Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4 Standouts from Preseason Week 1 vs. Steelers

2. Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles

While they aren’t the top standout mentioned on this list, the duo of new coaches in Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles (and even new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich) deserve a ton of praise for what transpired on Friday night. Though they allowed 30 points in a losing effort, things just looked and felt dramatically different than they’ve been in recent years under the watch of Dirk Koetter.

Both on offense and defense, the Buccaneers were noticeably more fluid and creative, throwing different looks at the opposing units and exploiting matchups. This clearly put players — even guys who have been under-achievers to this point in their careers — in better positions to make plays and succeed.

This is a small sample size but, if this is what we can expect from Arians, Bowles and Leftwich, the Buccaneers could be a sleeper to take a big step forward solely based on the impact of the coaching changes.

1. Jameis Winston, QB

Like we said leading into this, 2019 is a monumentally important season for Jameis Winston. It’s only one preseason game and there is a lot of this story that still needs to be told. But if you look at what Winston was able to do against the Steelers, it appears that the prove-it season he has in front of him is going to be a year where he does just that — prove it.

Winston didn’t play much but was highly effective when he did, going 5-of-6 for 40 yards and touchdown when on the field. His decision-making and comfort level in the offense appeared to be well on schedule under the new coaching staff and, put simply, he looked in command of the offense.

There’s no question that Winston has had NFL-caliber talent from the moment the Buccaneers selected him first overall in 2015. It’s just been about putting the pieces together. His first outing with Arians and Leftwich over him raises optimism that they may be the guys to finally put everything into place.