Let me start with something that every honest NFL fan knows but rarely wants to say out loud during training camp season:
Every team has training camp stars.
Every single one. The Cleveland Browns have a receiver who looks unstoppable in shorts. The Carolina Panthers have a defensive tackle who’s been blowing up every interior run drill. The New England Patriots have a linebacker who’s been making plays all camp that have the local beat writers breathless with excitement. And come Week 3 of the regular season, half of those guys are invisible.
So when we look at what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense has been doing through the first two practice weeks of Training Camp 2026, we owe it to ourselves to ask the uncomfortable question honestly:
Is this defense actually that good? Or is the offense just that bad right now?
Because here’s the reality. The offensive line has been leaky in pass protection with Tristan Wirfs sidelined. The receiver room has been shorthanded almost every day with Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Chris Godwin, and Tez Johnson all missing reps at various points. Baker Mayfield has been running for his life on more than a few occasions. In that environment, any defense is going to look dominant.
That’s not to say there aren’t real reasons to be genuinely excited about this defensive group. There absolutely are.
Rueben Bain Jr. is the real deal. The “Hurricane” nickname isn’t just clever marketing, this kid has the athletic tools, the motor, and the football IQ to be a legitimate difference-maker from Day 1. But it’ll be interesting to see him against other starting tackles.
Alex Anzalone has been everything advertised, a chess piece linebacker who covers like a safety, blitzes like a natural, and plays with the field awareness of a ten-year veteran. His addition addresses one of the most glaring weaknesses on this defense from a season ago.
Josiah Trotter has been physical and disruptive since the moment the pads came on, exactly what you want from a second-round pick who was brought in to add an edge to the linebacker room. But are we able to leave him on the field in 3rd and passing situations? We will get to see some of these questions get answered in New York this week.
Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith give this team arguably the best safety tandem in the NFC, and that is not a training camp opinion. That’s based on what both men have proven on game days over multiple seasons.
So yes. The pieces are real. The talent is genuine. And the excitement is warranted.
But here’s where I keep coming back to the same nagging concern and it’s the one that matters more than any individual talent on this roster.
Can Todd Bowles get out of his own way and let this pass rush breathe?
Because here’s the thing about having Rueben Bain Jr., YaYa Diaby, David Walker, Calijah Kancey, A’Shawn Robinson, and potentially Vita Vea on the same defensive front, that is a group that can generate legitimate pressure on its own. Without gimmicks. Without overloading a side. Without sending linebackers and defensive backs on delayed blitzes that leave corners isolated in single coverage or playing soft zones on the back end.
But Bowles’ instinct, particularly when a game gets tight or the pass rush isn’t immediately getting home, has historically been to reach for the blitz. It’s his comfort. His safety blanket. He’ll send a fifth man. Then a sixth. And the problem with that approach isn’t the blitz itself, it’s what it asks of the secondary behind it.
This Buccaneers secondary has talent. But Benjamin Morrison has yet to play a full healthy season. Jacob Parrish, for all the excitement around his Rondé Barber comparisons, is still developing. And putting young or inconsistent corners in pure man coverage with zero help behind a blitz that doesn’t get home is one of the fastest ways to give up a back-breaking play in the fourth quarter of a close game. We’ve seen it. Multiple times. It’s a pattern that has cost this team wins it should have had.
The most exciting thing about the 2026 Buccaneers defense is that for the first time in a long time, Bowles may not NEED to blitz as a crutch. He has the personnel to rush four and make quarterbacks genuinely uncomfortable. Bain Jr. off the edge. Kancey collapsing pockets from inside. Diaby or Walker creating havoc on the opposite edge. A healthy Vea eating blockers in the middle. That’s a front four that can do real damage on its own if it’s given the chance to find its rhythm, develop a feel for the game, and build genuine momentum over the course of a contest.
