Vaughn headed for 'breakout' year?

Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians earned RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn some headlines Wednesday by saying that he expects a "breakout" from the 2nd-year back. But don't get too excited. Asked to assess his backfield headed toward the 2021 season, Arians told Pewter Report: “Those guys are all here and know what the system is and the best players are going to play. Obviously we have two really, really good ones at that position and I really like Ke’Shawn Vaughn. I think that with an offseason he’s going to have a breakout year also. All of those roles will be defined by the time that we get to the last week of the preseason.” Basically any level of relevance for Vaughn could be considered a breakout after he amassed just 26-109 rushing and a 5-34-1 receiving line. If the Bucs were truly excited about him, then fully guaranteeing Leonard Fournette's $3.25 million contract would seem unnecessary. Arians also didn't rule out drafting another RB. We'll see what Vaughn can do this summer, but we're not going out of our way to draft him for best-ball rosters right now.

Bucs RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn is a healthy scratch for tonight's game vs. the Cowboys. Tampa is rolling with RBs Leonard Fournette, Rachaad White and Gio Bernard.

Bucs RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn suffered a rib injury in the 4th quarter of Sunday's win over the Jets, HC Bruce Arians said. Tampa lost RB Ronald Jones to an ankle injury earlier in the game, leaving Le'Veon Bell as the team's top RB. We’ll look for updates on Vaughn and Jones on Monday.

Bucs RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn "has looked like a carbon copy of Peyton Barber so far," Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds writes. That's not a compliment. Reynolds adds that Vaughn is "not showing much burst or wiggle" and "doesn’t look special yet." The rookie missed some time on the COVID list and seemingly has a ton of ground to make up if he wants an early-season role. Ronald Jones remains the Bucs RB to target in fantasy drafts.

The Buccaneers have activated RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn off the COVID-19 list. That comes less than 2 weeks after Vaughn landed on the list and gives him most of August on the field. We'll see how LeSean McCoy fits into a seemingly now-full Bucs backfield picture.

The Buccaneers have placed RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn on the new reserve/COVID-19 list. That means the rookie has either tested positive or been in close contact with someone who has and thus faces mandatory quarantine. The team is not allowed to specify which category fits Vaughn's situation. Starting camp inactive won't help his pursuit of Ronald Jones on the Bucs' RB depth chart. We'll see how soon Vaughn can get back onto the field.