Pewter Report’s PR Roundtable
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A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. Which player (aside from Baker Mayfield) would best help the Bucs with a career year?

Scott Reynolds: Emeka Egbuka Becoming WR1 In Tampa Bay Would Be A Huge Boost

The Bucs have only selected two wide receivers in the first round of the NFL Draft over the last two decades – Mike Evans, who is the best receiver in franchise history – and Emeka Egbuka. Tampa Bay doesn’t need Egbuka to break all the records Evans set – or even come close. He just needs to elevate his game from that of a complementary WR2 type to becoming a true WR1 like Evans has been for the last decade in red and pewter.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka and Cardinals DE Josh Sweat – Photo by: USA Today

Egbuka had a great start to his rookie season and was the early front-runner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors before hitting a wall in terms of his production over the second half of the year. Still, he led Tampa Bay in catches (63), yards (938) and touchdowns (six) last year and is poised to do that again in 2026. The key will be to have that production ascend as he enters year two in the league with more experience, more confidence and in even better shape from a strength and conditioning standpoint.

Right now it seems as if the Bucs have three WR2 types in Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan, but are lacking a true alpha WR1 receiver. If Egbuka’s trajectory can match that of fellow Ohio State alum Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks the Bucs could be in great shape. Smith-Njigba had 63 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie in 2023 before having a breakout season in 2024 with 100 catches for 1,130 yards and six TDs. Then he became a Pro Bowl receiver in 2025 with 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 scores.

Egbuka showed some dominant traits over the first half of his rookie campaign and if he can get back to that level and sustain it over the course of the 2026 season, Baker Mayfield will be super productive and the Bucs offense can get back to high scoring outputs. Points win games, and a 1,000-plus yard season from Egbuka could certainly help get the Bucs to 10 wins or more in his second year in the league.

Matt Matera: What If Yaya Diaby Became A Premier Pass Rusher?

A career year, you say? Wouldn’t it be something if Yaya Diaby had his best season to date and eased the minds of the Bucs fan base? Diaby has been a high-motor, hard-working edge rusher that has seen flashes of success. That most notably came his rookie season with 7.5 sacks and last year when he led the team again with seven sacks. However, he’s viewed more as an OLB2 than an OLB1.

Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: USA Today

If Diaby turned the corner and had a double-digit sack season, that would solve a lot of Tampa Bay’s pass rush issues that desperately needs fixing after the defense recorded just 37 sacks last year. The Bucs believe they have answered that problem with the drafting of edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round and adding Al-Quadin Muhammad in free agency fresh off a career-high 11-sack season in Detroit.

But maybe all of these new additions will bring out the best in Diaby. Great defenses are predicated on a high number of sacks. Get to the quarterback at a high rate and the defense will usually have success.

The Bucs have been missing success on defense, just as they have missed getting to the quarterback with a high frequency. With Diaby in a contract year, the motivation is there. It would be incredible to have two Bucs pass rushers dominating on each end of the line of scrimmage. Sure, the Bucs would have to pay a lot of money to Diaby after the season, but with Bain on a rookie contract for the next four years – plus a fifth-year option – that’s more doable and it’s a good problem to have.

Adam Slivon: Bucs Need The Best Version Of Zyon McCollum In 2026

How the Bucs currently stand at cornerback raises a lot more questions than answers. It is up to Zyon McCollum, more than anyone else, to ease the concerns many have about the position entering 2026. After all, McCollum was paid to do so, right?

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay placed its trust in No. 27 by inking him to a three-year, $48 million deal before last season. In doing so, the Bucs were betting on his continued development and expecting him to take the next step toward becoming a top cornerback the team could trust with difficult assignments against some of the league’s best receivers.

That did not come close to happening in 2025, as McCollum struggled with consistency before ultimately ending the year on injured reserve. Now, 2026 offers an opportunity for redemption, and the secondary needs that to happen. The secondary benefited from Jamel Dean’s career year, and Dean was always a high-quality option when healthy. Health has not been McCollum’s biggest concern – consistency has. That is where he can truly emerge and prove Tampa Bay’s investment was the right one.

