Welcome to The Hook, my weekly column that hooks you into a different Tampa Bay Buccaneers topic each Thursday, as well as some of my thoughts on the Bucs and the NFL at the end in a section called Cannon Blast.

I invite you to offer me some feedback on The Hook below in the article comments section.

Expectations for the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are at all all-time high.

Well, at least since the Super Bowl contending teams of the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Fans have been waiting, pining, desperate for a winner in Tampa Bay. The Bucs had some good seasons – 2005 and 2007 – under Jon Gruden following the Super Bowl win in 2002. And then there was the 10-6 season of 2010 in the Raheem Morris era, and a 9-7 year under Dirk Koetter in 2016.

Bucs fans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Over the last 12 years, Bucs fans may have had some optimism about upcoming seasons, but nothing like we have seen this offseason with the additions of former New England Super Bowl champions in quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Could the Buccaneers be the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium? History says no, but fans are growing more confident. And they have every right to be.

Yet before fans can start setting up their lawn chairs around Bayshore Boulevard for the ticker tape Super Bowl parade, there are a few teams whose fan bases are just as excited – and with good reason.

Fans of the Seahawks, Cowboys, 49ers, Vikings and Eagles all think their team will be representing the NFC in Tampa next February. And all could be preseason favorites to make a deep run in the playoffs.

But the biggest obstacle the Bucs fans, in my opinion, is still the New Orleans Saints.

The champs – of the NFC South anyway.

While the Bucs don’t necessarily have to win their division to make the playoffs and make a Super Bowl run, it sure is a heck of a lot easier if you are the top team in your division and can start the playoffs playing in your home stadium.

Saints WR Michael Thomas and Bucs CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That didn’t exactly pan out for New Orleans last season as the top seed was bounced early by a surprising Vikings team that went into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and stunned the entire NFL.

But you get the point.

Being the top team in a division clears an easier path to reach the pinnacle, but first you have to get to the top – and the Saints are still the cream of the crop in the NFC South after back-to-back 13-3 seasons.

Let’s take a look at how the Bucs stack up against the Saints a few months away from entering the 2020 NFL season.

Quarterback

Offensively when you compare the two teams it’s pretty even from a talent standpoint. At quarterback you have the top two to play the game. Drew Brees hold the NFL record for most passing yards (77,416), with Brady second (74,571). Brady holds the record for most Super Bowl appearances (nine) and wins (six). Brees tops Brady in touchdown passes by six – 547 to 541. At the end of the day, the two are extremely even except for Brady’s advantage in the championship department.

Edge: Even

Offensive Line

Across the offensive line the Saints the nod. Not by much, but they are better – for now. With the addition of rookie first-round pick Tristan Wirfs, who will start at right tackle, the Bucs hope they have closed that gap. But the Saints only gave up 25 sacks in 2019 where the Bucs surrendered 47. A few factors skewed that stat somewhat as Brees is a master of getting rid of the ball, and the length of routes New Orleans runs are considerably shorter than what is in Bruce Arians’ vertical attack.

Bucs LT Donovan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Also Jameis Winston took too many sacks last season. That isn’t to excuse Tampa Bay’s offensive line at all, but Brees and Winston are two different styles of quarterbacks who use two completely different playbooks. Still, the Saints offensive line of tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk, guards Larry Warford and Andrew Peat, and center Eric McCoy edges Tampa Bay’s group of Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen, Alex Cappa and Joe Haeg/Wirfs.

Edge: Saints

Running Back

In the backfield, the running backs unit of Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray and Dwayne Washington also have an edge over Ronald Jones II, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Dare Ogunbowale. The Saints averaged 108.6 yards per game of the ground last year, good for 16th in the league, while Tampa Bay’s 95.1 yards per game average ranked 24th in the NFL. New Orleans only rushed for 13.5 yards per game more than Tampa Bay, so that gap can be closed with better production from Vaughn than the Bucs got from Peyton Barber.

Edge: Saints

Wide Receiver

Both team’s wide receivers groups are excellent, but the edge goes to the Buccaneers. While Saints Pro Bowl receiver Michael Thomas had a whopping 147 receptions in 2020 to lead the NFL by a long shot, he only averaged 11.6 yards per catch. Mike Evans only had 67 receptions, but his average was over 17 yards per catch. The Saints added Emmanuel Sanders this offseason, but he only had 36 catches for 523 yards, while Tampa Bay’s No. 2 receiver Chris Godwin had 86 receptions for 1,333 yards. Both Evans and Godwin are Pro Bowlers, and fifth-round pick Tyler Johnson is a Day 3 steal and could emerge as the No. 3 wideout as a rookie.

Edge: Buccaneers

Tight End

Bucs TE OJ Howard – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

At tight end, the Saints added rookie Adam Trautman to pair up with Jared Cook, who caught just 43 passes in 2019, but for 705 yards and nine scores. Cook’s production from a yardage standpoint nearly matched all of the Bucs’ tight ends combined, and his nine scores were more than Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard’s combined total of six scores. But now add in Rob Gronkowski to Tampa Bay’s arsenal and things even out. The Bucs might even end up better in 2020 than the Saints.

Edge: Even

Defensive Front 7

Defensively, the Saints were statistically better in 2019 finishing the season ranked 11th in the NFL giving up 333.1 yards per game, and the Bucs ended up 15th, surrendering 343.9. But over the last six weeks of the season, Tampa Bay’s defense was much better than early in the year and was ranked in the Top 10 during that stretch.

