Buccaneers Elevate Two Practice Squad Players Ahead of Panthers Matchup

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Saturday that they are elevating running back Kenjon Barner and tight end Darren Fells to the 53-man roster ahead of the Week 18 matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

This is the fourth week in a row that Barner has been elevated to the 53. Two of those were COVID-19 elevations, which means this week's elevation is his second standard elevation. The same goes for Fells, who was activated back in Week 10 ahead of the Bucs' eventual 29-19 loss to the Washington Football Team. The Bucs will have to sign either player to the 53-man roster if they wish to elevate them in the future without using a contagious disease elevation.

Contagious disease elevations are unlimited in use and can be applied to any player for any number of times, therefore, the Bucs won't have to sign Barner and Fells to the 53 if they go this route.

Barner will be the team's No. 3 back against the Panthers due to the absences of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II. Ke'Shawn Vaughn is expected to take on the lead role as long as he's healthy while Le'Veon Bell will likely be sprinkled in on third downs and passing downs. Barner served as the Bucs' primary kick and punt returner while Jaelon Darden was out with COVID-19, but Darden has since returned to the lineup and should resume his role in that regard.

Fells dressed against Washington, but saw just one snap on offense and zero special teams snaps throughout the game. The main reason he was elevated in Week 10 was because Rob Gronkowski was still dealing with the ribs injury he suffered in Week 3. Fells was brought in for depth, but now, the Bucs' top-3 tight ends are healthy and ready to go. 

It will be interesting to see if he's active or if he plays today. If he does play, it'll be interesting to see how the Bucs use him.