ESPN swings and misses regarding biggest offseason priority for the Bucs
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a solid 2024, winning their fourth NFC South title in a row and making their fifth consecutive playoff appearance. Unfortunately, it was one that ended before it should with a 23-20 Wild Card round loss to the Washington Commanders – even if that loss looks a little less bad now […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a solid 2024, winning their fourth NFC South title in a row and making their fifth consecutive playoff appearance. Unfortunately, it was one that ended before it should with a 23-20 Wild Card round loss to the Washington Commanders – even if that loss looks a little less bad now that it did a week ago.
The Bucs aren't far from being at the top of the NFC. However, there are a few things they need to do in order to get over the hump, particularly some roster areas that need addressing on the defensive side of the ball.
According to ESPN, they need to deal with something else as their main offseason priority: figuring out their offensive coordinator situation. This is what they had to say in their summary:
Biggest offseason priority: Solidify their offensive coordinator situation. In his first year with the Bucs, Liam Coen's unit has averaged 28.6 points a game — second most in franchise history behind only the Super Bowl-winning 2020 team — and his name is generating buzz leaguewide for head coaching consideration.
That's off the mark for a couple of reasons. First, Liam Coen is gone if he wants to be. Tampa Bay can't control that. If he gets offered a head coaching job, they can't keep him. As of mid-day Monday, he hasn't been confirmed as having a second interview with any team, although it appears he left a good impression on the Jaguars. So that's half borrowing trouble at this point.
The other is that the roster has far more answers and fewer questions on Coen's side of the ball than on defense, where Tampa Bay should be directing its offseason efforts most strongly.
The Bucs simply cannot defend the pass as poorly again as they did at times as they did last season. They need defensive backs. Their depth there was exposed badly, and even the starters were unable to come away with turnovers (just 6 interceptions from the secondary all season).
They need help at linebacker, both inside and outside. SirVocea Dennis' shoulder injury exposed how bad the Bucs' depth is at the inside spots, and who knows what Lavonte David will decide about his future. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is a free agent after the season and likely won't be back after the Bucs declined his rookie fifth-year option. Tampa Bay desperately needs another pass rusher opposite Yaya Diaby.
There's no doubt that Coen is largely important to the franchise, but keeping him is largely out of their hands. What is squarely in their hands is finding a way to stop opposing quarterbacks from torching them, and it's something they absolutely must address this offseason to make 2025 a better year than 2024.
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