The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ready to head North in order to take on the Atlanta Falcons in a divisional matchup and while the offense retained every single starter from 2024, there are several questions on that side of the ball as the team approaches the first game of the season.

From Josh Grizzard to Emeka Egbuka to the Bucs’ new Director of Football research Zach Beistline, there’s plenty to chew on before kickoff against the Falcons.

So, with that being said, let’s dive into the six biggest questions surrounding the Bucs offense.

Does Baker Mayfield get off to a slow start after no preseason games?

Mayfield is entering Year 2 in the Liam Coen/Josh Grizzard offense and he looked so comfortable and played so effectively during training camp that it led to him being one of the 10 starting quarterbacks that didn’t throw a pass in a preseason game.

While preseason action is becoming less and less important for established players, getting out on the field and in front of a crowd for a game-time setting does help players get ready for the upcoming season. Taking that first hit sure helps, as well.

Regardless, both Mayfield and the Bucs feel like he’s ready to roll once the offense takes its first snap against the Falcons on Sunday.

“I think in the call-it periods that we had here going against our defense, where it could be a 20-minute period where we’re moving the ball up and down the field, he’s not getting hit, thank God, but we are out there playing football,” Grizzard told reporters Thursday when asked how he was able to get Mayfield prepared for the season without playing in preseason games.

“Then being able to get into the Tennessee week, as well as the Pittsburgh week, where you watch a little bit of tape on them, and you have an idea what they’re doing, but you’re not game planning for them – we get those, I don’t know how many reps it was, probably 55 or 60 in those practices, where he’s now going against another defense, seeing it live for the first time. There’s no scouted looks, and he operated well during those.”

“I’ll be all right,” Mayfield told reporters Wednesday. “Defenses don’t show a lot in preseason anyway, so I’ll be all right.”

Does Mayfield come out and hit the ground running or does it take him a little bit to find some rhythm and comfort against the Falcons defense? A slow start could easily put the Bucs in a corner, while a fast start could really help them tame what should be a loud Falcons crowd.

We’ll find out soon enough.

How does Josh Grizzard look in his first game calling plays?

There’s a lot to like about Grizzard the first-year offensive coordinator has an abundance of weapons at his disposal that will make his job a lot easier. At the same time however, he’s never called plays at any level of football before, so this is a whole new experience for him.

He’s done all the right things in order to set himself up for success throughout the offseason. He even toyed with calling plays in the box to doing it on the sidelines. He had plenty of time to find his footing during the preseason and that could pay off as quickly as Week 1 against the Falcons.

“It helped immensely,” Grizzard said when asked how much joint practices and preseason games helped him get ready. “It helped in practice, being able to do it and then carry that over to the game and do it live. (Also) being able to see it from the field for two games, I guess, two-and-a-half games, and then just going from there.

“I think it helped with the staff continuity, being able to get all of us on the same page, even though they’re not necessarily in a lot of different spots than they were last year. But having it in real time, seeing the ball move down the field, adjusting [to] situations, who’s in the game, it helped a ton.”

Grizzard will stay on the sidelines where he was quicker access to players and coaches alike. He’ll also have several coaches in booth helping with different aspects of the game, much like Coen did last year.

The infrastructure is there – now it’s about putting rubber to the road and making it happen.

Can Charlie Heck help hold down the fort against the Falcons’ new-look pass rush?

Heck is a veteran, but outside of the 2021 season, he’s been a backup for most of his career. Like Grizzard, he’s had an entire offseason to prepare him for Week 1 and beyond and as a starter while Tristan Wirfs recovers from the knee surgery he had back in July.

Outside of this week, it’s unclear as to how many games Heck will actually start in Wirfs’ stead. Regardless, he has a pretty stout challenge ahead of him in the form of a revamped Falcons pass rush that now features the likes of Leonard Floyd and not one, but two rookie first-round picks in Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr.

With Luke Goedeke manning the right side of the line, you better believe the Falcons are going to test Heck’s mettle throughout the game. Will he hold his own and force Raheem Morris and Co. to try and find another way to generate pressure or will we see a Justin Skule-type performance like we did last year in Detroit where the Bucs swing tackle gave 3.0 sacks to Aidan Hutchinson, himself?

