The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are starting a training camp under the coronavirus pandemic cloud, and are testing for COVID-19 before obtaining authorization to participate.
And there’s no question players will want to participate in this year’s camp, as the 2020 Buccaneers seem destined to break a decades-long playoff drought, now that they have Tom Brady at the center.
The six-time Super Bowl champion will begin his post-Patriots career in Tampa this year, seeking to guide his team to an appearance in Super Bowl LV, to be played at Raymond James Stadium.
While Brady and the Tampa Bay offense looked set for a great year, the Bucs’ defense will ultimately be the most important factor in deciding how far this team goes. The Buccaneers’ offense was tied for third in scoring last year, but its pass defense ranked 30th, yielding 270.1 yards per game.
Heading into training camp, the Bucs will seek to address that problem by bringing deep rookie Antoine Winfield up to speed on Todd Bowles’ system. As for what else the defense can do to improve, ESPN’s Jenna Laine predicts that the Bucs could also sign a rotating pin off the waiver cable to complement starters Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul.
By Laine:
“They lost Carl Nassib in free agency, and Anthony Nelson, who played in nine games last season, has not had the reps to step in and really be an impact player.” They need more security and depth. “
Retaining Pierre-Paul, Barrett and Ndamukong Suh was probably the Bucs’ biggest victory this offseason after Brady’s signing. JPP had 8.5 sacks in 10 games last season after missing the first half of the year while recovering from a broken neck.
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