The NFL Preseason is into its final week, meaning it’s time for one last tune-up before the real action kicks off in September. The schedule got started on Thursday, but football fans are in for a treat with a whopping nine games on deck for Friday night. There’s a Florida rivalry game as well, pitting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Jacksonville Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Here’s a prediction and pick for Buccaneers vs. Jaguars in the NFL Preseason on Friday, courtesy of odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Buccaneers vs. Jaguars preview
The preseason really doesn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of things, so it shouldn’t be used as a measuring stick for a team’s future performance. However, for the clubs themselves, there are reasons that these games do matter – especially with the final week of games serving as a final opportunity to evaluate talent, potentially deciding position battles and depth moves.
The Bucs are an unbeaten 2-0 so far, emerging from the first two weeks of play with a 14-16 win over the New York Jets and a 16-15 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tampa Bay has looked quite solid, though calling such efforts impressive might be just a stretch too far.
The defense has largely held up to this point, holding the Jets to 284 yards and the Chiefs to 234 on the day. The Buccaneers have tallied multiple sacks in both games and have six in total, and they’ve been pretty clean in terms of penalties as well. Those are some real positives, but the offense has been uninspiring. Granted, the starters have played very little and Jalon Daniels has worked as the primary quarterback – he’s gone 19-for-29 for 182 yards and a touchdown overall, also rushing for 28 yards and a score. Could the Bucs have something in the backup quarterback? Given his collegiate tape, perhaps, but Jake Browning is likely still QB2 behind Baker Mayfield here. Elsewhere, the team is expected to hold its starters and regulars out tonight. There are a couple of position battles to watch, but the depth at receiver will also be squaring off with Kameron Johnson vying for a roster spot.
Meanwhile, the Jags are 1-1 in their two preseason games. In the first outing, they downed the Saints 24-20, but they fell to the Carolina Panthers 34-17 in the second matchup. Much like tonight’s opponent, they’re expected to compete for the postseason once again, so there’s little reason to panic over the tune-up results.
Jacksonville’s offense racked up 277 yards in the first game and 318 in the second, but third-down efficiency and turnovers have been an issue in both of those. They’re unlikely to play their starters at all tonight, and even backup quarterback Nick Mullens may have his snaps limited. However, Carter Bradley and Joey Aguilar are expected to battle for the depth spot – Bradley is 16-for-30 with 156 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions; Aguilar is 10-for-11 with 173 yards and a score. The halfback spot behind Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. is also up for grabs, pitting J’Mari Taylor, Ameer Abdullah and DeeJay Dallas against each other. Undrafted free agent Trebor Pena has also led the Jags in receiving in both games, so he’s a name to watch.
Buccaneers vs. Jaguars prediction, pick
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Buccaneers as a 2.5-point road favorite in this matchup with -155 odds to win on the Moneyline. The Jaguars are a +129 home underdog with the game total set at 34.5 combined points.
To be clear, betting on NFL Preseason can prove very tricky. Established names don’t see much action, especially in the earlier weeks, and there’s much more variance in these games due to the roster shuffling and how deep of a player pool coaches draw from. Especially in the context of final roster cuts approaching in the coming days, that may ring even more true.
This could be a weird one with practically no starters and relatively few rotational pieces in play. However, I’m looking toward the over on 34.5 points since that line sits a little bit low.
The Jags scored at least 17 points in both of their preseason games, and their offense didn’t really have trouble putting up big yardage on the day. Their defense was also blasted by the Panthers last time out as they allowed 385 yards on the day. The Bucs scored at least 16 in both of their own outings, though the yardage totals haven’t been quite as impressive. Realistically, only one of these groups needs to have a truly good day at the office tonight for this over to cash, so long as the other side shows up. With the depth on display here, there may also be some extra sloppy mistakes that result in points, so in lieu of picking a winner, I’m sticking with the over.
