The 2024 season went well for the Buccaneers placing third in the NFC while winning their division at 10-7. What was even more impressive is they scored 502 points this season and were the only team in their division with more than 400. Defensively the Buccaneers did great against the rush but with Antoine Winfield Jr. only playing nine games last season, the secondary fell apart with no leadership. Eventually the Commanders took advantage of the secondary leading to the Buccaneers losing in the Wild Card round this year.
QB:
Baker Mayfield
Year after year, Baker Mayfield constantly puts up with comments that he isn’t good and shouldn’t be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He followed that up with two great seasons in hopes that he finally shuts the haters up. He had a career year this year passing for more touchdowns this season than the previous three. He did that without Chris Godwin which only shows that Mayfield deserves to be not only a starting quarterback, but also talked about with some of the best in the league.
RB:
Bucky Irving
Bucky Irving stepped into this year behind Rachaad White in the depth chart. By the end of the year, Irving was the top bell cow for the Buccaneers. Not only was he leading the team with rushes, he also was involved in the passing game. This added up to 1,514 total yards and eight touchdowns making White an afterthought.
WR:
Mike Evans
Mike Evans had another solid year and he did it by being one of the few Buccaneers on offense that stayed healthy. It was great to see everyone cheering for him when he hit his bonus in week 18. This led to a lot of people talking about Evans going into the NFL’s Hall of Fame. Regardless of your views, Evans has made a case for himself going into the future and for now he’ll keep adding to those totals to solidify his case.
Chris Godwin
Chris Godwin was having an amazing start to his season before dislocating his ankle leading to him missing the rest of the season. Before that injury, Godwin caught 50 receptions for 576 receiving yards with five touchdowns to go with it. Godwin is currently scheduled to be a free agent this year, which means his time with the Buccaneers could be coming to an end.
Defense:
Lavonte David
Currently set to be a free agent, Lavonte David has been the heart of the Tampa 2 and the Buccaneers defense. After recording another 122 total tackles on a one-year deal, David had all the cards in his side but will it be enough to bring him back after the defensive season the Buccaneers had.
Coaching:
Todd Bowles
Todd Bowles has surrounded himself with a great coaching staff even with the departure of Liam Coen. Filling in for him is Josh Grizzard, who was formerly the pass game coordinator. Another statistic that was more mind-blowing than being in the top five for passing and running as a team, was that the Buccaneers led the league with a 50.9 third down conversion rate in 2024. The Buccaneers have key players in the right position going forward offensively, but defensively they will need to improve their back end if they want to make it out of the first round next time.