Heck certainly won’t be perfect nor will he get close to mirroring Wirfs, but if the Bucs can get just a “good” showing it will go a long way toward a Week 1 win.

Will Emeka Egbuka be able to carry the offseason momentum over into a regular season game?

The Emeka Egbuka Hype Train has been rolling along every since the Buccaneers took the former Ohio State Buckeye with the 19th overall pick in the draft. There hasn’t been a single bad report about the rookie – he’s been a consummate pro and has done nothing but turn heads and make plays since rookie minicamp.

As we all know though, things change once the regular season rolls around. Can Egbuka keep the momentum going as the Bucs’ WR2? To be fair Jalen McMillan had a strong training camp/preseason, but got off to a slow start once the real action began. Sure, an early-season injury contributed to the cause, but it doesn’t change the fact a healthy McMillan only caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown across 135 snaps over the first three games.

Still, at this point, a “dud” from Egbuka would be a surprise.

“I have felt comfortable for a while now,” Egbuka told reporters Wednesday. “…I think it is my job and why I get paid to be able to know what I am doing on the field. If I go out there without any hesitation at all, that is on me. It is my job to be able to know the offense… All of us know what our roles are, and we just have to do it.”

Chris Godwin Jr. and McMillan will be unavailable for the first month, at minimum, so the opportunity is there for Egbuka. That does mean he’ll see more of the Falcons’ top corners, as opposed to the ones he’d likely see if those two were in the picture. The duo of A.J. Terrell and Mike Hughes, with even some Billy Bowman Jr. sprinkled in, represents a great first test for the electric rookie.

Do Bucky Irving and Co. pick up where they left off?

Irving stole the show in 2024 and for good reason. He quickly established himself as not only the Buccaneers’ primary running back, but one of the NFL’s most explosive backs, as well.

The Bucs’ rushing attack should be able to pick up where it left off, even without Wirfs in the fold. It won’t be easy against the Falcons’ run defense, though. Atlanta returns a lot of the main contributors from 2024 that helped the defense form the league’s ninth-best run defense in terms of EPA/attempt at -0.07/rush.

Simultaneously, the Falcons really struggled to stop teams at the line and were one of the worst tackling teams in run defense. Per Sports Info Solutions, Atlanta’s run defense finished with the fourth-worst broken/missed tackle rate at 11.8% in 2024. It finished tied for the 13th-worst stuff rate at 16.9%.

One of Irving’s specialties is making guys miss and breaking tackles. The Falcons made some good additions on defense but poor tackling is something you have to wait until game day to see if it’s improved or not.

Don’t be surprised if Irving and the rest of the Bucs running backs have a big day on Sunday.

What will Zach Beistline’s impact look like?

Those paying close attention to the Bucs know the importance of the Beistline addition and will certainly monitor his role and how it impacts the team over the course of the season. Those who don’t follow as closely probably aren’t aware of just how underrated a storyline this is heading into 2025.

One of the legitimate criticisms facing Todd Bowles -and one can argue it’s his biggest issue- is game management in certain situations. He’s made a lot of questionable calls during his time as the Bucs head coach and some of them have certainly contributed to losses.

Beistline is here to remove that burden from Bowles’ shoulders, which allows him to focus more on the nuts and bolts of the game as opposed to the “extracurriculars”, so to speak.

“He’s a wealth of information and a wealth of knowledge,” Bowles told reporters Wednesday. “…It’s really benefited us in the preseason. We hope to carry that on to the regular season as well…

“Just situationally understanding clock management…Not just clock management but whether it’s running, throwing, timeouts, not timeouts, letting it click, going through the different scenarios full time where you have some of the scenarios and he has all the scenarios. So, it’s a little different and he brings a great element to us and helps us out a great deal.”

The idea of Bowles and Grizzard “staying in their lanes” and not having to worry too much about what to do in a certain situation management-wise is encouraging because they can focus on what they do best and that should really come handy as the Bucs try to live up to their Super Bowl expectations.