Tampa will open week one of the NFL season against the Washington Commanders.
Welcome, to the 2024 NFL season. The Tampa Bay Bucs will be entering 2024 attempting to defend an NFC South crown for the third consecutive year. Tampa’s first opponent on that journey— The Washington Commanders.
Washington had quite a franchise altering offseason. The team used the number two overall pick in the NFL Draft to add a, fairly popular, new face to lead the organization.
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Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels will have to match wits with an experienced defensive mind in Todd Bowles— Tough task for a debut, however, Daniels will not be taking on the challenge alone. The drafting of their new franchise quarterback may have headlined Washington’s offseason but, they also infused their roster with talent around him. Austin Ekeler and Zach Ertz represent some noteworthy NFL names newly added to Washington’s payroll.
On the other side of the ball, Todd Bowles’ defense has some question marks surrounding it this year. The Bucs have edge-rushers on the roster, but do they have edge-rushers who can sack quarterbacks? Currently, there are zero players on Tampa Bay with a double-digit sack season as a professional.
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The Bucs’ defense is also undergoing a bit of a transformation in the secondary. Jason Licht and co. brought back former fan/team favorite Jordan Whitehead to play opposite star safety Antoine Winfield Jr. With that addition came some subtraction, as they opted to trade away a long-tenured starter in Carlton Davis. The move leaves former fifth-round pick Zyon McCollum as the next man up. McCollum played in all 17 games last season but, will be new to the role. How will he perform as a full-time starter?
For the Bucs, defense might not be the reliable steady force it has been. Tampa’s offseason actually came off as fairly offense-centric— showing they might be accepting of an organizational shift, should one occur. Not only did the Bucs find their own long-term solution at quarterback, re-signing Baker Mayfield, they also addressed their offensive line and skill positions— drafting center, Graham Barton, wide receiver, Jalen McMillan, and running back, Bucky Irving.
Tampa’s expectation would appear to be that their newly acquired young talent mixed with their core group of quality veterans will create an offense capable of propelling them back into the playoffs and perhaps further than they ventured a season ago.
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This week will be new offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s first at-bat as a play caller in the NFL. He’ll be squaring off against a head coach with vast NFL experience on the defensive side of the ball. Alongside the Commanders’ offensive moves this offseason, the team signed Bobby Wagner, a future Hall of Fame linebacker who will heavily aid Dan Quinn in his battle against Coen.
With Sunday’s matchup featuring two head coaches whose specialty is defense, the game may truly be determined by which quarterback can find his way back to 2023’s success. For the Bucs and Baker Mayfield, that means recreating/maintaining the run he and they finished on last season. For Jaden Daniels, it would mean duplicating his success at LSU on an NFL level— Quite an impressive feat should he be able to accomplish it.
The hope for Bucs’ fans: 2023 was not a fluke. Baker Mayfield’s run at the end of last season is who he will continue to be moving forward. He will be a natural fit inside of Liam Coen’s offense and with the amount of playmakers the Bucs have put around him, Mayfield will be able to overcome any potential shortcomings of Tampa’s defense with his offensive output.
The truth for Bucs’ fans: The Bucs may come off as easy favorites in this game— Home opener, against a rookie quarterback leading a team that won just four games a season ago. In reality, this game is likely to be far from a simple stress-free Sunday for Bucs’ fans. If the Bucs bring their best, they will win— They are the better, more experienced, more talented team. If Tampa Bay suits up for this game without the proper respect being paid to their opponent, Jaden Daniels and Dan Quinn could have an upset up their sleeves.
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