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Performance Preview: Week Five Luminary – Sean Tucker, Calijah Kancey or Ted Hurst III?

As the Bucs hit the prime-time stage for the first time in 2026, our Buccaneers.com contributors try to shine under the lights as well, predicting which players on the team will come up with standout performances

Oct 07, 2026 at 03:04 PM

by Gabriel Kahaian, Brianna Dix & Scott Smith

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play on Thursday night in Dallas this week, which means somebody on the team (or hopefully multiple somebodies) is going to shine under the lights of AT&T Stadium. Hopefully, one of the three of your contributors here - Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabriel Kahaian and I – will be able to grab some residual glow, to reflect that star player's light like the moon does the sun.

What I'm saying is, it's Week Five of the season-long Performance Preview competition here on Buccaneers.com and so far our results have been middling. Gabe definitely deserves credit for racking up 2.5 wins in his first month in the competition, but we haven't really had any overwhelming victories yet, in which one of us selects a player who proceeds to go supernova. Maybe this is the week.

The rules to this competition are simple: Each week, Bri, Gabe and I pick one Buccaneers player a piece on Friday (or in this case on Thursday) and explain why we think that player is poised for a big game. We can't duplicate picks so order may matter, and that's why we rotate that order each week. Following the game, Team Reporter Casey Phillips serves as our unbiased judge, picking which of the three selected players had the best game, in her opinion. She is also allowed to issue a "push" if there simply isn't a best choice. (And apparently, she can split the win down the middle, which is a thing she invented this season and explains our strange scoreboard.)

Last week, Bri went with Chris Godwin, Gabe chose David Walker and I took a shot with Kenny Gainwell. Godwin did lead the team in receptions with six but was limited to 31 yards and did not find the end zone. Walker, who is the team's sack leader, did not get another one in this game and finished two tackles. Gainwell had 27 yards from scrimmage but most notably scored his first touchdown as a Buccaneer, catching an improvisational pass on a scramble from Jalon Daniels and stretching into the end zone to make it a three-point game early in the fourth quarter. It was that touchdown that apparently swayed our judge, who wrote in her decision:

"Well well well, it's about time the veteran of the squad got his first 'W.' While David Walker and Chris Godwin each did well when their number was called, we have to go with the first touchdown as a Buccaneer Mr. Kenny Gainwell. Looking forward to seeing if this jumpstarts Gainwell's offensive contributions and Scott's winning percentage as well."

I guess I appreciate the decision, but that writeup was a bit…perfunctory, right? I could use a little more enthusiasm from my adjudicator in the rare instances that I get one of these picks right. Either way, here is our updated leaderboard:

Gabe: 2.5

Scott: 1.0

Bri: 0.5

Push: 0

It's Week Five and our rotation returns Brianna to the front of the line. Who is first off the board, Bri?

Brianna Dix: Sean Tucker

The Cowboys have the 31st-ranked run defense in the league, allowing an average of 150.3 yards on the ground per game. Week Four became the only matchup this season that their defense has not surrendered over 100 rushing yards to the opposition. I think there will be opportunities this week for the Bucs' running back room, including Sean Tucker.

There is a game each year where Tucker stuns with a breakout performance, like his Week Six outing against the New Orleans Saints of the 2024 season, in which he totaled 192 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He helped guide Tampa Bay to a blowout victory and after a promising blip against the Packers, including a touchdown, I believe this could be Tucker's stellar performance in 2026. In Week Four, Tucker capped off a 54-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter with a two-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7, powering his way into the end zone. I predict Tucker's balance through contact, slash style and crisp downhill cuts will be on full display on Thursday Night Football.

Scott Smith: Calijah Kancey

Honestly, I stared at the Bucs' depth chart for a long time before making my pick this week. I considered going with Jalon Daniels just because it would be fun to see him go off in his second start and Dallas has shown some defensive vulnerability. However, I took Baker Mayfield just two weeks ago and going with the starting quarterback is usually too easy and a strategy you should only rarely employ. I'm wondering if Rueben Bain Jr. might make an explosive return after missing two games, but I've already picked him once this season, as well. Dallas has allowed a lot of rushing yards but Bri already picked a running back. And I simply don't know which pass-catcher is likely to be the target hound this week.

So, in the end, I made my pick more about what I hope might happen rather than any strict analysis of the situation. Before the season started, I thought Calijah Kancey could be the 'X Factor' for the Bucs' defense in 2026 if he could finally stay healthy for 17 games. The pass rushoff the edge was expected to be more fierce (which hasn't materialized yet but has a lot of time left to do so), and if Kancey could complement that with pressure from the inside the Bucs would be able to make a lot of quarterbacks very uncomfortable.

As a whole, the Buccaneers have recorded six sacks in four games, with only outside linebacker David Walker having more than one. Kancey doesn't have one yet, but there are encouraging signs. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he has a team-leading 12 quarterback pressures, three more than Yaya Diaby. His QB pressure rate of 12.8% is also the best among the Bucs' pass rushers, even though he's been double-teamed on 37.2% of his snaps. What I really like, though, is his average get-off at the snap of 0.85 seconds, which is even with Diaby and very impressive for an interior lineman. Kancey's quick first step and advanced pass rush toolset is what made him a first-round pick in 2023, and I'm hoping it's what leads him to his first breakout performance of the season on Sunday night.

Gabriel Kahaian: Ted Hurst III

Last week was my first shutout in our little competition. I admit, I got lucky in Week Three when Judge Casey handed me a half-point, even though Scott made a fair case that pushes are also an available option. Either way, I do not want losing to become a habit, so, it is back to the drawing board. When it comes to my Thursday Night Football selection, I feel pretty confident in our third-round rookie Ted Hurst III.

Heading into the season, we heard plenty about the Cowboys' revamped defense. Early in 2026, their secondary still looks like a spot the Bucs can exploit. Last year, Dallas gave up the most passing yards per game (251.5) and the third-most total yards per game (377.0). The Cowboys put a lot of effort into retooling the secondary, drafting safety Caleb Downs in the first round and signing highly-regarded defensive backs Jalen Thompson and Colbie Durant in free agency. Much to the chagrin of DFW, injury woes have kept them bottom-five in passing yards allowed per game and bottom-10 in total yards allowed through their first four games. Dallas did trade for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. late last month to infuse more talent into an injury-riddled room, but nine days is not much time to fully digest a new playbook. The Bucs will still have their work cut out for them. Jalon Daniels has a tall task on his hands, making just his second-career start in prime time on a short week, but I believe that will not stop Daniels from getting Hurst the ball.

Why Hurst and not one of our other talented skill position players? Look at the stats. Hurst has the fourth-most receiving yards on the team (128), yet he trails Cade Otton for the lead by only 29 yards. The rookie has pulled within range of the top spot on just eight receptions, averaging 16.0 yards per catch. That tracks, since the Bucs essentially drafted Hurst to play the X-receiver role with his 6-foot-3 frame. As we saw on his 40-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings, Hurst is a big play waiting to happen and I expect him to flourish on the national stage on Thursday night.

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TAMPA, FL - October 07, 2026 - Head Coach Todd Bowles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers departs for the game against the Dallas Cowboys. Photo By Doug DeFelice/Tampa Bay Buccaneers