BuccaneersFan.com • Player Spotlight • Tampa Bay No. 36
Current official roster portrait: Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Safety • Second year with Tampa Bay
A safety’s road back to the field
J.J. Roberts
- Born
- September 22, 2001 • Age 25
- Listed hometown
- Ona, West Virginia
- Listed size
- 6 feet • 195 pounds
- High school
- Cabell Midland High School • Ona, West Virginia
- College
- Wake Forest • 2020–2022
Marshall • 2023–2024 - NFL entry
- 2025 • Undrafted free agent • Tampa Bay
- Buccaneers career
- 2025–present
- Jersey
- No. 36
- Current status
- Practice squad • As of November 4, 2026
Birthdate: 2026 Buccaneers media guide. Background: Wake Forest biography and Marshall biography. Current listing: official Buccaneers profile and current roster.
Milestone sources: Marshall’s final 2024 statistics, the college annual records below and the 2025 Buccaneers transaction log.
J.J. Roberts’s Buccaneers story has required patience. He joined Tampa Bay as an undrafted safety, lost his rookie season to a knee injury and returned for another opportunity. For the Krewe, his regular-season debut offers a milestone worth recognizing in a career still taking shape. The club’s account of his return.
West Virginia roots • A Buccaneers opportunity
From West Virginia to Tampa Bay
A West Virginia beginning Cabell Midland and Wake Forest.
Roberts attended Cabell Midland High School in Ona, West Virginia, where he earned the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year award as a senior. His Buccaneers biography. He played at Wake Forest from 2020 through 2022. In 2021, he appeared in all 14 games during a season that brought the Demon Deacons an ACC Atlantic Division title and a Gator Bowl victory. The Wake Forest years.
Two seasons with the Herd Marshall, 2023–2024.
Roberts continued his college career at Marshall. The final records credit him with 73 tackles in 2023 and 94 in 2024, including 14 pass breakups in that final season. The 2023 final record and the 2024 final record. He finished his playing career with the Herd as a starter in its 31–3 Sun Belt Championship win over Louisiana. The championship gamebook.
An opening in Tampa Bay Signed May 9, 2025.
Tampa Bay signed Roberts as a college free agent on May 9, 2025. That gave him his first NFL organization after five college playing seasons. His rookie year ended on injured reserve; the team recorded the move on August 18. The official signing and roster transactions.
Recognition along the way
An academic honor Wake Forest, 2022.
Roberts earned a place on the 2022 All-ACC Academic Team while at Wake Forest. The university’s record.
Recognition in the Sun Belt Marshall, 2023 and 2024.
His first Marshall season brought honorable mention All-Sun Belt recognition. The final 2023 team notes. In 2024, he earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors. Marshall’s final career profile.
October 8, 2026 • Tampa Bay at Dallas
The first regular-season opportunity
A regular-season debut
1
FIRST REGULAR-SEASON GAME
A debut after a season on injured reserve
Final score: Tampa Bay 24 • Dallas 16.
On October 8, 2026, the Buccaneers elevated Roberts from their practice squad for the Thursday-night game at Dallas. It was his first elevation that season and the opportunity for his first NFL regular-season appearance. The team’s announcement.
The gamebook’s unofficial playtime report credits three special-teams snaps, with no offensive or defensive snaps. Tampa Bay won 24–16. He had no credited counting statistic, but he was a participant in the win. The original participation and playtime record.
For a player whose rookie season ended before the regular-season opener, that entry in the participation record marked a new stage. The next opportunity still had to be earned, but the debut was in the books.
Tampa Bay • 2025–present
The opportunity in 2026
The Buccaneers waived Roberts on August 30, 2026, then signed him to the practice squad the next day. His Dallas elevation was followed by a return to the practice squad on October 9. The official 2026 transaction log.
As of November 4, 2026, the club lists him on its practice squad as No. 36, a safety. The current Buccaneers roster. His one regular-season appearance is shown below, with practice-squad weeks kept distinct from games played.
