In truth, there was not a whole lot to like about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in the 2025 NFL season. While many in the mainstream media circled their pen of distaste around star quarterback Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers fan and those more plugged into the team saw that Mayfield and the offense were under way too much stress having to make up for a defense that was horrendous. The coaching from Todd Bowles was poor, the effort was abysmal, and the players themselves simply were not good enough.
And while it's a step too far to say that the Bucs defense is starting to look like a strength heading into the 2026 NFL season, the unit looks significantly better after key offseason additions. Veterans like Alex Anzalone add intensity and intelligence to this team, while draft prospects Rueben Bain Jr., Keionte Scott, and Josiah Trotter have the tools to compete for Pro Bowls within their first three seasons in the NFL.
But before all the additions, there was one area of the Buccaneers defense that fans could not complain about and that is the safety duo. Antoine Winfield Jr. is not coming off his best season and has to beat overrated allegations in 2026, but to be overrated in the first place, people have to be rating you. And at points in this career, the Pro Bowler has been one of the best safeties in the league.
The Bucs want to have a top five safety unit
Tykee Smith, his partner, was even better, and there may only be a handful of safeties in the NFL who are as good at coming up in run support and making big plays as a tackler as the hard nosed Smith, who embodies the great safeties of the past in Tampa Bay.
And yet, neither of these two were deemed worthy enough by Sports Illustrated in their latest ranking of the top five safety duos in the NFL heading into the 2026 campaign. It hurts even more for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons ended up being ranked first in the league for safety tandems.
Bucs fans will take umbrage with the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals partnership of Jordan Battle and Bryan Cook made it in, but Bucs fans have to be fair here. Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield Jr. are great players, but so are the others - and Winfield not coming off his best season will make Sports Illustrated's snub look a little bit more reasonable. But it will be more motivation for these guys, especially Winfield, to have big years under Todd Bowles.
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