2009 Buccaneers Preview: Sinking Ship

NFC SOUTH
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Projected Record: 4-12

Offense: D+
Defense: B-
Coaching: INC

What’s new: Raheem Morris takes over for Jon Gruden as the head man. He brings in excommunicated BC head coach Jeff Jagodzinski to coach the offense who in turn brings in a lot of vowels to the staff. The Bucs also managed to acquire Kellen Winslow in a trade with Cleveland. They drafted Josh Freeman to take over for the departed Jeff Garcia. Tampa also loses longtime defensive leader Derrick Brooks.

What’s good: The defense, despite the loss of Brooks, is still a solid unit. True, a lot of the big names have retired or have been released. But this is still a fast and aggressive unit, and any team outside of the NFC South will struggle to put up points against them. Winslow gives whatever quarterback lines up under center a decent security blanket.

What’s bad: The offense is a mess. The problems start at QB. Freeman is competing for the starting job with Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich. Survival of the fittest will determine the winner, instead of talent. Whichever way Morris goes is probably not going to pretty. Morris is also a big question mark. He’s only 32-years-old. I know the trend recently has been to hire extremely young coaches, but Morris is not Mike Tomlin (who is an NFL-lifer). Morris has done most of his coaching in the college ranks. This is a huge step up for someone with virtually no NFL experience and zero experience as a head coach at any level.


At the time of publication, Raheem Morris will be younger than five players on his roster, including Ronde Barber.

What to expect: A new head coach, two new coordinators for the offense and defense, an unsettled quarterback situation, an average offensive line, a defense that doesn’t have its veteran leader, etc… All of these things add up to a team that is going to have a lot of trouble playing consistently week to week. They also play in one of the tougher divisions AND they have to play both the NFC and AFC East. The defense will be good enough to keep them in some ballgames, but this is a team that is going to struggle to find four wins.