Buccaneers Roster Ranked Near Bottom of NFL Due To 'Historically Bad' Running Game

A familiar ranking for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason, but for a reason other than quarterback Baker Mayfield.

David Harrison | May 23, 2023

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a lot of doubters out in the world today and a lot of them are riding the wave by saying quarterback Baker Mayfield is no Tom Brady.

While that's true, Pro Football Focus is looking at another weakness in the Bucs' 2023 version as the biggest.

"Tampa Bay struggled in several areas, but they were historically bad at running the football," says PFF. "The departures of Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa, along with several injuries, ravaged their offensive line...It's hard to imagine how (Tom Brady's) success will succeed without an improvement in the running game."

Ranking the roster 28th out of a possible 32, Tampa Bay isn't the worst - that distinction belongs to the Arizona Cardinals - but they're close and are projected by the popular grading and stats site to win six games or less in 2023.

"The Bucs scratched out eight wins last year with Tom Brady leading the league in pass attempts," PFF says. "Their most likely path to success is a turnaround from both Baker Mayfield and the defense. The situation feels similar to Green Bay's. The Bucs have a few more weapons to work with, but if they get nothing out of Mayfield and/or Kyle Trask, they could be looking at a very high draft slot next year."

Of course, some wouldn't mind seeing the Buccaneers with a high draft pick in next year's selection meeting with quarterbacks like USC's Caleb Williams, North Carolina's Drake Maye, and Tulane's Michael Pratt expected to be available.

The Packers, who PFF compared the Bucs roster to, rank No. 27 on their list - one spot ahead of Tampa Bay.

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Published May 23, 2023

DAVID HARRISON

David Harrison has been in sports media since 2015 using written, audio, and video media to cover athletes, coaches, and games. In addition to covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for BucsGameday and Locked On Bucs he also covers the Washington Commanders for Commander Country and Locked On Commanders and the Washington Wizards for Inside the Wizards. David also covers the NFL as a whole as one of the Friday hosts for Locked On NFL. He is a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and previously spent 20 years as an active member of the United States Army. Contact David via email at david.w.harrison82@gmail.com or on Twitter @DHarrison82.