a good look at Kam last night for the first time – he did some really good things running and catching the football. Cody has been consistent all preseason [and] Miller has shown some things, as well. Those three guys…we've really got some decisions to make there."

View the top photos of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Preseason Week 3 game vs the Miami Dolphins.

Thompson led all players with seven catches for 45 yards on eight targets, and he finished the preseason with a team-high 15 grabs for 137 yards and a touchdown. Johnson caught three of his five targets for 12 yards and also ran twice for 13 yards and was on the field as a return man for several punts and kickoffs. Miller made his one catch on the night count, hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Trask in the second quarter on a crosser that took him to the left sideline.

All three players have made good cases for the 53-man roster, though the practice squad will be an obvious consideration for any of the three that don't make it through the cuts. Johnson has impressed his coaches and teammates immensely since OTAs in May and was deemed a "stud" by Mayfield during training camp. Miller has seen the most action of the three with the first-team offense while Thompson put up big numbers in the last two games. Miller was an undrafted rookie in 2023 who spent last year on the Bucs' practice squad. Thompson has previous regular-season NFL experience with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bucs have to make their 53-man decisions by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, but Bowles suggested the process will be ongoing over the weekend. When he and his staff grind the tape from Friday's game to help with those decisions, they won't just be looking at the flashy plays each receiver made.

"It's not just the good performance, it's doing the little things," said Bowles. "You can make a big play and not do the little things right on a lot of other plays. It's the totality of what you're doing when you're out there on the field. If you make a splash play and you have five or six mental errors or technical errors somewhere else, it doesn't get blown out of proportion. It shows you can't trust that person going into a game yet. It doesn't mean they didn't make a splash, but they still have some things to work on. You've got to weigh that, as well."

The Bucs will have their scales out this weekend and early next week. It's not clear yet which way they will tip when it comes to the last couple spots at wide receiver.

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