VIDEO: This is the Play That Pretty Much Got Bucs CB Vernon Hargreaves Cut From the Team
By Chris Russo
After Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians benched cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III for lack of effort, the team subsuquently released him. Despite being a first-round pick just three years ago, there appears to be pretty good cause for it.
Unless you're injured, there's no excuse for not hustling on the first play of the second half in any game. VH3 had 15 minutes to sit and catch his breath before this play, but he lollygagged all the same.
He makes notable errors at multiple points in this play. First off, he lets his receiver get about three or four yards of separation as Kyler Murray lets go of the ball. Hargreaves doesn't even react to his man getting increasingly open.
He's slow in trying to tackle Andy Isabella, who makes the catch without much of a fight. Hargreaves just leaves him at midfield for his teammates to tackle, and seemingly assumes the play is over before Isabella breaks free. Hargreaves doesn't even seem to be running at full speed in trying to track him down after the broken tackle, so Isabella just goes out of bounds on his own.
The player also had some issues with Arians during OTAs last spring. That certainly did not help his viability.
Now, it's time to see what Bruce Arians can get out of his secondary after the Buccaneers improved to 3-6 on Sunday. Hargreaves turned out to be a bust, and it's now time to turn the page.