The PR Bucs Monday Mailbag is where PewterReport.com’s Mark Cook answers your questions from our Twitter account. You can submit your question each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.

Below are the questions we chose for this week’s edition of the PR Bucs Monday Mailbag.

Question: Assuming the Bucs don’t have any major injuries to key players this year, what do you see as the floor and the ceiling realistically for this team in number of wins and the playoffs?

Answer: There are still so many unanswered questions to be able to try and come up with an informed prediction, but since it’s the offseason, and there isn’t a whole lot happening, let’s play the prediction game.

The first big question I have is, will the offense gel quickly enough to not fall behind the Saints too far? I have little doubt that quarterback Tom Brady will have an excellent year, but how long will it take to get into a groove? If this team starts off 3-3 or something around that, they will be playing behind the eight ball most likely in order to catch New Orleans.

Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

The next big question is, was the late season defense we saw last year the real defense and will they come out of the gate the way they ended last year?

If Tampa Bay can get off to a hot start and the defense plays well early, or are even a little better than they were in the second half of 2019, it will be one heck of a battle with the Saints for NFC South supremacy.

If all of things happen, combined with no major injuries as you suggested, I see no reason why this team can’t win 12 games. And if they can win 12 games and are the NFC South champs and have home field advantage throughout, who is to say they can’t get to the Super Bowl?

This team has the talent, and I believe excellent coaching, and will be very dangerous in 2020 if all of the above things we mentioned actually happen.

Question: Tom Brady may be the greatest QB of all time, but how much of his success is due to Belichick? Should fans be prepared for a drop off in performance?

Answer: There is no doubt the whole organization contributed to Brady’s and the Patriots’ success over the last decade and a half. It is similar to what Nick Saban has done at Alabama, what Bill Walsh did with the 49ers and even what the old Steelers and Cowboys teams of the 1970s created.

The “program” has been elite for a long time and the two constants, other than owner Robert Kraft, have been Brady and Belichick. So it will be interesting to see who was the biggest factor. But thinking about it, I would give the edge to Brady being the main cog in the Patriots train that went to nine Super Bowls and won six since he came into the league in 2000.

Patriots OC Josh McDaniels and HC Bill Belichick – Photo by: Getty Images

Make no mistake, Belichick is the train conductor but Brady is the one who drives it. And Belichick is more of a defensive guru. Remember he won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator prior to going to New England. I would almost say OC/QB coach Josh McDaniels has had as much, if not even more to do with the success of the offense over the years than Belichick.

With that said, what is a Brady drop off? A “drop-offed” Brady likely is still one of, if not the best, quarterbacks this team has ever seen and it isn’t just about statistics. It is about elevating the players around him. Brady can and will do that in my opinion.

If you plug Brady’s numbers the last three seasons (4,000-plus yards, averaging 28 TDs a year with only nine INTs) into the 2019 Bucs offense, we are talking about probably at least 10-12 wins. So even if he “drops off” a touch, this is still a playoff team and maybe even more. Especially as a team going in their second year in the Arians/Bowles system.

Question: In the past rookies had a camp or two they could show up to prior to signing their rookie deal and I believe camp opens this week. Is it the same way this year for rookies, because I haven’t seen any BUCS rookies signed?

Bucs RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn – Photo by: Getty Images

Answer: The NFL announced that rookies will report on Tuesday, July 21, a week ahead of most of the other team. So expect to see Bucs rookie signing announcements to start coming in this week, possibly even as early as today (Monday). The good news with the CBA going back to 2011, the rookie salary cap slotting means you rarely see rookies not reporting on time. Rookies have little, if any leverage, and those holdouts we used to see are a long, gone thing of the past.

Question: Which unit is ranked better in 2020 (total offense or total defense)?

Answer: I think we would be crazy – and pretty disappointed – if it isn’t the offense. Now if the defense is say ranked third or fourth in the league at the end of the year, and the offense is fifth or sixth, then that would just fine.

However if the defense is a Top-5 defense, but the offense finishes 15th or worse, then most likely there were some serious offensive injury issues. This team has invested a lot on the offensive side of the ball with the addition of Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski, so much is expected from this unit. That isn’t to say the organization doesn’t think the defense will be good in 2019, but the Bucs went after Brady to push them over the hump.