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.
3. Carlton Davis
Carlton Davis is a guy that I’ll be watching to have something similar of a ‘sophomore slump’ even though it’s his third season in the league.
Though Davis has been a full-time starter each of his first two years with the Buccaneers, he has totaled just one interception during that time and there’s a faction of fans that believe we could see Jamel Dean compete for more reps this coming season.
I’m of that opinion.
Dean is just showing too much promise to keep him off the field. With Davis having to split more reps than ever before, he could see a small regression.
2. Ronald Jones II
Just like we said with Shaq Barrett, I think there’s a very minuscule chance that Ronald Jones’ actual talent regresses.
The concern with Jones is the fact that he’s going to be playing with a new quarterback and that he’s going to have more pressure on him than ever.
Jones II is going to have to grow into becoming a three-down back and there are certainly questions about if he can do that.
There are two waves of thought when it comes to Jones: He’ll either explode this season, or he’ll have a disappointing outing. I believe the former is more likely, but we’ll have our eyes on him as the games start being played.
1. Ndamukong Suh
Ndamukong Suh is a fan favorite and it was absolutely a great signing when the Bucs brought him back for another season.
But there’s always an inherit risk about paying a veteran who is aging on the defensive line.
Suh still has plenty of strength and talent to play the position, but there certainly can be questions raised about what his production will look like and what he’ll be able to accomplish in that front-seven.
There’s excitement about Suh moving forward, but there are also concerns. Hopefully we’ll see nothing but great production from him in 2020.