The question is whether Bowles trusts it enough to stay the course when a drive or two goes against him. Whether he can resist the pull of the blitz when things get uncomfortable. Whether he can look at a four-man rush that’s close, that’s getting pressure but not quite getting home, and say “stay the course, let them work, trust the front” instead of immediately reaching for the loaded blitz package that leaves his corners on an island.
That discipline, or lack of it, will define this defense more than any single player or scheme.
The talent is here. The camp performances have been encouraging. Bucs’ fans know the most important question of the 2026 season isn’t whether Rueben Bain Jr. can rush the passer. We already know he can.
The question is whether Todd Bowles will let him.
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The Bucs are going to blitz a lot because the Bucs have too many inexperienced pass rushers.
@alldaway - very confident response. Here’s one, I got $100 that if we blitz as much as we did last year we won’t win more than 7 games. We don’t need to stack up on dline talent if we’re going to continue to blitz at a high level. Stick to the Yayas of the world and blitz your LBs and DBs, if that’s what you’re going to do. The league has seen that from Bowles. Use blitzes wisely, but don’t depend on them.
We won't know until a few games into the regular season.
Nothing in training camp matters. Nothing. I have watched this team since its inception. Every training camp there are guys that are identified as breakout players that are going to have monster years. I have seen that pan out maybe a handful of times. We will see what the regular schedule roster looks like and then judge from gameday.
@evans-is-my-daddy exactly. Been there since the peppin rood stadium days. And it worries me when I’m hearing about so many training camp studs. Tells me our core talent may be down. We’ll see when the real games start.
Nothing in training camp matters. Nothing. I have watched this team since its inception. Every training camp there are guys that are identified as breakout players that are going to have monster years. I have seen that pan out maybe a handful of times. We will see what the regular schedule roster looks like and then judge from gameday.
There was a thread a couple years ago during training camp saying Kameron Johnson was going to be the next Antonio Brown.
It happens every year, you’re right.
@ehinote - Regardless, I enjoy reading your articles. Please keep them coming. I do think there is some validity to what you are saying about the core talent. I don't feel like Licht addressed all the needs or even close to it. I also don't think the ownership was going to turn him loose with the pocketbook either - it just isn't their style. I also think there is an undercurrent at OBP that knows Bowles is out of here at the end of the season. I think it takes a Lombardi to prevent that from happening and this team isn't deep enough for that (in my opinion).@evans-is-my-daddy exactly. Been there since the peppin rood stadium days. And it worries me when I’m hearing about so many training camp studs. Tells me our core talent may be down. We’ll see when the real games start.
I can't remember if it was Noah Spence or Quincy Black but one of those dudes was supposed to redefine the DE or LB position. I remember buying into that garbage. What did we get? Spence was about 2 years of nothing and Black was somewhere between 3-5 years. Training camp is a place to cull the absolutely nots from the maybes.Nothing in training camp matters. Nothing. I have watched this team since its inception. Every training camp there are guys that are identified as breakout players that are going to have monster years. I have seen that pan out maybe a handful of times. We will see what the regular schedule roster looks like and then judge from gameday.
There was a thread a couple years ago during training camp saying Kameron Johnson was going to be the next Antonio Brown.
It happens every year, you’re right.
Use blitzes wisely, but don’t depend on them.
i think the 2025 seahawks were one of the most successful blitzers, but also had one of the lowest blitz rates. That's how it should work.
To answer your main question about Bowles standing back and rushing 4, I will believe that if/when i see it. Maybe if we start off successfully rushing with 4, but absent something like that I would expect to see him blitzing.
Will be fun to see where Paris Warren fits into this offensive scheme…
Yes Bowles has Muhammad, Walker back and Bain but he is still going to blitz. Bowles didn't draft Scott and Trotter to have a knitting circle mid field. Anzalone as a Saint was aggressive downhill for them too. That is how Bowles will use him but he is a dual threat dropping into spy zones too.
Bottom line Bowles defense thrives when you have a symphony of blitzes and 1v1 pass rushing happening. It has never been an either or pure 1v1 edge rushing or all blitzing under Bowles.
