Life feels great inside the bubble of Bucs training camp, but as Joe shared all through the spring and into summer, Tampa Bay continues to be slapped around across the country.
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In a deep breakdown yesterday of NFL team rankings for ESPN, former defensive end and current analyst Chris Long, who is very Bucs-friendly on his popular podcast, had no problem ranking the Bucs as the 18th-best team in the NFL.
For those who don’t want to do the math, that means Long sees Tampa Bay as missing the playoffs and finishing with a sub-.500 record.
Brad Hopkins also got on the Bucs-aren’t-that-good train. The longtime Titans left tackle and former Pro Bowler is one of the more chill and reasoned voices on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Hopkins calmly explained to listeners this weekend how Baker Mayfield is Gardner Minshew, and vice versa. Per Hopkins, he likes how Mayfield and Minshew, two quarterbacks with losing records as starters, make players around them better, but they’re similar players because neither has enough talent to make a team a serious contender.
Joe is convinced this kind of chatter won’t subside for a while unless the Bucs open with a 3-1 record. Their first four games are against Washington, Denver and Philadelphia at home, and a road game at Detroit.
