There is plenty of optimism for the Bucs as they head into 2024, and for good reason.

In a lot of ways, the roster has improved and addressed its biggest needs over the offseason through the 2024 NFL Draft and free agency. Tampa Bay kept all of its biggest free agents and has constructed a young and hungry roster that looks bound to improve upon its 2023 season.

While hope is in the air, and that was reflected in our latest PR Roundtable going over how many games the Bucs will win this season, there are some noteworthy concerns that can greatly affect the team’s chances of winning the NFC South and going on another playoff run. There is enough reason to believe that each of these things will be better, but one should also consider that some things are bound not to go to plan.

That is indeed why they play the games.

Below are the five biggest concerns about this year’s Bucs team.

1. What Will Baker Mayfield Do For An Encore?

The biggest determinant of how far the Bucs go in 2024 is how far quarterback Baker Mayfield takes them.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mayfield took the team farther than anyone expected last year, both extending and accelerating the team’s next contention window. With the stability of his long-term home and a familiar offensive system, there is a real possibility he can be more consistent under center and even perform better than last year.

But as he heads into his seventh season in the league, Mayfield has yet to put together consecutive above-average years of play. Something to consider is that he has led his team to six or fewer wins in four of his first six years. There are various factors for why this has been the case, as he willed a downtrodden Browns franchise out of the cellar and was dealt a rough hand in 2022 being traded to the Panthers and having a brief run with the Rams.

Still, one has to make the best of the circumstances they are placed in, and this year offers him the chance to continue righting wrongs and proving worthy of being an NFL quarterback a team can rely on and build around.

In this act of his career, there are no excuses. He is surrounded by his best supporting cast yet and has a head coach in Todd Bowles that will keep the team in games based on his defensive acumen. With Liam Coen, the offense will be catered and built according to Mayfield’s strengths more than ever before.

All he has to do is go out there on Sundays and show that he is worthy of being Tampa Bay’s 100-million-dollar man.

2. How Much More Juice Will Bucs’ Run Game Have?

Bucs RB Rachaad White and C Graham Barton – Photo by: USA Today

After being ranked dead-last running the ball over the past two seasons, the Bucs are looking to curb that trend in a big way this year.

Not only is Rachaad White looking to be a more efficient running back, but he will have a lot more help. Rookie Bucky Irving already looks like he will be a key contributor and help keep White fresh throughout the season. Sean Tucker may even get a handful of touches and has shown capable of breaking a big run.

Under Liam Coen, the Bucs should have a more modernized offense, and offensive line coach Kevin Carberry looks to have the trenches more in sync in terms of creating holes for the running backs to explode through.

However, there is cause for concern.

This was a tale told last season and even the year before that. Heading into 2022, Leonard Fournette was signed to a three-year deal with White being his top backup. Fournette was coming off a year where he had 180 carries for 812 rushing yards, setting a career-high with 4.5 yards per carry. Last year, Dave Canales came in as offensive coordinator and said that he would be “stubborn” running the football, but the execution of that on the field left much more to be desired.

Things do look different this time around, though. There is a fresh new perspective on offense along the coaching staff and more talent in the backfield. Much like with Mayfield, the Bucs have set the run game up for success on the personnel side, but without having a 1,000-yard back in nearly a decade, talk and optimism can only go so far. Tampa Bay may find it to be tough sledding out of the gate against a stingy Washington defense in Week 1 led by defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

3. Can The Interior Offensive Line Better Protect Baker Mayfield And Help RBs?

Heading into the 2024 offseason, the interior offensive line was seen as the biggest team need with left guard being vacant after the departures of veterans Aaron Stinnie and Matt Feiler and center Robert Hainsey not performing as well as the team hoped for. To solve this issue, the Bucs went out and signed left guard Ben Bredeson and drafted center Graham Barton in the first round.

Bucs G Ben Bredeson and C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Already things appear to be better upfront as Bredeson has acclimated well over the offseason, while Barton looks every bit of being a high-caliber, long-term answer at the pivot. The interior offensive line’s struggles last year led to a litany of issues that held the offense back.

With Stinnie/Feiler, Hainsey, and rookie Cody Mauch struggling at times, it led to the pocket collapsing on Baker Mayfield and the running backs hesitating and not being able to capitalize on the quickly closing holes in front of them. It is paramount for Mayfield, who stands 6-foot-1, to have time to see over his offensive line and find his receivers, while the big guys need to create enough push and leverage to hold their blocks for the backs behind them.

NFL Films’ Greg Cosell drove this point home when he appeared on the Pewter Report Podcast back in early April.

“You just spent a lot of money on Baker Mayfield, who is a very good thrower of the football, but he’s a certain kind of quarterback,” Cosell said. “He can be successful as that kind of quarterback, as we know, but it’s very hard for him to be successful if the depth of the pocket is not controlled and taken care of.”

4. Will The Bucs’ Front Seven Generate Sufficient Pressure?

Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Outside linebacker was the other big need for the Bucs this offseason, and like the interior offensive line, it was shored up by drafting Chris Braswell in the second round. Braswell joins a room with plenty of uncertainty but also a higher floor. Yaya Diaby is even more jacked and primed to attack the quarterback this season, while the rest of the room is a mix of veterans and unproven players.

This does raise some level of concern in terms of what the floor is for this group, especially when considering Diaby has the most sacks of anyone in the room in a single season with 7.5.

Tampa Bay lacks a premium pass rusher or an established one at that. There could again be weeks where the pass rush is neutralized. Along the defensive line, nose tackle Vita Vea and defensive tackle Calijah Kancey can only do so much, and the team should not have to bank solely on them and frequent blitzes to generate consistent pressure.

What lessens this concern is Todd Bowles’ defensive game planning and prowess when it comes to creatively putting together personnel packages, but until the players start producing one has to wonder who and how often they will get after opposing quarterbacks.

5. Does A Revamped Secondary Equate To Better Play – And More Takeaways?

The lack of takeaways by Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks has been evident over the last couple of seasons. Jamel Dean nor Carlton Davis fit the archetype of being a ballhawk, and Davis was jettisoned to the Lions back in March.

With over half of last year’s interceptions made by players no longer on the team, who will step up in this regard?

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum and SS Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Dean is entering a crossroads kind of season in 2024, as he did not have the kind of season expected after signing a four-year, $52 million deal to re-up with the Bucs. While head coach Todd Bowles joked about having to drug test him after he made an interception during a training camp practice, there is some truth to that remark, especially as his dropped interception against the Lions in the Divisional round is something that continues to sting.

The team made plenty of moves to shore up the secondary, from signing free agents Bryce Hall, Tavierre Thomas, and Jordan Whitehead and drafting Tykee Smith in the third round. Antoine Winfield Jr. will still make plenty of plays and Whitehead is a big upgrade at strong safety, but the cornerback position still has its question marks.

Zyon McCollum takes over Davis’ spot, but he has yet to record an interception in 30 games (12 starts). While McCollum has stated his goal this season is six interceptions, he first has to show that he can get one and hold down a starting spot. With Dean having some injury concerns and only having five cornerbacks on the active roster, it is a room that will need to prove itself, perhaps more so than any other position.