Carlton Davis on Post-Tom Brady Buccaneers: Bucs Will 'Wreck S--t'; NFL in for 'Rude Awakening'
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be entering a new era of football. The team and coaching staff have been rearranged to hopefully give the Bucs a breath of fresh air to jolt them back into success. The highlight of the changes came fairly quickly following the end of last season when the greatest quarterback of all-time, Tom Brady, officially announced his intentions to retire and remain retired.
Now with a new look, the Buccaneers have turned their attention to the upcoming season and while many who are in touch with the NFL don't have a ton of optimism for Tampa Bay in 2023, those associated with the organization are bullish on the Bucs ability to still be a highly competitive team.
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One of those people is stud cornerback, Carlton Davis. Davis has been a stronghold in the secondary for the Buccaneers and has a strong message for those doubting the team in 2023 post-Tom Brady.
"We're about to do it to 'em," Davis said, via Go Long. "Anybody who feels we've lost Tom -- and lost something -- is going to be in for a rude awakening. A rude awakening. Tom was a great addition for us, but obviously it's a team sport. Obviously, you need components to be successful. We still have those components. And I'm only getting better."
The confidence is there, clearly. Davis is not only high on himself, but he is also confident in his teammates' abilities to help turn things around. The disrespect the Bucs have received thus far into the offseason seems to have struck a chord within Davis as he continued by putting the rest of the league on notice.
"We're going to wreck sh-t. Like, wreck sh-t. Interceptions. Turnovers," Davis said. "Plays will be made. I will say. Plays. Will. Be. Made."
One thing that could bode well for Davis and the 2023 Tampa Bay Buccaneers is they reside in perhaps the worst division in football - the NFC South.
"And our f--king division is worse than what it was before," he said. "So, we run through the division. Get to the playoffs. Run through the playoffs and it's the Super Bowl."
It might be a stretch to say the division got worse from last year. The Carolina Panthers found their franchise quarterback in Bryce Young, the New Orleans Saints added Derek Carr to be their starting quarterback, and the Falcons added to their young core of Ridder, Pitts, and London by selecting uber-dynamic running back Bijan Robinson in the draft.
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The NFC South isn't the only gauntlet the Bucs will have to maneuver in 2023 as they will also face a loaded out-of-division schedule, including the likes of the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and Philadelphia Eagles, thanks to winning the division last season.
Yes, there is a shot for the Bucs to have a successful season in 2023 thanks to the unknowns, but at the end of the day this is the NFL, and on any given Sunday it can come down to a coin toss.
The loss of Brady is huge, but being able to retain the core of the team and bring in players/coaches to bring life back into a team will hopefully do wonders for the Buccaneers in 2023 - no matter who is behind center.
The Buccaneers finished the regular season at 8-9 last season before being bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys. This Bucs team will be different in many aspects, but perhaps the most important is how the team will gel with all the new implementations. IF what Davis is saying comes true then the playoffs are definitely in the mix in 2023, and it will remain to be seen how serious of Super Bowl contenders they could be.
Stick with BucsGameday and the Locked On Bucs podcast for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the offseason.