The person behind No. 36
Roots, family and life beyond football
Roberts is the son of B.J. and Tosha Roberts. His team biography. His football background is rooted in West Virginia: he attended Cabell Midland, and Marshall’s final roster lists Ona as his hometown. Marshall’s player profile.
Beyond the playbook Health Science and Management.
Marshall listed Roberts as a Health Science major with a Management minor. That is the academic field recorded alongside his football career in the university’s biography. His Marshall academic background.
Service beyond football Literacy and youth-group work.
Wake Forest’s biography records Roberts volunteering with elementary-school literacy programs and helping charitable causes through his church youth group. Those activities are part of the public background documented during his college years. The school’s personal profile.
NFL regular season • Career through Week 8, 2026
The NFL career record
Roberts joined Tampa Bay in 2025, but his NFL regular-season playing record begins in 2026. The asterisk marks the incomplete season through November 1, Week 8. Preseason statistics are excluded.
His 2025 season was spent on injured reserve, with no regular-season appearances. The team’s personnel log, PDF p. 282 records his August 18 placement on IR. That nonplaying year is not an annual statistics row.
| Season | G | GS | DEF Solo | DEF Ast | DEF TKL | ST TKL | Sacks | Sack YDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NFL career | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
G = games played; GS = starts; DEF = defense; ST = special teams. DEF Solo + DEF Ast = DEF TKL. Sack YDS = credited yards lost. Zeroes describe his actual appearance, rather than an absence from the game.
Sources: official career record and the Dallas gamebook defensive statistics, PDF p. 5.
Through the cutoff, no tackle for loss, quarterback hit, pass defensed, interception, forced fumble, opponent fumble recovery, blocked kick, safety or defensive return touchdown is credited. With no interception, a return average or longest interception return does not apply.
NFL postseason
No NFL postseason appearances through November 1, 2026. Tampa Bay missed the playoffs after the 2025 season; the 2026 postseason had not occurred by this page’s cutoff.
2026 regular season • Through November 1
The Dallas debut
| Week | Date | Opponent | TB result | Role | G | GS | OFF snaps | DEF snaps | ST snaps | DEF TKL | ST TKL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Oct 8 | @DAL | W 24–16 | Special teams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 total | Through Nov 1 | Tampa Bay | — | 1 appearance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
The Dallas final gamebook lists Roberts as a reserve who played. Its unofficial playtime report credits three special-teams snaps, with no offensive or defensive snaps. He had no tackle credit, but the appearance counts in his career record.
He remained on the practice squad without an elevation in Weeks 1–4 and 6–8. Those weeks are not listed as played games. He reverted to the practice squad on October 9 after the Dallas elevation. The official 2026 transaction record.
DAL = Dallas; @ = away; results are from Tampa Bay’s perspective. Original gamebook: participation, PDF p. 1; playtime headers, PDF p. 16; Roberts’s playtime row, PDF p. 17.
Wake Forest • 2020–2022 • Marshall • 2023–2024
The Wake Forest and Marshall record
Roberts played five college seasons: Wake Forest in 2020–2022 and Marshall in 2023–2024. The original final records total 55 appearances and 27 starts. Actual conference championship and bowl appearances are already included in these annual and career totals.
| Season | School | G | GS | Solo | Ast | TKL | TFL | TFL YDS | Sacks | Sack YDS | QB hurries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Wake Forest | 14 | 2 | 17 | 4 | 21 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Wake Forest | 10 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Marshall | 10 | 9 | 39 | 34 | 73 | 1.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Marshall | 13 | 13 | 50 | 44 | 94 | 5.0 | 9 | 1.0 | 2 | 2 |
| College career | Both schools | 55 | 27 | 120 | 93 | 213 | 6.0 | 10 | 1.0 | 2 | 3 |
G = games played; GS = starts; Solo + Ast = TKL. TFL includes sacks; YDS = credited yards lost. Across both schools, the original records total 120 solo tackles plus 93 assists = 213 tackles, with 6.0 TFL and 1.0 sack.