Both teams have excellent talent across the board. The Saints boast a front seven of Cameron Jordan, Sheldon Rankins, Marcus Davenport, Malcolm Brown, Kiko Alonso, Demario Davis and Alex Anzalone. Tampa Bay counters with Shaq Barrett, Vita Vea, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh, William Gholston, Lavonte David and Devin White. Both appear to be pretty even and pretty stacked, but Tampa Bay has the slight advantage due to the team’s 47 sacks last year and No. 1 ranked run defense.

Edge: Buccaneers

Secondary

In the secondary, the Saints have the better, more experienced unit. Cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins, Marshon Lattimore team up with safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams to what looks to be one of the better units in the NFL. The Buccaneers offer Sean Murphy-Bunting, Jamel Dean and Carlton Davis at cornerbacks with who knows what at safety. Jordan Whitehead and Andrew Adams were the primary starters in 2019, but both could see themselves as backups depending on the health of Justin Evans and the development of second-year player Mike Edwards as well as rookie Antoine Winfield, Jr., the Bucs’ second-round pick.

Edge: Saints

Saints head coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees – Photo by: Getty Images

The biggest difference between the top two teams in the NFC South lies with experience. The Saints have the edge by a long shot due to the longevity and continuity of the coaching staff, and the working relationship between head coach and play-caller Sean Payton and Brees.

New Orleans is just a more of a cohesive unit and that bodes well for the Saints in 2020 as it appears any on-field OTAs and mini-camps may not happen this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If the NFL is able to play a full season it appears likely that teams will just have to go right into training camp and skip the OTAs and mini-camps. And with Brady being the new quarterback in a new system, combined with Tampa Bay’s young, inexperienced secondary, New Orleans is still the best team in the NFC South.

That isn’t to say the Bucs can’t dethrone the champs. Tampa Bay also will add more players as the season gets closer. Bring in a veteran running back, a veteran safety or some more depth at offensive and defensive lines, and maybe the Bucs have what it takes to take over the NFC South.

Tampa Bay is a playoff team in 2020, but will the Bucs be NFC South champions and start that playoff run at home, or on the road as a wild card?

Bucs fans, you have plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming season, and you deserve to feel that way after the last 12 years of life without the postseason. Tampa Bay is ready to explode, and if the Bucs can somehow manage to knock New Orleans off its NFC South perch – explode might be an understatement.

CANNON BLAST

Cook’s musings and ramblings about the Buccaneers and the NFL. Good stuff. Check it out.

• Well, Jameis Winston has found a home. A familiar home. Too familiar for many Bucs fans. In my 43 years of following this team there hasn’t been a player anywhere close to as polarizing as Winston. It started during the pre-draft process in 2015 and hasn’t slowed down a full six years later. Love him or hate him, with no middle ground, seems to be the opinion of Bucs fans since the Winston and Marcus Mariota debate began leading up to the 2015 NFL Draft.

Now with Winston signing with the Saints, it is even more painful for a lot of fans.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston and Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater – Photo by: Getty Images

Some fans are feeling even more betrayed that Winston went to an NFC South rival – like Gerald McCoy did last year when he signed with the Panthers – and you have to think Winston will be Sean Payton’s go-to guy for intel on the Bucs.

That really stings.

Besides knowing Bruce Arians’ playbook from front to back, Winston can also offer up tips on Tampa Bay’s personnel and defense – and ways to exploit it. Not that Drew Brees needs a lot of help as his success against Tampa Bay has been solid in his career. But every little but will help, and that will make it that much more difficult for Tampa Bay to dethrone the defending NFC South champs.

• Sadly, Bucs fans have witnessed some bad drafts in the team’s bumpy years of existence. Fans remember the Roberto Aguayo pick in 2016, and jokes will be made for years to come about the mistake made by the team in selecting a kicker in the second round.

But old time Bucs fans will remember other bad picks, even worse than Aguayo.

Selecting a player No. 1 overall in Heisman Trophy-winning running back Bo Jackson, who made it clear to the team he would never play for them, is up there with one of the biggest blunders in all of sports.

But there may have been one even worse. Well at least as bad.

In 1982 coming off a 9-7 record and a NFC Central division title Tampa Bay, had the 17th pick in draft. The Buccaneers had decided on defensive end Booker Reese over guard Sean Farrell and called from the old One Buc Place up to New York while on the clock. Director of player personnel Ken Herock told the NFL they weren’t going with Farrell, but instead Reese. Well, with the old technology and background noise from rowdy fans at the draft, the person on the other end in New York didn’t hear Booker Reese, only hearing Farrell.

Booker Reese – Photo courtesy of Bucpower.com

So as the coaches and front office staff saw the commissioner announce the pick a few minutes later they sat in stunned silence when Pete Rozelle said the Buccaneers selected Farrell.

While it was a draft day blunder, the picking of Farrell wasn’t a bad thing. He ended up playing five seasons for the Bucs and 11 years in the NFL, but what Tampa Bay did next was comical.

The coaches were so upset and hell bent on Reese they traded their 1983 first-round pick to move back up in the first-round to select Reese again!

And for their trouble they got a whopping two sacks and two interceptions in the two years Reese played for the Buccaneers. Reese was traded for a 12th-round pick and will go down as one of the team’s worst drafted players.

Just for fun, I went back and looked at some of the players drafted in 1983 – the year Tampa Bay didn’t have a first-round pick. Do names like Eric Dickerson, John Elway, Dan Marino, Darrell Green, Jim Kelly or Curt Warner ring a bell?

And y’all young Bucs fans thought this “It’s A Bucs Life” thing started just a few years ago. Sheesh.

LAST LAUGH

Truth.

I miss sports so much that I watched Little Giants just to see the Cowboys start off badass and then disappoint everyone pic.twitter.com/g9I9zQnhv9

— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) April 30, 2020

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