McCollum does not need to have six interceptions to break out. If he can consistently match up with top receivers, limit the coverage breakdowns, and become a cornerback Tampa Bay can trust on a week-to-week basis, that will go a long way. The takeaways will come naturally. The Bucs defense needs several players to break out in 2026. With how much the pass rush and coverage go hand-in-hand, it will be a two-part equation that determines the unit’s success under Todd Bowles this season. Bowles trusts McCollum, and now the veteran coach needs that confidence rewarded.

Bailey Adams: Big Year For Jalen McMillan Can Take The Bucs Offense To New Heights

The Bucs offense has a lot of weapons as it is. Even if you see marginal improvements from the likes of Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan, those two combined with Chris Godwin Jr., Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell and the depth pieces in the backfield and out wide should set Zac Robinson’s unit up for a lot of success in 2026. But what about all of those weapons, an improved Egbuka in Year 2 and a career year from McMillan? I think that could take the offense to an entirely new level.

We’ve seen glimpses of what McMillan can do at the NFL level. He finished his rookie year in 2024 on an absolute tear, scoring touchdowns just about every week during the second half of the season on his way to eight for the year. He was primed for a breakout a year ago, too, but a scary and unfortunate neck injury suffered in the preseason robbed him of a lot of his second season. Still, when he returned for the final four games, you saw continued flashes of what made McMillan a potential third-round steal in the 2024 Draft.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Sam Navarro

McMillan has proven to be highly capable of beating man coverage in ways that Godwin and Egbuka really haven’t, and that puts him in a position that could be extremely valuable to Robinson’s offense. He could end up being featured in the Bucs offense a lot more than people are thinking he will, and if he takes that opportunity and runs with it, you could see a career year. And that would be big-time for this offense.

We’ve seen Godwin hit the 1,000-yard mark four times in his career. Egbuka very nearly hit it as a rookie in 2025 and looks capable of getting there in Year 2. At the very least, he looks like a guy you can count on for 700-900 yards, doesn’t he? So, add in McMillan blowing past his career high of 461 yards (which he had as a rookie in 2024) and bordering on 700-800 yards, it could make quite the difference for the Tampa Bay passing game.

No one will confuse the quartet of Godwin, Egbuka, McMillan and Cade Otton with the 2020 quartet of Godwin, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski. But a breakout year for McMillan could help get the Bucs closer to that “How are defenses going to cover all of these guys at once?” advantage they used to have.

That would lead to a rebound for the offense, returning it closer to its 2024 levels. And scoring more points per game while expecting improvements out of a revamped defense just might have Tampa Bay in position to win double-digit games and contend in 2026.

Josh Queipo: Calijah Kancey Is A Force Multiplier On Todd Bowles’ Defense

Did you see how the Seahawks defense dismantled the NFL last year en route to 14 wins and a Lombardi Trophy, beating New England in the Super Bowl? They did it on the backs of defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II. Those two combined for more pressures (131) than their starting edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu (120).

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In an ever-changing NFL landscape, the fastest way to build an elite defense is currently through pressure up the middle. Quarterbacks can’t just step up in the pocket when it is collapsing in their face. This is why fourth-year defensive tackle Calijah Kancey is such a wild card in Tampa Bay. If he can remain healthy for Todd Bowles’ defense, those flashes he has shown for his first three years in red and pewter can finally turn into meaningful dominant production during the 2026 season.

Crashing the pocket from the inside will help outside linebackers Yaya Diaby and Rueben Bain Jr., the team’s first-round pick, convert more sacks on the outside. Tampa Bay’s coverage in the secondary and linebacker level won’t have to hold up as long on the back end, lessening the stress on a still relatively young group of defensive backs. And blitzes that were previously necessary just to generate a little pressure become real value-adds that pay off more.

If Kancey breaks out, the entire Bucs defense elevates. And that could be worth multiple wins by the end of the 2026 season.