The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are nearing their first preseason game, and for a lot of players, that means every rep matters. For Benjamin Morrison, though, the challenge is a little different.
He’s not fighting just to make an impression. He’s fighting to get back into the picture at all.
Morrison came into the league as a second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with the expectation that he’d push for a starting role right away. That didn’t happen last year. He appeared in 10 games and started only three, and the start to this camp has done him no favors either because he’s been out with a hamstring injury.
He finally got back on the field Wednesday, but only in a limited capacity. His work was confined to warm-ups and individual drills, which means the real climb is still ahead.
And the climb is steep. On the Buccaneers’ initial depth chart, Morrison is listed in the second spot, not the first.
Zyon McCollum has handled camp well enough to hold the edge for now, and Jacob Parrish is listed as the starter on the other boundary. Morrison isn’t being handed anything.
That’s the reality of it: availability matters just as much as talent, and Morrison has already lost time. Missing the first two weeks of camp put him behind, and the team is going to be careful once he’s back in full work so he doesn’t aggravate the injury again.
The timing also works against him. He’s likely to miss this weekend’s game, which makes week two look especially important. If he’s going to make a case for the starting job, that may be his best chance to do it.
For now, the door is still open. It just isn’t going to stay that way for long.
In Other News...
Buccaneers QB Depth Suddenly Puts An Unproven Rookie In Spotlight
With Baker Mayfield inactive and the backup situation thinned further by injury, the Buccaneers are heading into their preseason opener against the Jets with an unusual quarterback setup. It has opened the door for Connor Bazelak, the undrafted rookie who won the third-string job, to move into a much larger role than anyone expected this early in camp.
Bazelak has yet to appear in a regular-season NFL game, but his college path gives Tampa Bay at least some reason to take a longer look. He played at Missouri, Indiana and Bowling Green, piling up more than 12,000 passing yards and 66 touchdowns over 58 games, and now the Bucs will get a closer read on how that production translates when the snaps start coming fast. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Roster Battle Took Center Stage In A Messy First Look
A preseason win over the Jets rarely tells the whole story, and this one was more about sorting through the roster than celebrating the final margin. Tampa Bay used the 24-16 result as a first real look at how the depth chart is shaping up, with the coaching staff getting plenty to evaluate across offense, defense and special teams.
The quarterback competition drew most of the attention, especially the uneven showings from Connor Bazelak and Jalon Daniels, but they were far from the only players who left an impression. There were a few bright spots mixed in with the rough patches, which is exactly what makes these August games useful for a team trying to separate the fringe contributors from the players who can actually help when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Open Preseason With Pressure On A Few Critical Roster Battles
The Buccaneers open preseason play against the Jets with the first-stringers expected to stay on the sideline, which shifts the spotlight to the roster fringe where camp jobs are often won or lost. For Tampa Bay, the early games are less about the final score than about giving coaches a longer look at players trying to separate themselves in a few tight position groups.
Among the names worth tracking are outside linebackers Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson, who are both in the mix for a limited spot in the pass-rush rotation. Tight end Devin Culp is also trying to carve out a place in a crowded room, and his path looks more difficult than most as the Buccaneers begin trimming the field ahead of the regular season. [Read more 🡒]