Bucs' offense looks better, but no offseason program is a hurdle
TAMPA, Fla. — Between the signing of Tom Brady and trade for Rob Gronkowski — plus the departure of 2015 No. 1 overall draft pick Jameis Winston — the 2020 offseason was unlike any other for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team went from relative obscurity to being touted Super Bowl contenders overnight, despite having not reached the postseason since 2007. Did they make enough moves to make this a real possibility?
Here’s a position-by-position look at whether the Bucs are better, worse or the same as the 2019 team on offense, and key areas to watch for.
Quarterbacks
Additions: Tom Brady (Patriots),
Jones can start again on first and second down. He isn’t a natural pass-catcher, but he does have home-run speed and ran with more confidence as the season progressed last year. Vaughn has better hands than Jones, but on tape he lacks Jones’ burst and looks like another Barber — he’s solid and he can do all the things you ask him to, but he’s not spectacular. How much of an impact he’ll be able to make depends on how quickly he can digest the playbook and where he is in terms of blitz pickup, with which Jones still struggles.
The competition for the third-down back probably will come between Ogunbowale and Logan, who served as the Bucs’ primary kick returner last year before going to injured reserve because of a fractured thumb. At 5-foot-8 and 188 pounds, Calais is smaller than the other backs, but his 4.42 40-yard dash was the third fastest at the combine this year. Ideally, the Bucs should have made another move here, by giving Brady a more proven back with pass-catching skills like Devonta Freeman, but Freeman’s asking price is reportedly more than the $5 million the Bucs have remaining in salary-cap space.
