The mostly final roster is now set. There still may be one or two changes to the roster, other than the obvious Jennings signing and Dotson to short term IR, but for the most part the players are set.So the question is, did we improve or get worse? With a record of 2-14, it's hard to imagine that we could have got worse, but it can happen and if we did improve, how much really did we improve and is it temporary (a one season minor improvement) or a more long term improvement?I liked the addition of Koetter as offensive coordinator. Offensively, I think this is the single greatest improvement that the Bucs made. I've said before that Koetter has experience coaching around bad offensive lines and still have a productive offense and I think this experience will pay off for us this year. I'm not sure the offensive line is any better, but if Smith and Marpet get experience and continue the improvement we saw in the preseason, the offensive line appears to be going in the right direction. I'm not sure Winston is an immediate improvement over McCown/Glennon. There is a lot to like about Winston, but he's a rookie and to make things a bit harder, he's got that gunslinger reputation. I'm expecting an up and down ride with Winston that I'm hoping will turn out to be more ups than down as the season wears on.I don't think we improved at all at defensive end, and might even have gotten worse with the waiver wire pickups. However, I think the interior of the line did improve with the additions of Melton and McDaniel. I really like Alexander in the middle, which is saying a lot considering that I hated the pick when we made it because I felt we needed to pick another offensive lineman. At the backend, I like the changes in the safety position. I'm really beginning to like Swearinger and the additions of Jennings and Moore should shore up the weak nickel situation.I'm mildly concerned about bringing in another rookie kicker, but Brindza has had a perfect preseason between Detroit and the Bucs and I love his kickoffs. I've no idea if Schum is better than Koenon, but before anyone says that anyone would be better, think back to the merry go round of punters we had before he came here. Looking back at the preseason, the Cincy game gives me hope that the team, when prepared, can look like a real NFL team. I liked all the take aways that the defense got during the preseason as well. I'm very concerned about special teams. I'm concerned about all the penalties again, but we did clean that up against both Miami and Cleveland.So, summing it all up. I think we improved overall. I didn't expect them to fix everything in one off season and they didn't, but they actually addressed quite a bit if you think about it. I feel encouraged going into the season, but not confident. I think we'll get more than 2 wins, but no real idea yet on how much more than that. I think a lot of that rests on Winston's play. If he can contain his rookie mistakes, we could do unexpectedly well, if not, we'll win more games than last season, but leave wins on the field.JMO.
