Godwin will have a big year. He will be playing for his next contract at a position with steeply escalating contract values.
"Experts" ranking the Bucs low in power rankings. What else is new?
yeah that seems about right
Despite the entertaining playoff births, we have been a .500 squad the last two years. We had the 13th best record last year and 17th best record the year before which would put us right in the middle.
if we had to rank players in the top 10 of their respective positions, who would be in the discussion?
WR Mike Evans
T Tristian Wirfs
DT Vita Vea
LB Lavonte David
S Antoine Winfield Jr
then after those 5, you have potential and key contributors that could rank in 11-20 range in QB Baker Mayfield, WR Chris Godwin, C Graham Barton, T Luke Goedeke, DT Kendrick Clancy, Edge Yaya Diaby, CB Jamal Dean, S Jordan Whitehead.
bottom third may be a bit rough but maybe the voter/writers are assuming father time with a few of our elite players. I say we should be ranked in the mid talent raise and likely between 13 and 17th where we ended up the last two years.
Wirfs might be the best T in the NFL. AWJ has the makings of one of the best safeties in the NFL. But those are the only 2 on the team that will make all NFL year after year. Evans is in the top 10, but not the top 4. Same for LVD. There are weaknesses on this team. Primarily the O'line which has yet to prove that they can open up holes for the RB's. And Baker was rated as the #18 QB by ESPN's QBR ranking. So I can understand where the Bucs are projected to be in the bottom half of the team rankings. The Bucs do have a chance to disprove that ranking on the field this coming season.
There are no bad teams in the NFL but, ESPN has us at 19. Sportsnaut has us at 19. NFL.com has us at 19. Sports Illustrated has us at 24. CBS has us in the 20s. Just odd that you could see what we did this off-season (an A by anyone's measure) and feel that we are going to take a step back.
Yeah I do find that odd. That assumes that the young players regress and the incoming draft class does nothing. And is Wirfs, Dean, Whitehead, Winfield, Jr. Godwin, LVD, Vea and Evans are all going to forget how to play? It just seems odd to me.
But like last season I am okay with the Bucs flying under the radar. On paper last year they looked like a .500 ball club and I feel the same this year. The Bucs are a dominant edge rusher and CB away from being part of the elite club from my view.
