Riley Bullough made a name for himself during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' summer run on Hard Knocks. Now the Buccaneers have made a place of Bullough on their active roster.
Tampa Bay promoted the rookie linebacker from its own practice squad on Tuesday, making room on the 53-man roster by waiving cornerback Deji Olatoye. Bullough had been on the Buccaneers' practice squad since the beginning of the regular season.
The Buccaneers signed Bullough as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in May. He played in all four preseason games, recording 11 stops and one tackle for loss. In addition to his exposure on game day, Bullough also became a favorite of the Hard Knocks cameras after Head Coach Dirk Koetter was shown praising the rookie in a team meeting.
Bullough (6-2, 228) played 50 games during his Spartans career, amassing 214 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, four interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a junior and a third-team choice as a senior. Bullough's older brother, Max, also made it in the NFL as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State, playing three seasons (2014-16) with the Houston Texans.
Olatoye has had two different two-week stints on the Buccaneers' roster. He was first signed on October 25, seeing action in the team's Week Eight game against Carolina. He was waived on November 7 but returned 18 days later and has also played in the Bucs' last two outings, recording one special teams tackle.