There’s a lot of excitement for the Bucs heading into the 2024 season as the same team that proved many doubters wrong a season ago remains mostly intact heading into this year. How they compare to the rest of the NFL is certainly up for discussion, especially as the 2024 NFL Draft just concluded on Saturday.

In a recent article from Austin Mock on The Athletic, he took on the task of ranking the rosters of all 32 teams before each welcomed a new rookie class into the mix.

Bucs Slighted In Roster Rankings

While the general public isn’t as low as they were on the Bucs previously, the belief that Tampa Bay will succeed isn’t as high as one may expect. Mock has the Bucs ranked as the 21st-best roster out of 32. Here are his thoughts about it:

“The Bucs are in a weird spot. Baker Mayfield was solid last year, but is he really the answer at QB? He doesn’t grade particularly well, per my model, so maybe they should be a little higher. Still, they’re going to be weak in the trenches. The interior OL isn’t great, and I’m not excited about much on the DL, either. The secondary should be awesome, though.”

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Much stock is put into what quarterback Baker Mayfield will look like after signing a big contract this offseason. Let’s also remember the Bucs re-signed Mike Evans and Lavonte David while making sure that Antoine Winfield wasn’t going anywhere.

Mayfield certainly had a career year throwing for over 4,000 yards with 28 touchdowns. Questioning whether he can keep the pace up is reasonable, but factoring in that he gets continuity back with Evans and another year in this offense should be considered a positive in that he can.

The concern over the interior offensive line is also echoed by many Bucs fans, although the team addressed this need in a big way by drafting Graham Barton in the first round and Elijah Klein in the sixth round.

How much the trenches improve will fall on the extent to which Barton upgrades one of the offensive line positions as well as the development of right guard Cody Mauch in year two. That, and whoever fills the remaining starting spot at either left guard or center depending on where the team’s first-round pick lines up.

But what about at tackle?

Tristan Wirfs is one of the best in the league, and Luke Goedeke is coming off of an exceptional year. If one is to believe that tackle is a top five most important position, that should hold a little more weight than others.

I find it difficult to be down on Tampa Bay’s defensive line, at least with Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey up front. We all know what Vea means to the defense, and Kancey’s rookie season, though altered by injury, was still a great start with 26 tackles, 10 tackles for loss four sacks. There’s much upside to Kancey’s game heading into next season.

How Far Should The Bucs Move Up?

Looking up and down the whole Bucs’ roster, they have some of the best players in football at several positions. Mike Evans at wide receiver, Vita Vea at nose tackle, Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety, Tristan Wirfs at left tackle and Lavonte David playing inside linebacker are all top-tier players at their respective spots. Even running back Rachaad White has the potential to emerge as a great running back this season.

How does a team that fields all of these players not even end up in the top 20?

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

It would hard pressed to say that Tampa Bay should be in the top 10, but should the Patriots really be in front of the Bucs? The Patriots still lack a lot of high-end skill position talent and are coming off a 4-13 season, yet they are ahead of the Bucs.

The Chargers are another team that placed ahead of them at 16th, and they have a top-heavy roster. Despite having quarterback Justin Herbert, their wide receiver room is iffy after Keenan Allen was traded to the Bears, and their defense was towards the bottom of the league in the more important statistical categories.

The team right above the Chargers coming in at 15 are the Green Bay Packers. They had a great run down the stretch – except for a Week 15 game when the Bucs whooped them 34-20 at Lambeau Field. This points to reasons why Tampa Bay should be ranked higher.

There’s reason to be concerned about several players and positions for the Bucs. If you asked them, though, more people counting them out is exactly what they want as fuel for another division championship and playoff run next season.