Earlier this month ESPN graded and analyzed the Bucs’ offseason, going over the handful of strikes made by Tampa Bay within the hopes to enhance upon a season by which they went 9-8 and received the NFC South for the third straight yr.
Though the staff has garnered some surprising reward from one nationwide media outlet, a latest ESPN+ article (subscription required) ranked every roster and doesn’t have the Bucs as extremely esteemed. NFL analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz, and Seth Walder every dived deeper into the strengths, weaknesses, X issue, and a nonstarter to be careful for heading into this season.
What Is The Greatest Power, Weak spot Of The Bucs?
The Bucs positioned twenty second in ESPN’s rating forward of the 2024 season, simply behind the Falcons and Saints, who ranked nineteenth and twentieth, respectively. Mike Clay started going over Tampa Bay’s roster by figuring out its largest power and weak spot, with each residing on the defensive facet of the soccer.
Bucs Ss Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
Greatest power: Security. This group is anchored by 2023 first-team All-Professional Antoine Winfield Jr., who turned the highest-paid defensive again in league historical past in March. Outdated buddy Jordan Whitehead is again for his second tour with the Bucs after enjoying over 1,000 snaps every of the previous two seasons with the Jets. Tampa Bay added depth through Tykee Smith within the third spherical of April’s draft.
Greatest weak spot: Edge rusher. This was a toss-up between edge rusher and inside offensive line, however the departure of Shaquil Barrett (45.0 sacks in 5 seasons) swung my determination towards the previous. Tampa Bay will now flip to a mixture of Yaya Diaby, newcomer Randy Gregory, second-round rookie Chris Braswell, former first-rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson as its core on the place. None of these veterans performed greater than half of his staff’s snaps in 2023. This can be a tough state of affairs for a staff that completed twenty second in go rush win fee final season.
There’s little doubt that the protection room has drastically improved over the offseason. Whereas Winfield’s presence raises any group, the additions of Whitehead and Smith will assist take a few of the stress off him on the backend as they are going to present extra protection and playmaking assist at robust security than Ryan Neal did.
A latest subject on the Pewter Report Podcast went over simply how stacked this place group is, which Clay additional asserts.
Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
On the flipside although, edge rusher is the place lots of eyes are fixated on heading into the season. After dropping Barrett, head coach Todd Bowles is hoping to discover a constant go rush from a rotation of men, until one emerges from the group to pair alongside Diaby.
With there being a mixture of youth and expertise to depend on although, I’d argue that the inside offensive line stays an even bigger weak spot than outdoors linebacker with the beginning left guard spot remaining up for grabs in addition to the relative uncertainty of the extent of play the staff receives from each the middle and proper guard spots.
Whereas Clay talked about a lot of the staff’s depth on the place, one additionally has to contemplate the potential for Markees Watts and/or Jose Ramirez factoring in, and even with no top-tier go rusher, this can be a group crammed with gamers that will profit from working in a rotation to get probably the most manufacturing out of them.
What Is The Bucs’ X Issue?
With the Bucs’ largest power and weak spot being laid out, Seth Walder then took to wanting on the largest X issue on this yr’s staff. One that may very a lot make or break the extent of success Tampa Bay has.
Bucs C Graham Barton and RG Cody Mauch – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
X issue for 2024: The offensive line. Outdoors of Tristan Wirfs, your complete line is both a query mark or a priority. Cody Mauch ranked final amongst guards in go block win fee (85%) final season, and Ben Bredeson (88%) wasn’t that significantly better with the Giants. Luke Goedeke (86%) was under common within the metric amongst tackles, and Graham Barton is a rookie. Whether or not QB Baker Mayfield can repeat his 2023 efficiency could hinge on this group.
As Walder explains, there may be some concern for the offensive line room, however there must also be extra optimism. One other yr of their respective spots ought to assist Wirfs, Mauch, and Goedeke enhance their stage of play, and doing so in the same system underneath offensive coordinator Liam Coen offers much-needed continuity.
Barton ought to present a spark to the offensive line, and there’s a likelihood that he’ll hit the bottom operating and turn into a high-level starter straight away, or on the very least, function an improve to Robert Hainsey. If Mayfield has any likelihood of replicating his success final season although, that is the group that will probably be entrusted to make it occur.
Can This Bucs DB Nonetheless Make An Influence In 2024?
Bucs DB Christian Izien – Picture by: USA At present
With a lot of the overview and rationalization of the Bucs’ rankings being coated, Aaron Schatz took to pegging defensive again Christian Izien as somebody to know heading into the season. Though he isn’t assured a beginning function in the mean time, he very a lot might nonetheless make an influence all throughout the secondary.
Nonstarter to know: Security Christian Izien. Nominally a security, Izien was Tampa Bay’s nickelback for many of his rookie season. He was focused a ton in comparison with different nickelbacks however had fairly good charting metrics, together with a better-than-average protection DVOA of minus-4.2%. What will probably be his function this season? Is he a depth cornerback? A depth security? Some form of mixture of the 2?
Taking part in in all 17 video games final season, Izien was an under-the-radar contributor.
He recorded 65 complete tackles, two interceptions, and a compelled fumble, however greater than that, the undrafted free agent held down the nickelback spot with out Todd Bowles having to fret a lot. He might want to iron out his consistency, however Izien has the potential to think about once more at nickelback or as a cornerback/security in Bowles’ protection.
The place Tykee Smith traces up will issue tremendously on this equation, however anticipate Izien to stay concerned and on the sphere in some capability.
