The Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcome the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots into Raymond James Stadium tonight for the national anthem and a little football. Odds makers have installed the Patriots as 5-point favorites, but this year’s model has a few chinks in the armor, especially the league’s lowest-ranked defense.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced their 53-player roster on Saturday. There were no major surprises, but a few disappointments. Among the most disappointing, but expected, cuts was 2017 fifth-round selection Jeremy McNichols. The Bucs thought the former Boise State star had a chance to develop into a running threat like Doug Martin or Miami’s Jay Ajayi, both former Boise State standouts.
Ryan Fitzpatrick made a good initial impression with Tampa Bay. The rest was so-so. Fitzpatrick completed his first series with a 6-yard touchdown run before the Cincinnati Bengals pulled away to a 23-12 victory over the Buccaneers on Friday night.
For the second time in the past two weeks, two former Florida State Seminoles have landed lucrative contract extensions to stay with the current teams. On Wednesday, Atlanta Falcons Pro-Bowl running back Devonta Freeman became the highest-paid running back in the NFL
With training camp fully underway, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are preparing for their first preseason game against the Bengals in Cincinnati just 9 days from now. As usual, starters will play only a few series before letting the backups and newcomers show their stuff. This year’s camp will provide two particular areas of interest on the offensive side of the ball. First will be the unveiling of tight end O.J. Howard, the team’s top draft pick, and newly acquired deep receiving threat…
The Buccaneers’ training camp is only a week away. Like all teams, there is plenty of optimism in July, but the Bucs do have some reason to be positive. Perhaps the biggest upgrade from last season are the increased weapons available to quarterback Jameis Winston. The team signed deep threat free agent wide-receiver DeSean Jackson from the Washington Redskins.
It has been one week since the NFL Draft. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been credited with pulling off a “steal” in tight end O.J. Howard from Alabama. Having a solid first round pick is great, but does not measure a successful draft. On the other hand, a first round “bust” often defines a disaster. Let us assume Howard will be the NFL force the Bucs and other pundits project. How did Tampa Bay do in the later rounds? That…
