Ke’Shawn Vaughn skips practice after depth chart free fall

Not the best idea

It’s being reported by several outlets that the Wednesday that Ke’Shawn Vaughn was informed, he was being demoted. The fourth year (3rd round, 2020 draft) Vanderbilt product had an unexcused absence from practice after he left the building and did not return. “If somebody demoted me, I wouldn’t be happy,” Bowles commented when asked about his tardiness (Vaughn’s) concerning that Wednesday. Let me start this off by saying this. While Vaughn’s skipping out on practice is an interesting nugget of news, It’s certainly not the evil work of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Vaughn. It’s missing a day of work because you just got some devastating news. Most of us have done it; it happens. I can’t blame Vaughn or judge him for it. The guy had a really bad day, and he bolted. He just suffered a mighty blow to the future of his chosen profession. That’s a tough thing to face. As most of us do, he pulled himself together and made it in on the following day.

A bright future turns into a new reality

I remember well when The Bucs chose Vaughn in the 2020 draft, I’m sure we all do. That year was a big season for our Buccaneers. To my scorn, I was always a RoJo believer when he was here. It’s my opinion that the Bucs and Bruce Arians missed the boat concerning Jones. RoJo was a natural runner; to his detriment, he only had about average ability as a receiver, but I digress. I said that just to say the drafting of Vaughn stuck out because I believed they made that pick because they forgot the reasons they drafted him. It’s not the first time that the Bucs felt high on a player and drafted them, and then basically forgot what inspired the team to make the pick initially. (see Kyle Trask). I never saw in Vaughn what the organization saw. I remember having many intense back-and-forths on the Bucs’ Social Media concerning this matter. Vaughn had his chance to showcase his abilities. In Jones’s last season with Tampa, an injury to 4Net lifted Vaughn to the RB1 slot when Arians passed over Jones for the touches. Being in an unfriendly offense for picking up rushing yardage lessened those chances to shine. That was the hand that Bucs’ runners were dealt in the Brady/Arians era. You make the most of what you have, or you try elsewhere and do it there. Ke’Shawn Vaughn’s reality is that it probably isn’t going to happen for him here. He was displaced by a rookie of immense talent (Sean Tucker). That rookie is, in my opinion, going to do some great things before his time is up in Tampa. Then again, I could be doing a story like this concerning Tucker in 3 to 4 years. You just never know without a doubt how good any player is going to be. We all have strong beliefs, right or wrong. It appears that a player whose future looked bright not so long ago will continue his NFL career through free agency following this season. Stranger things have happened. He still has this final year of his contract to change things. It just appears he will have little chance to redeem himself, as he may not even be active on game days. Best wishes to Vaughn. Go Bucs!!