Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Profile
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Todd Bowles
Offensive Coordinator: Josh Grizzard
Defensive Coordinator: Larry Foote
Special Teams Coordinator: Thomas McGaughey
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 10-7)
After starting 4-6, the Buccaneers won 6 of their final 7 games to win the NFC South for the 4th straight season. Unfortunately, they were bounced in the Wild Card round for the second time in three years:
In Baker Mayfield’s second season with the Buccaneers, the offense performed at levels nearly identical to what they did when Tom Brady was in town, averaging 30 points per game and ranking 3rd in both total yards and passing. They showed the ability to play with efficiency in the passing game and create explosive plays, finishing 5th in the NFL with 58 completions of 20 yards or more.
We all know about Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and the passing game in general, but the running game was also surprisingly good behind a steady offensive line and the emergence of rookie running back Bucky Irving. Tampa finished 4th in rushing yards, 3rd in explosive runs (10 yards or more), 6th in yards before contact and 2nd in yards after contact.
Overall, this was one of the best offenses in the NFL last season.
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The defense, on the other hand, took a bit of a step back and was in the middle of the pack by season’s end. Specifically, the ability to defend the pass was their most troublesome area for the second year in a row. Despite the ability to generate pressure, they ranked just 25th in passer rating against and allowed the 8th-most completions of 20 yards or more.
Some of their numbers were a bit inflated by the fact that teams can’t run the ball against them and really don’t try. But that pass defense left a lot to be desired.
The two issues that plagued this team the most all season (turnovers, pass defense) ultimately did them in during their Wild Card loss to the Commanders. A botched snap deep in their own territory while nursing a 4-point lead in the 4th quarter enabled Washington to take the lead. And their defense had no answers for rookie phenom Jayden Daniels, who completed 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Tampa didn’t force one punt on the night and couldn’t stop Daniels from driving down the field in the final minutes. Washington kicked the game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock.
Key Additions
WR Emeka Egbuka (1st Rd, 19th Overall)
EDGE Haason Reddick
EDGE David Walker (4th Rd, 121st Overall)
LB Anthony Walker Jr.
CB Benjamin Morrison (2nd Rd, 53rd Overall)
CB Jacob Parrish (3rd Rd, 84th Overall)
CB Kindle Vildor
Key Losses
RT Justin Skule
EDGE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
LB K.J. Britt
LB J.J. Russell
S Jordan Whitehead
S Mike Edwards
Did They Address Their Holes?
Depth at receiver is extremely important to the Buccaneers. Last season, they were in 11 personnel (3 WRs) 71.2% of the time, the 8th-highest rate in the NFL. You need 3 quality receivers to live that way and sometimes more to account for injuries.
After re-signing Chris Godwin this offseason, it seemed like the Bucs were more or less set at receiver entering the draft. But with Mike Evans getting up there in age and Godwin returning from a serious injury that cost him the final 11 games of the season, Tampa clearly felt they needed more at the position, both to help ease Godwin’s return and for the long term.
Still, it was a surprise that they drafted Emeka Egbuka in the first round. Egbuka isn’t the explosive type of receiver you generally see drafted that high. However, he’s a great route-runner and a high-football-IQ receiver.
And how smart does that move by the Buccaneers look now? Not only is Godwin likely to miss the first several games of the season, but receiver Jalen McMillan is also now expected to miss significant time due to a neck injury suffered in Tampa’s preseason game against the Steelers.
Egbuka will be thrown into the starting lineup whether Tampa likes it or not. Quite honestly, they’re probably more than okay with that given his maturity and savvy as a route-runner. I think he’ll quickly become a reliable target for Baker Mayfield.
You can check out my breakdown of Egbuka in a collaboration post I did with
earlier this summer. I bring the all-22 film, they bring in some awesome in-depth analytics:
Overall, Tampa didn’t make a lot of big moves this offseason, relying primarily on the draft. Still, they needed to address the cornerback position for a few different reasons. First, this hasn’t exactly been an area of strength in recent seasons.
Second, as mentioned above, teams don’t try to run the ball against Tampa because they’re so effective defending it. Instead, they throw it. Last season, for instance, offenses threw the ball 63.5% of the time against the Bucs, good for 4th most in the NFL.
You need good cornerbacks to be able to deal with that.