Tampa Bay Buccaneers Final Cuts: Who Will Break Through the Bubble?

Not going to re-hash the Buccaneers Thursday night 29-24 loss to the Washington Redskins.

Needless to say, we can finally give one of those "good riddance" farewells to the exhibition season.

Now to the important stuff.

Raheem Morris has some really tough decisions to make between now and Saturday's mandatory cutdown to the required 53 players.

Some guys made it even tougher Thursday night.

Let's get right to it.

Ed Gant, I don't know how you can tell Ed Gant he's not good enough to be on this football team. He's got size, speed and he showed on that 96-yard touchdown play that he can take it to the house. It goes down as a 96-yard touchdown pass for Rudy Carpenter, but this one was all Gant.

If you've got Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, Dez Briscoe, Sammie Stroughter, Micheal Spurlock and Preston Parker as your six receivers, do you find a way to keep seven? Ed Gant is telling us they should.

Elbert Mack you keep thinking he won't make it this year but all Mack does is prove his value. Nine tackles, five solos—all he does is show up, play hard and get the job done.

D.J. Johnson was on the practice squad last year, made a key interception in the end zone to prevent a score.

Devin Holland had a nice game at safety, impressed the coaches. Did he impress Morris enough to make the final roster?

Armando Allen caught a touchdown pass, has looked good at times over the last four games. Botched a punt reception. Maybe he doesn't make the roster but he could be brought back to the practice squad, don't you think?

Third tight end: Ryan Purvis, Daniel Hardy, Nathan Overbay? Too close to call. Surprise us, Raheem.

The $53 question:

Why keep a third quarterback?

When you see the effort from a guy like Gant, you have to ask if it's really critical to keep a third quarterback on your 53-man roster. Let's be real for a moment, if both Josh Freeman AND Josh Johnson were lost, the season turns into something akin to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Simply go out and pull a veteran off the scrap heap and finish what would turn out to be a dismal season.

Between Carpenter and Jonathan Crompton, Crompton appears to have more upside. He's bigger, has a a stronger arm and it's probably a good bet that he would clear waivers and make it to the practice squad, a good place for him.

The good news:

Brian Price got in a lot of work Thursday night and he looked pretty good. That's a really good thing for the future of the defensive line. With Frank Mount Kilimanjaro Okam standing out, Price can simply be part of the seven-man rotation they'll use on that defensive line.

The bad news:

James Lee was simply terrible. He used one of his matador blocks and almost got Carpenter decapitated. Lee has had a stinky preseason, he doesn't look good, there's got to be someone on the waiver wire who could replace him.

Get rid of James Lee.

Myron Lewis simply cannot stay healthy. He's missed a great deal of camp and he hobbled off the field again Thursday night. He simply cannot be counted on. You have to do one of two things. If you really and truly believe he can become a top-notch corner, then send him to IR and see if he can get healthy enough to be a factor next year. Otherwise, so long, thanks Myron.

Betcha there will be a good corner on the waiver wire who is healthy.

One final note: That punt return for a touchdown by the Redskins showed just how valuable Michael Koenen can be.

The next two days will be very interesting, more interesting than these preseason games combined.

Morris and Mark Dominik have some difficult decisions.

Very difficult decisions.