College QB hurries are a different category from NFL QB hits. The college tables do not provide an NFL-style separation of defensive and special-teams tackles.
Original annual records: Wake Forest 2020 final defense · Wake Forest 2021 final defense · Wake Forest 2022 final defense · Marshall 2023 final defense · Marshall 2024 final defense.
Wake Forest starts follow the original participation charts: 2020, 2021, 2022. Marshall’s 2023 final numeric summary records nine starts in ten appearances; the Frisco Bowl substitution list confirms his reserve role. For 2024, 12 dated regular-season lineups plus the Sun Belt Championship start establish 13 starts.
| Season | School | PBU | INT | PD | INT YDS | INT AVG | INT LNG | INT TD | FF | FR | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Wake Forest | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Wake Forest | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Marshall | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Marshall | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| College career | Both schools | 25 | 3 | 28 | 9 | 3.0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
PBU = pass breakups, excluding interceptions; PD = PBU + INT. Roberts’s 25 breakups and 3 interceptions therefore total 28 passes defended. FF = forced fumbles; FR = recoveries; BLK = blocked kicks.
INT YDS, AVG and LNG describe interception returns; TD = return touchdowns. His three interceptions produced nine yards, a 3.0-yard average and a long of nine. The zero-yard 2021 interception remains a valid return; a dash marks a season with no interception. No fumble recovery or defensive touchdown is recorded in the annual totals.
College championship and bowl appearances
| Season | Date | School | Game | Opponent | School result | G | GS | TKL | QB hurries | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dec 30, 2020 | Wake Forest | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Wisconsin | L 28–42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Dec 4, 2021 | Wake Forest | ACC Championship | Pittsburgh | L 21–45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Dec 31, 2021 | Wake Forest | Gator Bowl | Rutgers | W 38–10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Dec 19, 2023 | Marshall | Frisco Bowl | UTSA | L 17–35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Dec 7, 2024 | Marshall | Sun Belt Championship | Louisiana | W 31–3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Postseason subset | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
These 5 actual postseason appearances are a subset of the annual and career record above. They must not be added to those totals again.
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl, ACC Championship and Frisco Bowl remain in the record as actual zero-stat reserve appearances. He made four solo tackles and forced a fumble in the Gator Bowl, then recorded three solo tackles and a QB hurry in Marshall’s Sun Belt Championship victory. No TFL, sack, pass breakup, interception, recovery or blocked kick is credited in this postseason subset.
Official gamebooks: 2020 Duke's Mayo Bowl (participation) · 2021 ACC Championship (participation) · 2021 Gator Bowl (participation) · 2023 Frisco Bowl (participation) · 2024 Sun Belt Championship (participation). Results are from Roberts’s school’s perspective.
The 2022 Gasparilla Bowl is excluded: Wake Forest’s final tackle log marks DNP, and the gamebook participation list does not record him. Marshall withdrew from its scheduled 2024 Independence Bowl appearance, so no player game is added.
Sources & statistical notes
The records behind the spotlight
- Player background: Buccaneers biography, Wake Forest biography and Marshall biography.
- NFL path: 2025 transactions, 2026 transactions, Dallas elevation report and current roster.
- NFL statistics: The official career record, original Dallas final gamebook and transaction logs. The 2025 injured-reserve season and non-elevated practice-squad weeks are distinct from actual playing appearances.
- College statistics: The original final Wake Forest and Marshall season records and gamebooks of actual championship and bowl appearances. College pass breakups and interceptions are shown separately and combined as passes defended.
- Portrait: the current official Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster image.
Updated November 4, 2026. NFL regular-season statistics stop after November 1, Week 8; preseason is excluded. NFL postseason status is stated separately. College championship and bowl appearances are subsets already included in the schools’ annual and career totals. Defensive and special-teams tackles are separated in the NFL records. College QB hurries and NFL QB hits are distinct statistical categories.