The Buccaneers kicked their preseason off in earnest with a closely contested 24-16 victory against the New York Jets Friday night.
Considering the Bucs did not play a single starter on offense or defense and the Jets started all their healthy first-stringers, it’s a favorable outcome for Tampa Bay as they looked like the better team most of the evening.
Some specific names stood out, for better or worse, and we’ll go through those callouts now.
Winners
CB Ayden Garnes
The Bucs look to have unearthed another undrafted free
agent gem, as rookie Ayden Garnes made his NFL debut in resounding fashion.
Garnes, who started the game, jumped a Bailey Zappe pass in the second quarter and housed it from 47 yards out — the longest preseason return for any Buccaneer in at least the last 8 years (since tracking data became available for the preseason). Garnes has stood out since mini camp, continuing on with a strong training camp and now in-game performance. He’s positioned himself extremely well to make the 53-man roster already.
WR Ted Hurst
The stat line might be forgettable (2 catches for 19 yards), but make no mistake: rookie third-rounder Ted Hurst looked the part in his NFL debut.
He consistently beat coverage off the line of scrimmage, and narrowly missed two big receptions (including a would-be touchdown) that were way more the fault of quarterback play than anything Hurst did. While the Bucs have a strong top 3 between Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan, Hurst fits a different niche than them and is expected to get a good share of playing time.
Good first impression.
EDGE David Walker
Perhaps the biggest talk of camp, David Walker has started his sophomore campaign on fire after an ACL tear robbed him of his rookie season in 2025.
Walker, who recently went 9 straight practices with a sack, did not officially take down the QB Friday night but had his presence notably felt. He received extra attention from even the Jets’ first-team O-line, getting chipped and doubled multiple times. When the backups came in, Walker pressured Zappe on both of his back-to-back interceptions.
A stellar in-game debut for Walker.
QB Jalon Daniels
Jalon Daniels didn’t forge a strong reputation as a thrower at Kansas, but he certainly looked like he belonged on an NFL field in his debut.
Relieving Connor Bazelak in the second half, Daniels immediately rose the energy level of the Bucs offense. His live arm got chances to shine, threading multiple tight-window throws. Daniels led two scoring drives on the night, completing 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards (and two of those incompletions were blatant drops) while carrying the rock 3 times for 9 yards and a touchdown.
The word has been positive on the 23-year-old Daniels since mini-camp, and you couldn’t ask for a much better opening argument to become the team’s new QB3.
Losers
QB Connor Bazelak
Bazelak needed a good performance to keep Daniels at bay, and he did not provide that.
The second-year signal caller out of Bowling Green looked rattled by his short-notice start after Jake Browning’s back injury. Bazelak’s accuracy and ball placement were scattershot, dirting balls or throwing behind the intended target multiple times.
He finished 12 of 20 for a paltry 72 yards (averaging under 5 yards per attempt). With Daniels staking his claim with a much better debut, Bazelak has some ground to make up in the next two contests.
OL Elijah Klein
The interior offensive depth hugely hindered the Bucs’ offensive success last year, and returning veteran backups need to show they’ll be in better shape to handle any emergency duties.
Elijah Klein did not look that part.
Longtime veteran Dan Feeney got the first crack at backup center duties, with Klein starting at guard before kicking over to the keystone later on. Klein lost multiple reps in pass pro badly, getting bull-rushed into the pocket at least twice.
A former 2024 sixth-round pick, Klein has not really developed in multiple years now and when he’s losing ground to 32-year-old Dan Feeney, the writing might be on the wall. He’ll need a big rebound in the next couple weeks.
Special Teams
After the fiasco that was the 2025 season for Tampa Bay’s special teams, putting out more of the same in the first action of 2026 does not feel great.
Again, mostly backups so that has to be factored, but the Bucs saw a muffed kickoff that forced them to start inside their 15, two bad Riley Dixon punts, a missed chance to down a punt inside the 5, two Jets kickoff returns that went past their 40, and the Jets downing a kick at the Bucs’ 1.
New ST coordinator Danny Smith still has some work to do.
