The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter 2023 as a team in flux.
After running things back with Tom Brady in 2022 and falling to the Cowboys in the Wild Card Round, they enter 2023 with a bonafide quarterback competition that’s put a haze on an otherwise talented roster. But even with all that uncertainty, they could still factor into the postseason picture thanks to the uncertain NFC South.
The Buccaneers are +800 to win the NFC South at DraftKings Sportsbook, +4500 to win the NFC and +9000 to win the Super Bowl.
Bucs best-case scenario for 2023
Baker Mayfield looks like the 2020 version of himself and the Buccaneers are playing meaningful football games in December. As mentioned above, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the NFC South, as the Falcons and Panthers will be led by young quarterbacks (Desmond Ridder and Bryce Young, respectively) while the Saints brought in Derek Carr.
The Buccaneers’ defense should be a legit threat thanks to players like Jamal Dean, Lavonte David and rookie Calijah Kancey. A true best-case scenario is that their offense plays well enough to capitalize on the opportunities created by the defense.
Bucs worst-case scenario for 2023
Neither Mayfield nor Kyle Trask get off the ground as the team’s quarterback of the future, and the Buccaneers miss the postseason for the first time since 2019. They have one of the toughest schedules in all of the NFL (three of their first four games are against postseason teams and then they have their bye in Week 5), so a rough start could lead to them playing catch-up in the standings for the rest of the season.
The Buccaneers made a lot of win-now moves upon Brady’s arrival, and it resulted in a Super Bowl win. That could lead to a rough season in 2023.