National media predicts Tampa Bay Buccaneers to go 3-13 in 2019
By Cory Kinnan
Needing to prove themselves to the national outlets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to be put down; this time they are predicted to finish 3-13 in 2019.
After an offseason of change, overhaul, and makeover, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the 2019 with optimism for the first time in a couple years. However, the optimism for the Buccaneers does not to appear to extend far outside of Tampa Bay as the national media continues to remain low on the Buccaneers heading into the season.
Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated’s The MMQB put out an article, predicting the final record of every NFL team as they begin prepping for the start of training camp. In this article, Orr predicts the Buccaneers will again finish in the basement of the NFC South with an overall record of 3-13.
"“This is where the weight of the schedule gets kind of ugly. I don’t necessarily think the Buccaneers will lose 14 games, mostly because Bruce Arians is a top-10 head coach and may have the deepest coaching staff in football… However, if you’re in my position, grading a team that finished the offseason with a net loss in terms of talent gained vs. talent lost, what are you going to do?” (Orr via SI)."
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Did the Buccaneers finish the offseason with a net loss though? Sure they got younger and less experienced, but at the very least some of the moves were lateral such as trading DeSean Jackson for a pick that turned into wide receiver Scotty Miller and led to the signing of Breshad Perriman. The conversation between Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh continues to rage on, but the margin is too razor thin to call it a net loss.
Other moves included letting linebacker Kwon Alexander walk to the San Francisco 49ers and, in turn, drafting Louisiana State linebacker Devin White with the fifth overall pick to offset his departure. Again, the immediate impact White may make could be less than Alexander, but the potential is much higher.
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After back-to-back 5-11 seasons, the national pundits have no reason to cut the Buccaneers any slack. They will have a massive chip on their shoulder this year and have a ton of work to do to climb out of the bottom spot of the NFC South and become competitive again.