Pewter Report’s PR Roundtablepresented by PrizePicks
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A brand new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts each Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Every week, the Pewter Reporters sort out one other robust Bucs query. Who’s the Bucs participant you wish to see succeed probably the most?
Scott Reynolds: If Bucs Don’t Win The NFC South, It Gained’t Be The Falcons Doing It, Both
I’m unsure who’s going to win the NFC South this yr. I consider the Bucs have the very best and most proficient roster on paper, and I’ve written in a earlier SR’s FAB 5 column that I feel they’ll recapture the division crown. However I can even see situations the place an improved Panthers crew retains the title in a heated race with the Buccaneers, in addition to making a case for the Saints constructing off their scorching end to the 2025 season and making a run at main the NFC South.
However I don’t see a world the place the Falcons contend for the division title this yr. There was a combined response in Atlanta over the hiring of latest head coach Kevin Stefanski. Sure, he’s a two-time NFL Coach of the Yr award winner, posting a pair of 11-win seasons in Cleveland in 2020 and 2023. However he’s additionally had 4 shedding seasons with the Browns, together with his final two, and has a 45-56 (.446) general file as a head coach. He involves the Falcons with an 8-26 file over his final two yr. Why ought to I – or anybody – be impressed with this rent?
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski – Picture by: IMAGN Photos by way of Reuters Join – Kirby Lee
Exterior of some restricted success with Baker Mayfield in 2020, Stefanski did not develop a quarterback in Cleveland. He needed to depend on two veterans in Joe Flacco and Deshaun Watson for the crew’s playoff run in 2023. Now he’s charged with the duty of creating former first-round choose Michael Penix Jr., who’s coming off yet one more ACL tear, and proceed to develop Miami castoff Tua Tagovailoa, who is likely to be the higher choice however will probably begin the yr because the backup QB.
Atlanta had a lackluster free company interval and draft class, and I feel the Falcons’ general expertise isn’t nice outdoors of some star gamers like guard Chris Lindtsrom, receiver Drake London and operating again Bijan Robinson. I feel holdover defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is a proficient play-caller, however the Falcons misplaced a variety of depth items who contributed sacks final yr.
Atlanta fired Arthur Smith after three straight 7-10 seasons from 2021-2023. Raheem Morris was fired after back-to-back 8-9 seasons, regardless of the Falcons successful their ultimate 4 video games of the yr. I wouldn’t be shocked if they really take a step again underneath Stefanski and finishes with six or seven wins this yr. A successful season in Atlanta would shock me. A season the place the Falcons really win the NFC South would shock me.
Matt Matera: A Bucs CB Main The NFL In INTs Would Be Superior, However Stunning
I’m not but offered on the playmaking capacity of the Buccaneers cornerback room. But I’ll say I’m a agency believer in new cornerbacks coach Rashad Johnson getting a variety of enchancment out of the place in Tampa Bay this yr. Even when he will get an excellent deal out of Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison, that doesn’t imply they’ll be within the league-wide dialog of interception manufacturing. I simply don’t see it.
Former Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean led Tampa Bay with a career-high three interceptions final season. He went to the Steelers in free company, in order that manufacturing is gone. However these three picks had been probably the most interceptions a Bucs participant has had – at any place – in a season since former security Mike Edwards had three through the 2021 yr.
Bucs CB Zyon McCollum – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
There’s little doubt {that a} cornerback on the Bucs can get greater than three picks. However it nonetheless could be nowhere close to the lead throughout the NFL. The chief in interceptions within the NFL during the last three season was 7 (Bears, Patriots security Kevin Byard), 9 (Lions security Kerby Joseph) and 9 (Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland).
The percentages of McCollum, who has three profession interceptions in 4 seasons, Parrish, who had two picks as a rookie, or Morrison, who has but to file his first NFL interception, doing that may be slim. You may’t utterly rule it out as a result of all three had been within the ballhawk class in faculty, however hopefully the Bucs can at the least get some interception manufacturing out of their corners whereas perhaps not being the very best that the league has to supply.
Adam Slivon: If The Bucs’ Offense Is Not A Prime 10 Unit In The NFL
With regards to what would shock me most in regards to the Bucs getting into this season, I take a look at the offense. If there may be any purpose to be most optimistic about Tampa Bay’s probabilities in 2026, it facilities round how Zac Robinson’s unit places factors on the board and controls the sport. Taking a look at who the crew has at every place on that aspect of the soccer, I’d be completely shocked if they don’t get again to being a prime 10 scoring offense within the NFL. After all, a lot of this projection relies on well being, and the crew suffered a string of dangerous damage luck final season. Nonetheless, there are a variety of the reason why the offense ought to hum alongside and maintain them in each recreation.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
Baker Mayfield, supported by one other sturdy solid of weapons, has it in him to be prime 10 quarterback when at his greatest. In a contract yr besides, Mayfield has a variety of causes to get again to type and play just like the gunslinger he was in 2024. What would be the X-Issue is the offensive line, as they’re supremely proficient throughout the board. There isn’t any purpose they need to not maintain No. 6 upright and create operating lanes. There’s admittedly slight concern about how Bucky Irving returns and produces, however even when he isn’t the rookie sensation he was in 2024, Kenny Gainwell and Sean Tucker are dynamic sufficient to make the offense balanced and catch defenses off guard.
