Comparing the Buccaneers' 2015 and 2013 starting lineupsBy Sander Philipse May 22, 2015 
Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsLovie Smith has overhauled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' roster over the past two years. That's an obvious statement, but it really stands out when you compare the starting lineups. Even adding common positions that may not technically start, like a third receiver, second tight end and slot cornerback, the team has just seven starters who were starting in 2013.But does that mean that they've actually gotten better, or have the Bucs simply been treading water? Let's go through the Bucs' "starting" lineups, including a few positions that may not technically start, but will still be on the field a lot.Pos 2013 2015 OFFENSE QB Josh Freeman- Jameis Winston RB Doug Martin- Doug Martin FB Erik Lorig -Joseph Iosefa WR Vincent Jackson- Vincent Jackson WR Mike Williams- Mike Evans WR Kevin Ogletree -Louis Murphy TE Luke Stocker- Luke Stocker TE Tom Crabtree -Austin Seferian-Jenkins LT Donald Penn- Donovan Smith LG Carl Nicks- Logan Mankins C Jeremy Zuttah- Evan Dietrich-Smith RG Davin Joseph- Ali Marpet RT Demar Dotson- Demar Dotson DEFENSE DE Adrian Clayborn- Jacquies Smith DT Gerald McCoy -Gerald McCoy DT Akeem Spence- Clinton McDonald DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim- George Johnson WLB Lavonte David- Lavonte David MLB Mason Foster- Bruce Carter SLB Jonathan Casillas- Danny Lansanah CB Johnthan Banks- Johnthan Banks CB Darrelle Revis- Alterraun Verner NB Leonard Johnson -Sterling Moore SS Mark Barron- Bradley McDougald FS Dashon Goldson- Chris Conte So maybe it's just me, but I'm not seeing a massive improvement here. I think defensive end is better, but I'm not sure the difference is gigantic: Jacquies Smith and George Johnson are pretty much just as unproven as Adrian Clayborn was at the time. That's actually true across the defense: a lot of unproven players who may be good, or may not be good at a lot of positions. In hindsight, a lot of those players in 2013 didn't work out -- but we tend to overlook that uncertainty this year.The same is true on offense. Yes, Josh Freeman turned out to be useless but that wasn't necessarily completely obvious at the time. People still had 2010 in their heads and a few good games in 2012, with hopes that he'd improve. I think there's certainly a better chance that Winston succeeds now than that Freeman would have succeeded in 2013, but again, there's a lot of uncertainty there.Even worse, the offensive line actually looked outstanding in 2013 -- before we knew that Carl Nicks would see his career end thanks to MRSA, and before Davin Joseph's injuries turned out to be serious enough to truly end his career. This year, we have rookies -- which means more question marks -- at two positions. At least the receiving corps is better.Overall, I'm not sure we can say that this group is definitely better than that of 2013. It certainly has the potential to be, and there's been a lot of turnover since then, but this is not a fundamentally different group.
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