Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Playoffs or Bust in 2016

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the talent to shoot up the NFC ranks, but its up to Winston whether 2016 equals playoffs or merely another year of improvement.

We’re tackling each team in the league, traveling alphabetically to debate their biggest offseason issues. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

If you were to rank the best quarterback assets in the NFL, Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston would be pretty high on the list. He’s young and competent, which makes him more intriguing than over half the league right off the bat.

Surrounding Winston in Tampa Bay is a mix of useful players and spots that need to be upgraded. This offseason, the Buccaneers seemed to spend their cap space with the sole intention of filling some of those holes, regardless of the cost associated with it. Since they had the room, I suppose this wasn’t the worst strategy to improve a limited team.

Doug Martin was brought back for far too much money; Brent Grimes and Robert Ayers were added for too much as well, and yet cornerback and pass rusher remain areas of need for this team. J.R. Sweezy was added to the offensive line, but he too doesn’t solidify that part of the roster.

In terms of filling up the rest of that depth chart surrounding Winston, the Bucs have the draft as well as an asset that other teams around the league have shown interest in: quarterback Mike Glennon. No one is sure yet what return Glennon could fetch, but there are a few teams lacking a plausible QB for 2016, and Glennon (along with perhaps Nick Foles or Brian Hoyer) remains one of the few available passers who can play the position.

Even if Tampa Bay hits on the ninth pick in the draft and gets a valuable haul back for Glennon in a deal, this is still probably the worst team in the NFC South. It finished last in 2015 and will be challenging for the same spot again this year. Winston, the wide receivers and some positions on defense are certainly building blocks for the future, but the roster doesn’t have enough of those yet to compete. On the positive side, while Tampa Bay is climbing, New Orleans and Atlanta may be falling; at some point in the near future, the three franchises will pass each other in the night. I just don’t believe that will be this coming season.

Dec 6, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) in the second half against the Atlanta Falcoat Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /

DAN:

I think you’re missing the obvious tipping point regarding Tampa Bay’s success going forward. How quickly does Winston get better? Jameis had a very nice rookie year, but despite throwing for over 4,000 yds and over 20 touchdowns, he still has a lot of work to do. Six victories is not good enough. Under a 60% completion rate is not good enough. Neither is throwing 15 interceptions. The Buccaneers will go as Winston does in the upcoming season.

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I agree that Tampa Bay spent a lot of money to plug some holes, but don’t discount their ability to fill the rest with the ninth overall pick and the eighth pick in round two. Protecting Winston and giving him the tools is simple enough. The Bucs were fifth in the league rushing the ball last season, so even a mediocre improvement to Winston’s game will come up huge on offense. If Jameis takes a major stride forward in year two, then Tampa Bay is the second best team in the NFC South. If Winston plays as well as he did in his rookie year, which was very good but not yet up to his full potential, then the Buccaneers likely win eight games, but miss the playoffs.

At pick nine in the draft the Buccaneers can easily get one of the top three offensive lineman on the board. They could also fill that hole at cornerback you mentioned. The big-time talent is already on Tampa Bay’s roster, with Winston, Mike Evans and Martin leading the way on offensive. Improving the line will help get Tampa’s offense into the endzone more next season. Improving the secondary will have the opposite effect upon opponents. Either option is a great step forward for this team.

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The Bucs lost three games by less than a touchdown last season, and seven of their ten losses came by 14 points or less. A single touchdown swing puts this team in the playoff picture and swinging half of those games in the Bucs favor has them in the wildcard. This is not a major shift for the offense or defense. Winston alone can swing a game by a touchdown, especially if he improves as expected. The draft will be telling, but I like the Buccaneers to at the very least overtake its division rivals in Atlanta and New Orleans this season.

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