Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jeremy McNichols on borrowed time

Jeremy McNichols is on borrowed time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and needs to prove himself next Thursday

You never like to hear about these types of stories, but such is the life of a player in the NFL. Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Jeremy McNichols appears to be on a short leash, as head coach Dirk Koetter is not happy with him to say the least.

This is what the head man had to say on Sunday via the Tampa Bay Times:

"“He’s doing fine on special teams. He’s just making too many mistakes on offense and he had a protection error that led to a sack so I took him out at that point,” Koetter said Sunday. “That was my decision. He’s going to play a lot on Thursday night and he’s going to get one final chance to show what he can do.”"

McNichols had a tremendous career at Boise State. In the three years he donned Bronco blue, he scampered for 3,205 yards and 44 touchdowns. He also proved to be a threat in the passing game during his time there. Amassing 1,089 yards and 11 touchdowns, he asserted himself as one of the best multi-purpose backs in all of college football.

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Now, it appears he is hitting a bit of a rut. He only played in two snaps against the Browns on Friday, and those did not go well to say the least. He was brought down for a loss of a yard following a handoff from Ryan Fitzpatrick on his first snap.

His second snap was not much better. He missed his blocking assignment, letting Cleveland’s Calvin Pryor get to Fitzpatrick for a sack. However, a defensive holding penalty negated the loss and gave Tampa Bay a first down.

If his play does not improve, McNichols will be out the door soon. Although he would be a nice asset to have, Tampa Bay has plenty of depth at running back. To put it bluntly, they do not need to deal with a player who appears to be a project or work in progress if they do not want to. They have enough depth at the position to cut a player that could be a project loose.

It may be a great scenario for McNichols too. A release from Tampa Bay could mean an opportunity somewhere else to get more playing time.

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He has the talent. Now, it is up to him to put it all together to become a successful player in the NFL. Whether it will be for the Bucs or another team remains to be seen.