Tampa Bay's star players finally showed up in a lopsided win over Carolina, and a handful of under-the-radar contributors deserve more attention than they're currently receiving.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still celebrating Sunday's beatdown of the Carolina Panthers
, and rightfully so. The Bucs dominated from start to finish, and several of their biggest names played a major role in making it happen.
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Zyon McCollum, Yaya Diaby, Bucky Irving, Baker Mayfield, and even Vita Vea all made plays against Carolina. It was great to see because this has been one of the Buccaneers' biggest problems this year: Their star players simply haven't played up to the standard fans expect, or the standard they set in years past. Seeing all of those names come together at once was a welcome sight.
However, a few players are getting left out in the cold after the blowout. Here are three Buccaneers who deserve a lot more love than they're getting.
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3 Buccaneers who deserve more love after the win over the Panthers
1. WR Tez Johnson
Johnson caught Mayfield's first-half touchdown pass, which helped Tampa Bay stretch its lead. His other plays mattered just as much, because they showed off the versatility and efficiency he's displayed all year.
His first catch came on a roughly 19-yard comeback route. Mayfield recognized it, hit him in stride, and moved the chains to keep the drive alive. Later, Johnson took an end-around about 14 yards around the left side in the red zone. It was a beautifully designed play, and it set the Bucs up with a goal-to-go situation. Tampa Bay settled for a field goal, but Johnson put the offense in position to score.
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The play nobody's talking about came in the third quarter. Carolina opened the second half trailing 33-6, and the Buccaneers' defense sacked Bryce Young, forced a third-and-long, and made the Panthers punt. Johnson then returned it 22 yards up the left sideline to the Tampa Bay 45. The offense didn't turn it into points, but that's complementary football, which the Bucs played wire to wire.
All told, Johnson finished with two receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown, a 14-yard run, and a 22-yard punt return. That's a strong day for a second-year receiver and former seventh-round pick who's probably fourth on the depth chart when everyone is healthy.
I'm not saying bump him up to WR2 or even WR3. Still, when Johnson gets the ball, good things usually happen. Ted Hurst has a lot of promise, yet Johnson is easily the team's best deep threat. He can run jet sweeps and return punts and kicks, and his shiftiness makes defenders miss in space. The Buccaneers should carve out a specialized role for him.
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2. TE Cade Otton
Otton didn't catch a single pass Sunday. That doesn't matter one bit.
Through Sunday's games (with one more game left in the week), Otton ranked among the top six tight ends in both run blocking and pass blocking among everyone who played at least one snap, per PFF.
His 80.5 pass-blocking grade ranked second, just 0.1 points behind Bengals tight end Drew Sample. That came on only two pass-blocking snaps, but Otton also posted a 76.3 run-blocking grade on 42 run-blocking snaps. That's plenty of opportunity to make a mistake, and he rarely did.
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PFF grades aren't gospel, but the tape backs these up. Go watch the first two or three Irving runs of the game, and you'll see Otton was an absolute menace. The Bucs lined him up out wide, in the slot, and inline, which opened up different angles and designs in the run game.
A lot has been made of Otton's lack of production in the passing game, especially after the three-year, $30 million deal he signed in March. However, his blocking was a big reason Irving, Kenneth Gainwell, and Sean Tucker found success. When your tight end plays like a sixth offensive lineman, taking edge defenders, safeties, and linebackers out of the equation, the whole run game opens up.
3. RT Benjamin Chukwuma
The second-year undrafted free agent out of Georgia State filled in for Luke Goedeke at right tackle and looked great. Was it perfect? No. But he allowed just one hurry on 14 pass-blocking snaps, his only pressure of the day, and he made a real impact in the run game.
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Tampa Bay's right side could have been a weak point with Goedeke out and Cody Mauch not playing up to his typical standard through six games. It was far from it, and Chukwuma was a big reason why. Go look at Irving's 11-yard run early in the game. Chukwuma sealed off his man and immediately climbed to the second level, which sprung the run.
The bigger picture matters, too. The Buccaneers carry two swing tackles, which rarely happens, and Chukwuma got the start over Justin Skule. Skule is a veteran with plenty of NFL starts, and the Bucs loved him during his first stint before he left for Minnesota in 2025. He only saw the field Sunday as an extra lineman in a jumbo package once or twice. That's a sign of how far Chukwuma's development has come.
He's still raw. He's better moving vertically than horizontally, and fixing that takes time and technique. If something ever happens with Goedeke or Tristan Wirfs, though, the Bucs have a young option who could step in. With big contracts at both spots, that's a valuable team-building piece.
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Regardless, the Buccaneers now turn to a big matchup against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. A win there changes the entire conversation heading into the Week 9 meeting with the Bears, and players like Johnson, Otton, and Chukwuma will need to keep doing the little things that made this beatdown possible.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: 3 Buccaneers who deserve way more love after demolishing the Panthers, including a young tackle who's proving his worth
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