MEEN2018

AB got added to the COVID list and may miss the game this weekend. He is vaccinated so there is still a possibility he could play. Also Jaydon Mickens, the Bucs KR, suffered a hip injury last week and may miss the game. So looks like Darden may be making his debut.

A few hours before the game.

Honestly it is just bc Darden struggled in the return game during the preseason. He had a great camp at the start but kinda fizzled out toward the end and had struggles in all of the preseason games. He is WR6 on the depth chart so his only path to be active at the moment was to take the return job. As a UNT alum, I’m obviously rooting for him, but he was given every opportunity to win the return job but didn’t capitalize on it and Mickens has a history of being a pretty decent returner in the NFL. Also toward the end of camp and the preseason, Darden struggled a bit on offense with drops and routes. The Bucs run a lot of option routes and he read the defense incorrectly a couple times which led to at least 1 interception in the preseason. The Bucs have a very complicated offense (according to Tom Brady it took him until like week 13 to fully understand and be confident in it), so it will take some time. He still has a lot of potential and the Bucs still really like him, but unfortunately with them being squarely in their Super Bowl window, they can’t always wait on potential to develop and have to rely on what they know.

They played the starters for the first quarter and Darden didn’t really play until the 3rd string came out. But he by far had his best game of the preseason. Had 3 catches for 35 yards with a long of 26 yards. He also had a very nice 17 yard punt return. In other UNT news, Hambone had a really nice sack and had some other good rushes. Definitely a good final impression to leave right before final cuts.

He didn’t have the best game. He dropped a long pass that he should’ve had. On his 12 yard catch, it was 3rd and 13 and he ran backwards and lost yardage to not get the first down. He also fumbled a punt return and didn’t have a great night of kick returns. He lost ground to Tyler Johnson for WR5 spot so Darden is clearly in the WR6 spot. Will still make the team but needs to clean up his drops that he has had recently in practice and games. In other UNT news, Nate Brooks got cut. He had a huge offsides penalty on a 3rd down stop that gave the Titans a first down. Also gave up a big TD, so kinda saw it coming.

This is BIG! With how deep the Bucs are at every position, unless Hambone and Brooks started playing defense at NFL All-Pro levels, how they are playing on defense isn’t nearly as important as special teams play for them to make the team. The only thing the Bucs really needed to improve on was special teams play so this is a huge step forward for them making the team. Brooks also had a big pass breakup at the goal line that saved a TD in the first preseason game. Obviously only 1 game, but I’d say they went from being clear cut candidates to having a shot to make the team. The Bucs already cut a rookie corner they seemed pretty high on after the game, so I’d say that is another good indication for Brooks.

Don’t worry, Darden isn’t getting cut this year lol