The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heading into their second preseason game Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, and this one carries more weight than the usual August tune-up. Starters are expected to play, which means the Bucs should finally give fans a real look at several key pieces before the regular season arrives.
That makes Saturday a useful snapshot for Tampa Bay, not just for the names everyone already knows, but for a handful of players who still need meaningful tape. Some showed flashes in the first preseason game against the New York Jets.
Others haven’t had the chance to let loose yet. Either way, there’s plenty to track.
Bain is at the top of that list because this should be his first real NFL action. As a rookie, he might have been expected to see the field against the Jets, but Todd Bowles trusted what he saw from him throughout training camp and kept him out with the rest of the starters.
Now the edge rusher is set to debut, and he’ll finally get the chance to show the moves and disruption that stood out in camp and during joint practice against New York. Until now, the Bucs haven’t really let him run full-speed without restrictions.
Daniels is another name worth watching closely. He impressed in his preseason debut against the Jets, though that came in the second half against lesser competition.
There’s no certainty Connor Bazelak will be the quarterback ahead of him again on Saturday, but if Daniels gets snaps against a tougher group, that should tell the Bucs more about where he stands. He held his own even without most of Tampa Bay’s top receivers or backups, and if he repeats that kind of performance, he could make a real push to stick on the 53-man roster.
On defense, Dennis is in an interesting spot because the buzz around Josiah Trotter has been building all offseason. Even so, Dennis has been the starter in first-team drills, and that likely means he’ll open with the starters on defense if Bowles keeps that alignment.
If that happens, people will want to see whether he can put together a strong outing after a season in which he disappointed in some respects while holding the starting job. If Trotter gets the nod instead, that would say plenty about Bowles’ thinking in the linebacker room.
Either way, Dennis is going to play, and he needs a big offseason to convince the wider NFL world he can be a starter.
Godwin may be the most recognizable name on the field, especially with Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan both dealing with injuries that could keep them out. That leaves Godwin as the lone starter among the wideouts to really focus on Saturday.
He returned to action in 2025 after that brutal ankle dislocation in 2024, but injuries and recovery still shaped a lot of what followed. Two years removed from the injury in 2026, this is a chance to see how he’s moving and what he can do in what’s likely the starters’ first and only preseason run.
Zac Robinson’s offense won’t be fully unveiled yet, but Godwin is expected to work from the slot, giving fans their first look at how that piece fits.
In Other News...
Bucs Helped Create A Wild Harrison Butker Moment That Wont Count
The preseason can produce some strange footnotes, and the Buccaneers found themselves part of one Sunday when Harrison Butker drilled a 69-yard field goal against Tampa Bay. The kick would have topped the NFLs official mark, but preseason games do not count in the record books, leaving the Chiefs standout with a booming reminder of what he can do and the Bucs with an unusual line on the game receipt.
Butker was sharp enough overall to give the moment even more weight, adding two other long field goals while missing one try. His 69-yarder still lands as one of the longest made in any actual football game, tied for second all-time, even if it will not live alongside the leagues official records. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Fringe Roster Battle Got A Lot More Intense Vs Chiefs
The first half against the Chiefs gave the Buccaneers a clearer look at the edges of their roster, because the starters were out there only two drives before the backups and fringe contenders took over. For a team still sorting out depth across the board, the opening preseason minutes became less about the headline names and more about which young players could make a case when the real evaluation began.
Yaya Diaby flashed, and Fordham, David Walker and Nelson all had moments that helped their standing, while Hurst and Foerner were among the players whose mistakes showed how thin the margin can be in games like this. In a contest built around job interviews more than final scores, those kinds of snaps can matter a lot, and the second half should tell Tampa Bay even more about who is separating from the pack. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Preseason Game Sparked An NFL Take Fans Will Hate
Harrison Butkers latest showcase came in a preseason game against the Buccaneers, where the Chiefs kicker launched a 69-yard field goal that would have shattered the NFLs official regular-season mark. It did not count in the record book because of the setting, but it was still the kind of kick that reminds everyone how far the position has evolved and how little room there is for error when a specialist can turn a casual-looking snap into a near midfield celebration.
The reaction afterward was almost as sharp as the kick itself, with NFL analyst Joe Schad publicly floating the idea that the league competition committee should consider narrowing the goal posts. For Tampa Bay, it was the sort of offseason headline that lands with extra sting because it came against their own defense and turned a routine preseason snap into a broader debate about where kicking is headed next. [Read more 🡒]