In 2023, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers unanimously exceeded the expectations that were placed upon them — at least by those outside of One Buccaneer Place.
In what was expected to be a rebuilding year, the Bucs had other plans. A new quarterback and some talented veterans led the team to win their third consecutive NFC South Division title and had them one quarter away from a trip to the NFC Championship game.
But it’s a new year. And after managing to retain a number of key free agents, while adding some young talent to obvious positions of need, the expectations for the Buccaneers in 2024 will certainly be higher than they were a year ago.
Following the team’s first Training Camp practice on Wednesday, head coach Todd Bowles and several key players held press conferences with the media.
Although a wide variety of topics were covered during the question and answer periods, one message seemed to prevail, regardless of who had the microphone. Based on numerous player and coach observations, it’s becoming clear that the 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers expect to be a faster and better football team than they were in 2023.
After exhausting more energy than he would have liked while trying to avoid questions about Randy Gregory’s absence, Todd Bowles brought up the fitness level of his football team coming into training camp.
“Probably the most in shape we’ve came in, in probably about 3-4 years," Bowles said.
Antoine Winfield Jr., when asked about the team’s Super Bowl aspirations, made it abundantly clear how he feels better about this year’s team compared to the one that lost to the Lions in the NFC Divisional round playoffs back in January.
“Super Bowl. That’s the goal. And you know, we’ve got a lot of players back. We’ve got some young guys that are good that are filling some roles that we need. I feel good about this season and I definitely feel better than I did last year.”
Even Mike Evans — the greatest offensive player in Buccaneers history, now in his 11th training camp with the Bucs — seemed genuinely excited to discuss the status of this year’s team compared to last year’s version.
“Last year, we heard all the talk about ‘we lost Tom’, ‘we’re going to be trash’ and things like that, but we knew the caliber of players that we had. And this year we’re going to be better. I feel like. It’s already showing. I know it’s just Day 1, but OTAs, it was different [today] than it was a year before.”
One key element of this year’s team that’s already turning some heads is the speed. Winfield Jr. mentioned this when discussing his defensive unit.
“We’ve got some guys. Especially our younger guys. I feel like they fit well in our system. And I feel like we did get faster. We got smarter. And I feel like we’ve got playmakers all over.”
A similar sentiment was shared by K.J. Britt, a reliable veteran who’s expected to slot into the starting inside linebacker role opposite Lavonte David, a position opened up due to the offseason departure of Devin White.
“Yeah, we’re swarming. We’ve got a lot of guys that know what’s going on. We got a lot of veteran guys. A good group of guys that know what’s going on. And we know if we run to the ball, and if everybody stays around the football, good things [are] going to happen. And then we’ll be a fast defense.”
It's early, of course. But the consistent theme of players coming away impressed with the performance of their teammates isn't something we've seen on the first day of training camp in years previous. Not in such a genuine form, anyway. And certainly not from the head coach.
Hopefully for the Buccaneers and their fans, the early internal optimism isn't a facade as much as it is a sign of things to come.
