2015-16 NFL Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2015-16 NFL Preview

2014-15 Record: 2-14

Last Playoff Win: Super Bowl XXXVII vs. Oakland Raiders (2002)

Last Playoff Appearance: 2007 Wildcard vs. New York Giants

Last Super Bowl Win: Super Bowl XXXVII vs. Oakland Raiders (2002

Last Super Bowl Appearance: Super Bowl XXXVII vs. Oakland Raiders (2002)

Head Coach:

Lovie Smith (83-77 all-time in NFL; 2-14 all-time in Tampa Bay, 3-3 in playoffs)

Offensive Coordinator: Dirk Koetter

Defensive Coordinator: Leslie Frazier

2014-15 Team Leaders:

Passing Yards: Josh McCown (2,206 passing yards, 56.3% completions, 11 TD's, 14 INT's, 70.5 QB rating)

Rushing Yards: Doug Martin (134 attempts, 494 yards, 2 TD's)

Receiving Yards: Mike Evans (68 receptions, 1,051 yards, 12 TD's)

Tackles: Lavonte David (146 tackles)

Interceptions: Johnthan Banks (4 interceptions)

2014-15 Team Rankings:

Passing Offense: 25th in NFL

Rushing Offense: 29th in NFL

Points Per Game: 29th in NFL

Least Points Allowed Per Game: 25th in NFL

2015-16 Potential Starters:

Player Guide:

Purpe - Elite Starter
Blue - Above Average Starter
Green - Average Starter
Orange - Below Average Starter
Grey - Rookie
Red - Disgusting, Awful, Horrible, E.J. Manuel


Offense:

QB: Jameis Winston

RB: Doug Martin

WR: Vincent Jackson

WR: Mike Evans

TE: Austin Seferian-Jenkins

C: Evan Smith

OG: Ali Marpet

OG: Logan Mankins

OT: Donovan Smith

OT: Gosder Cherilus


Defense:

DE: George Johnson

DE: Jacquies Smith

DT: Clinton McDonald

DT: Gerald McCoy

LB: Danny Lansanah

LB: Lavonte David

LB: Kwon Alexander

CB: Johnthan Banks

CB: Alterraun Verner

FS: Bradley McDougald

SS: Major Wright

2015-16 Schedule:

(September 13) vs. Tennessee Titans

(September 20) vs. @ New Orleans Saints

(September 27) vs. @ Houston Texans

(October 4) vs. Carolina Panthers

(October 11) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

(October 18) BYE WEEK

(October 25) vs. @ Washington Redskins

(November 1) vs. @ Atlanta Falcons

(November 8) vs. New York Giants

(November 15) vs. Dallas Cowboys

(November 22) vs. @ Philadelphia Eagles

(November 29) vs. @ Indianapolis Colts

(December 6) vs. Atlanta Falcons

(December 13) vs. New Orleans Saints

(December 17) vs. @ St. Louis Rams

(December 27) vs. Chicago Bears

(January 3) vs. @ Carolina Panthers

Final Prediction: 6-10 (2-4)


Overlook: Last season was not a very good one for Lovie Smith. Smith was brought into the Buccaneers with the thought that he was going to immediately get this thing turned around and turn the Buccaneers from the laughing stock of the NFL into a real viable playoff contender. The Bucs even dipped into the free agent quarterback market and yanked out Josh McCown in hopes of giving the team that ONE thing that they were seemingly missing from their team. The Bucs were a popular pre-season choice to make some noise as well. Websites such as ESPN.com were predicting Tampa Bay to finally make that turn and return to playoff contenders mainly due to the addition of Lovie Smith and Josh McCown. Well, a 2-14 season later, McCown is already out of town and Smith is officially on the hot seat as he enters his second year as Buccaneers head coach. That's not exactly how everyone saw it happening around this time last year.

So where did it all go wrong for the Bucs? You can pretty much start and finish with the QB position. The Buccaneers were putting all their stock in a QB (Josh McCown) that had been in the league for over ten years and has had ONE good year (in 2013 with the Bears). Looking back now, it just seems silly that people expected McCown to shine in Tampa Bay after having a good season with Chicago. People act like coaching and schemes have NOTHING to do with a certain players success. Well, it does and McCown bombed in Tampa Bay, just like he bombed for the five other previous NFL teams he played for. This year though? Bucs fans have a reason to be excited. #1 overall draft pick Jameis Winston comes into town and now THIS is what a potential NFL franchise QB should look like. There are some questions about Winston still as he's far from being a lock as a good NFL player, but he has the arm and the talent to succeed in this league. The only thing stopping him is his questionable decision-making, both on and off-the-field. If he can somehow learn how to make smarter decisions, the Bucs are gonna roll people.

The Bucs are bringing Winston into an offense that has some weapons. Sure, the "Muscle Hamster" Doug Martin has seemingly fallen off, but he's still a young guy and one would hope that he can return to the player he was back in 2012. Something tells me Jameis Winston would really appreciate that. Besides Martin though, the Bucs have a solid core at wide receiver. Mike Evans had an explosive rookie year last season and he looks like the real deal. Vincent Jackson is getting old, but he's still a very reliable receiver. Outside of that though, it's going to be slim pickins. The tight end position is very much up in the air still as Austin Seferian-Jenkins hasn't quite turned into the player the Bucs had hoped he would. The offensive line is also extremely interesting this year. With two rookies set to start on the line, there's no telling what kind of protection Winston is going to get from this unit. Good lord the Buccaneers are extremely interesting on offense this season. Why? Because there's no telling what to expect and I love it.

Defensively, there is a lot to like on this side of the ball. The front seven is pretty good, but would be even better if they can get some production out of their defensive end position. Gerald McCoy is a stud and I love the Bucs' linebacker corps, even rookie Kwon Alexander who I think will have a quiet good year this season. The Bucs are also pretty good in the secondary, with no real weaknesses that stand out. Tampa Bay wasn't very good defensively last year, but we should see some significant signs of improvement on this side of the ball during Lovie Smith's second year with this group. It can't get any worse, right? If it does, something tells me that the Buccaneers might once again be looking to get a new head coach and could be staring at another top draft pick come Spring time. Tampa Bay's defense needs to return to playing how it was during it's Super Bowl run in 2002 if the team is going to have any chance to return to the playoffs this year. I don't think they can, but either way, I'll be watching. This is a very interesting team this season and one that could go one way or another extremely quickly.