Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4 players who could regress in 2020

Four Buccaneers who could regress during the 2020 season

Fans always hope for the best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s always the outcome.

In the case of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there have been plenty of times over the course of the last two decades where the team entered the season with hope just to be turned away with disappointment.

Many of those seasons, it seemed the Buccaneers couldn’t get out of their own way.

As we head into the 2020 season, hope abounds when it comes to the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay enters the year as one of the favorites to make the postseason and to compete for the NFC South Division. But there’s always that question: Can this somehow be messed up?

As we look at the roster, here are four Buccaneers who could regress during 2020.

4. Shaquil Barrett

Now, before you jump on me and tell me how horribly awful of a take this is, just hear me out.

I’m not by any means saying that Shaq Barrett is going to be worse or that his talent is going to drop. I’ve maintained the position that Barrett is the best edge-rusher in the league and that he has an opportunity to be a franchise legend before it’s all said and done.

But his production could certainly decrease and regress this season.

Teams are going to run away from him. They’re going to shade blockers to his side. They’re going to do things to take away his impact and we very well may not see him come away with 19.5 sacks again this year.

Barrett is a talented player who is going to lead this Bucs defense, but there’s certainly a chance we see his production- not his talent- regress over the course of 2020.