Baker Mayfield’s stewardship of the Buccaneers offense will go a long way toward determining whether his team can get back to the top of the NFC South this season. Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images
“The Athletic Football Show” is previewing all 32 teams leading up to the start of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full NFC South preview wherever you get your podcasts.
Derrik Klassen on what about the Buccaneers most excites him: I think the Todd Bowles defense might be back. I think this front seven specifically might wreck teams. Vita Vea has his contract now; he should be happy. I think A’Shawn Robinson being one of your other solid starters helps you in run defense. Rueben Bain is a very stout man who wants to kill everybody that gets in front of him. Josiah Trotter, they drafted in the second round after Bain, he’s been hitting people in the preseason. Alex Anzalone is an upgrade at linebacker. They brought in so many difference-makers up front. Hopefully, you get Calijah Kancey healthy. There’s a chance that this unit just feels vastly different than it has the past couple of seasons.
Robert Mays on what he’s watching the first month of the season: Where does this version of the Bucs offense fall on the spectrum of the ones that we’ve seen over the last few years? I mean that in terms of quality and approach. You look at last season, they were 23rd in passing success rate in the second half of last year. This was not a good offense after that initial stretch when we were talking about Baker (Mayfield) as a potential MVP candidate. You can figure out why that is. Mike Evans was hurt a good chunk of last year. Emeka Egbuka gets hurt at one point last year. Baker’s dealing with the shoulder injury. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances in terms of health and personnel as to why the offense fell off, on top of the fact that they thought, by the end of the season, they needed to replace their offensive coordinator. And so do we get something closer to the 2024 offense when this is a top-five unit by every conceivable measure that got Liam Coen a head-coaching job? Or are we sitting closer to the 20th-best offense in the league that feels outmanned, outgunned, incapable of doing any real damage as we get deeper into the season?
Dave Helman on what’s keeping him up at night: That this is as good as it’s gonna get for the Buccaneers. And if it doesn’t get better, you’re probably talking at the very least about a head-coaching change. I don’t think Jason Light is in any danger, but Todd Bowles is probably out if the Bucs don’t win the division, maybe even if you win the division. There are a lot of outcomes here that lead to a coaching change. Baker is in a contract stalemate. He voiced his frustration with it at the beginning of training camp, so you’re not tied to the quarterback, and maybe that’s a good thing if you might be moving on from the head coach if this season doesn’t go well.
The thought of where the Bucs were heading into last season and where it felt like they might be able to go, if you’re tearing it all down a year and a half later, that sucks, especially when a guy that I feel incredibly good about is coaching the franchise like right up the interstate from you in Jacksonville.
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Aug 31, 2026
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