A Season Of Hope
August 13th, 2025
Lynchpin?
A man who has a serious, if not misguided notion about the Bucs’ coaching staff still believes there is hope for the Bucs having a helluva season.
And that’s because in this man’s eyes, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has stocked the staff with loads of talent.
Ben Solak of BSPN, who Joe finds usually has intelligent takes and perspectives, had a downright dumb take recently when he stated the Bucs’ coaching staff is one of the worst in the NFL.
But Solak believes that the Bucs have drafted enough talent that the team can overcome what Solak perceives as bad coaching.
Reason for hope: Few teams draft better than the Buccaneers, who have built a contender from scratch in the post-Tom Brady era. There are reasonable coaching questions — they’re on their third offensive coordinator in three seasons — and there’s not a ton of proven young talent on defense. But this year’s draft class might change that. Meanwhile, the offense has all the pieces necessary to be a top-five unit once again.
Joe isn’t as high on this year’s draft talent saving the defense as much as Solak. That doesn’t mean Jacob Parrish or Benjamin Morrison weren’t good picks. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Joe is confident cornerback Jamel Dean keeps his starting gig, much to the dismay of the Sage of Tampa Bay sports and the Custodian of Canton, Ira Kaufman. Joe isn’t as sure about Zyon McCollum, only because rookie Parrish has had that good of a camp.
But let’s say McCollum keeps his job and Parrish starts at nickel corner. Does Solak really believe a rookie nickel is the answer to flipping a bad passing defense into a top-10 overall defense? That’s a bit much.
If anything, if fellow rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka blows up, he could have a major impact in making a deep playoff run.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:16 am
New starters compared to last year:
Haas at edge
Voss at ILB
Tykee at SS
(Healthy AW3)
Certainly different, but significantly better? Let’s see !
August 13th, 2025 at 7:17 am
Parrish at nickel.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:24 am
No Vita is our lynchpin up front, and healthy Dean AND Winfield play that role in the secondary. Rookie CBs on the outside is like putting a target on guys’ back and it’s the exact opposite of how Dean is avoided by opposing QBs(for the most part).
Year 1 in the NFL is enough just let Parrish assimilate to the speed of the game, without feeling like he’s in a shooting gallery week in and out.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:24 am
Had high hopes for Morrison, but if he can’t stay healthy, and get on the field, hope is all it is. From my comments fans know I’m not high on Dennis being the answer at MLB. He to needs to prove it . Something he hasn’t done.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:30 am
Parrish to replace Zion??? That would be very impressive!!
August 13th, 2025 at 7:38 am
Pressure from the front can make the d-backs look like pro bowlers. That is where we look for a change.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:39 am
Don’t forget Calijah should be healthy for opening day! And our depth is way better, right? And Braswell is going to shock us. And I’ll believe that when I see it.
August 13th, 2025 at 8:08 am
A healthy Dennis and Winfield Jr and a productive Reddick, along with improved young secondary depth will improve the Defense. If Sanders makes more plays in the pre-season and can play special teams -Bucs should take the potential upside over a “safe” scheme player- A Season of Hope
August 13th, 2025 at 8:15 am
I’ll continue to say the Bowles is not the among the top tier of coaches in the league, probably below average at best. This is problematic to me…how can licht keep a mediocre coach when he’s seeking excellence on the field with top tier players? It’s a real issue people…
August 13th, 2025 at 8:16 am
Our defense will depend on starters staying healthy…
August 13th, 2025 at 8:17 am
Defensively I think we drafted well but they’re not going to be the biggest difference makers yet. I think Reddick and getting guys back healthy (Winfield, Kancey, Dennis, Dean are primary) is bigger than the addition of Parrish and Morrison right off the bat. We won’t know about Walker yet, but I like Parrrish at nickel with Smith moved to safety. If that secondary stays mostly healthy, watch out!
August 13th, 2025 at 8:51 am
Think Dennis and Braswell are not the answer. Morrison was always injury prone, not sure why they drafted him to be honest. Think Jackson may turn out to be a big surprise at LB. Parrish looks good . Still waiting to see what the Bucs do on the Edge. Signing Reddick isn’t enough and the backups are not good.
August 13th, 2025 at 9:10 am
Major difference between this year’s and last year’s defense is, the bucs have depth and good rotational players.
August 13th, 2025 at 9:11 am
Solak … ‘Few teams draft better than the Buccaneers, who have built a contender from scratch in the post-Tom Brady era.’
Keep getting the feeling that a lot of Bucs’ ‘fans’ have missed appeciating what’s been (and is still being) created here. Solak’s words above lay it out nicely … ‘a CONTENDER built from scratch’ in the past 2-3 years. Almost exclusively home-grown.
And if anyone really believes that you build a CONTENDER, from scratch, with a coaching staff that’s ‘one of the worst in the NFL’ then I think that they might wanna look at a different game of football (soccer) because crappy coaching staffs don’t build CONTENDERS in the NFL.
Not only did Todd Bowles pick & develop this coaching staff, but it’s also HIS VISION of what this TEAM should look like, train like & play like. Who picked those OCs? Who picked Mayfield? Who decided that a more balanced offense was preferred from a team aspect? No question that Jason pulled the trigger on selecting our draft picks & FAs, but if anyone truly believes that he did it without tremendous input from Bowles & his coaching staff then I’d have to question their analysis.
August 13th, 2025 at 9:54 am
Joe doesn’t know that will happen. Joe likes McCollum, but Parrish has had an impressive camp. To the point where Bowles probably is trying to think of ways to keep the kid on the field full-time.
August 13th, 2025 at 10:10 am
Solak sees results, knows the Bucs blunder away winnable games, mismanage the clock, timeouts, come out flat in very important games, play swiss cheese pass defense for an alleged defensive genius coach, and allowed a rookie-led team to beat them in Tampa by NEVER FORCING ONE PUNT.
The truth hurts, but his assessment of Bowles is earned by Todd.
August 13th, 2025 at 10:19 am
Well said Defense Rules. Completely agree. There’s a lot to being a head coach, and it’s time to recognize that Bowles does most of the major things exceptionally. Just like Dungy did. Doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but man they build contenders exceptionally well.
Here’s to a healthy 2025-26 season for our Bucs!
August 13th, 2025 at 10:53 am
Third offensive coordinator in last three seasons. Why is that a negative? Doesn’t that mean that the Buccaneers brain trust is really good at selecting offensive coordinators. Also, what the Buccaneers did REALLY WELL was third down conversions and Coach GRIZ was responsible for third down preparation. If these prognosticators were so good at predictions, why aren’t they rich?
August 13th, 2025 at 11:24 am
We need to trade Palmer, Hayes, Gaines and a 4th round pick for an elite DT.
If we lose Vea? We have zero chance of winning the Super Bowl.
Rashad White is also good trade bait.
I love Lichts loyalty.
However, sometimes we need to be logical.
August 13th, 2025 at 5:05 pm
Good post DR, we have a coach who has a good team that’s getting better. How much better? We’re about to find out.