Tampa Bay Buccaneers Continue to be Disrespected
Jun 10, 2014; Tampa Bay, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers huddle up for mini camp at One Buccaneer Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Season predictions are starting to roll in for the upcoming 2014 NFL season and there seems to be a common theme for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They are being disrespected.
Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports named the Bucs as the 32nd ranked team leading into the season. That’s dead last!
USAToday’s Nate Davis predicted the Bucs would go 3-13 this season, writing “Big gamble that 2013 Josh McCown is real deal, and journeyman QB of previous 11 years is gone for good.”
3-13 would be worse than last year when the Bucs won four games.
ProFootballTalk had the Bucs at No.26 overall which is an improvement over the other two predictions, but still isn’t high enough. They also had the Bucs as the 15th ranked team in the NFC.
The biggest question mark surrounds Josh McCown which is fair. He’s a journeyman quarterback who in 12 pro seasons has had one good year, which just so happened to be last season.
If Mike Glennon, who had a very good rookie season for the Bucs, had been anointed starter, it’d be curious to see how different these predictions would be, if at all.
But logically, it doesn’t make sense that the Bucs would be the NFL’s worst.
They have home grown and young talent in Lavonte David, Gerald McCoy, Mark Barron, Johnthan Banks, Tim Wright and Doug Martin.
Then throw in their 2014 draft class that includes Mike Evans, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Charles Sims.
Finally, Michael Johnson, Alterraun Verner, Anthony Collins, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Clinton McDonald and Brandon Myers were all signed this offseason.
Did we mention that the Bucs also have Vincent Jackson, Demar Dotson, Dashon Goldson and Mason Foster?
This Bucs team is stacked and are led by an experienced head coach in Lovie Smith. Yes they have some holes but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.
This is a different Bucs team than we’ve seen in recent years. They’re going to compete and win a number of games.
In a special for ESPN, Vince Verhei of Football Insiders, predicts the Bucs will make the biggest improvement this season in the NFC.
“After playing the toughest schedule in the league last season and going 2-5 in one-score contests, the Bucs should have some better luck in close games. Expect them to jump from 4-12 to .500 or better.”
At least some one is paying attention.
The Bucs are routinely disrespected, which at times isn’t surprising due to past performance, but this year and moving forward is when the disrespect has to stop.
The Bucs are here for real.