Best player on the Buccaneers through the first quarter of the season
We are through a quarter of the season, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look like they are going to be better than the general expectations were at the start of the season. At 3-1, the Bucs have beaten the bad teams on their schedule and lost to arguably the best team on their schedule. Not […]
We are through a quarter of the season, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look like they are going to be better than the general expectations were at the start of the season.
At 3-1, the Bucs have beaten the bad teams on their schedule and lost to arguably the best team on their schedule. Not much to hate there.
With a decent sample size behind us and heading into the bye, we have a good idea of where this team is at and who its best players are. As it stands, Antoine Winfield Jr. looks like he is rocketing towards the team MVP for 2023.
Winfield has been a rockstar and a force of nature for the Bucs this year. That seems to track for a talented player in a contract year.
The Bucs need to pay Winfield sooner rather than later, and it seems like the best statistical year of his career could complicate things for Tampa come the end of the year.
Winfield currently sits with 31 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits. All of these are on pace to break and even shatter Winfield's season highs in each area, and none take into account the fact that Winfield has also done very well against the pass.
The tackles in particular (on pace for 132 on the year) will beat Winfield's single-season high by 38.
The stats are impressive on their own, but even those by themselves fall short of just how good Winfield has been this year.
The fourth-year safety has single-handedly taken over half of Tampa's games and been the obvious best player on the field for either team. That type of impact is nothing to scoff at.
Winfield shows up in the big moments with a confidence that speaks to a much older and more experienced veteran, and even the small plays don't go neglected.
Antoine Winfield has played so well that he should garner legitimate attention as an All-Pro, and if that isn't good enough to be on pace to win MVP for the Buccaneers come the end of the season, this writer isn't sure what more could be done.
Keep a close eye on Winfield this year. What he is doing on the field is something special. The Buccaneers need to find a way to keep him.
Buccaneers define themselves in dominant Week 4 win
You can’t argue with those results.
