Which are the top five Buccaneers who have to stay healthy to keep the Bucs in contention for the NFC title?
Consider not only the talent level but the importance of position and the difference between them and the "next man up". These are my top five....
1) Tristan Wirfs - With Wirfs we have a dominant O-line. Without him the confidence level goes way down. With Mayfield out you can still run the ball. With Wirfs out both running and passing take a big hit.
2) Baker Mayfield - We could lose him for a couple of games and be OK, but with an extended absence we'd be needing the defense to dominate. Do we have a dominant defense? I don't think so. Without Baker we're sub 500.
3) Vita Vea - The defense is all based off the ability to stop the run first and force the pass. Last year teams were more than happy to pass, but that's beside the point. To have a defense worthy of winning the NFC title we need Vita. There is no substitute.
4) Graham Barton. When we lost Jensen we saw what a difference a dominant center makes as opposed to a run of the mill center in Hainsey. Barton should take a big leap forward and be that dominant center. But if he were to miss games we don't even have a Hainsey type to step in. Without Barton the offense will struggle. With Barton and Wirfs healthy we'll be able to run the type of creative offense that will dominate.
Put Evans, Reddick, Winfield and Irving in the honorable mention category....
5) SirVocea Dennis. The #1 reason the defense was roasted last year was ILB. We drafted nobody. Brought back aging David, signed one year prove it FAs and just crossed our fingers that Dennis will remain healthy. If he does we'll have that guy who can be everywhere and create havoc. If knock on wood we lose Dennis again then once again the middle of the defense will be wide open for teams to feast on us all day long. IMO we need Dennis to be a great defense. The defense can't afford to have ILB be the weak link once again.