Even with the extensive receiver room shedding Mike Evans, the Bucs have a surplus of high quality wideouts. Chris Godwin Jr. leads the best way from a reputation recognition standpoint, however Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan may go him as the highest choice within the passing recreation. Add in rookie Ted Hurst and Tez Johnson, and there’s no excuse to not have success airing out the soccer. It could possibly be argued that every of the place teams talked about are prime 10 in their very own proper, and the weak spot of the tight finish room isn’t as evident contemplating their function is to be security valves who block and never featured closely within the offensive gameplans. It will actually alter Tampa Bay’s future if Robinson doesn’t put all of those items collectively.
Bailey Adams: I’d Be Shocked If The Bucs Don’t Reclaim The NFC South
I do know that for some time there this offseason, the vibes surrounding the Bucs had been decrease than they’d been shortly. And I perceive that some will proceed to cling to that negativity even because the 2026 season approaches. However I’m discovering it more durable and more durable to be unfavourable about this 2026 Tampa Bay crew. We’re far sufficient faraway from the frustration of January and the frustration of March when Mike Evans left by way of free company that I’ve reached some extent the place I’d genuinely be shocked if the Bucs miss the playoffs for a second straight yr.
Tampa Bay presently stands as a slight favourite to win the NFC South, with New Orleans and Carolina each proper there within the combine as effectively. However the extra I take a look at this division and the extra I take a look at these Bucs, the extra I consider that 2025 will find yourself being a one-year blip for the pink and pewter and that they’ll be proper again on the prime of the division in 2026.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Bucky Irving – Picture by: USA As we speak
Like my boss, Scott Reynolds, I don’t consider within the Falcons. I don’t know if I ever will. They’re the Falcons.
As for the Panthers, I don’t take a look at them as a crew with actual endurance atop the NFC South. I’m nonetheless not offered on Bryce Younger, and final yr felt extra like Tampa Bay shedding the division than Carolina really successful it. Dave Canales’ crew made some intriguing additions on protection, however I’m actually simply having a tough time believing this roster is proficient sufficient to repeat as division champions.
Now, there’s the Saints. I’ve lengthy thought New Orleans is the largest risk to Tampa Bay’s probabilities of recapturing the division title in 2026. However the farther eliminated we get from the tip of final yr, the extra I ponder if we’ve collectively gone too far in on Tyler Shough and the Saints. Shough had a promising end to the yr, sure, however 10 touchdowns to 6 interceptions is hardly surefire franchise quarterback territory. 5 wins down the stretch? Nice, however one got here towards a free-falling Bucs crew, two got here towards that very same Panthers crew I simply expressed doubts about and the others got here towards… the Jets and Titans.
The Saints may use that end to kick begin a run this yr towards an admittedly weak schedule, however this Bucs crew is probably the most proficient within the division. It’s probably the most skilled crew within the division. And I feel this crew has a brand new edge and a brand new starvation to it. I like Tampa Bay to bounce proper again and win the NFC South in 2026, claiming the division title for the fifth time in six seasons. And sure, I’d be shocked if that didn’t occur.
Josh Queipo: The NFC South Really Being NFL’s Worst Division Would Be Stunning
What would shock me in 2026 is the NFC South ending because the worst division in soccer. For all of the discuss it being the worst final yr, it merely wasn’t. The highest crew within the NFC South could not stack up with the opposite seven, however that’s not what defines a division as an entire.
That definition comes from how the division fares towards everybody else and its file towards non-divisional opponents. And that’s the place the NFC South beat out two different divisions in 2025. At 30 wins, the NFC South outperformed each the AFC North (29) and the NFC East (27) as an entire. Granted the 10-7 Steelers or the 11-6 Eagles would have simply received the NFC South if both had been in that division, however the AFC North and NFC East had been fairly prime heavy divisions in 2025.
Panthers DT Derrick Brown and Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Picture by: IMAGN Photos – Nathan Ray Seebeck
The schedule solely helps from right here. Final yr the NFC South drew the AFC East within the crossover, a division that tied for the third greatest file in soccer at 36 wins, and nonetheless cleared two divisions. In 2026 that flips to the AFC North. The NFC South is buying and selling a full slate towards certainly one of soccer’s strongest divisions for certainly one of its weakest.
Right here is the kicker. I consider each crew on this division bought higher this offseason, and 32 wins appears like the ground, not the ceiling. The shiny a part of a division, the highest, is what individuals image once they assume sturdy divisional soccer. The NFC South doesn’t have that one dominant division-winning crew, and will not for some time. What the NFC South does have is a ground that sits increased than a number of different divisions within the NFL, and that’s what carries it to a greater than worst end for an additional yr.
