The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are carrying a lot of baggage into the offseason, and it shows in the latest power rankings. After finishing 2-7 down the stretch and losing both the NFC South and a playoff berth, Tampa Bay has plenty of work to do to convince anyone that last season was a one-off.
Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports is among the skeptics. In his new offseason power rankings, he slotted the Bucs 22nd in the NFL, a placement driven largely by how badly last year unraveled and by the uncertainty around whether this roster can actually deliver on its talent.
Schwab called Tampa Bay’s 2025 collapse “as bad as any in recent memory.” He pointed to the seven losses in the first eight games after the bye, and singled out the Thursday night loss to the Atlanta Falcons as the low point.
In that game, Tampa Bay blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, then failed to get stops on a third-and-28 and a fourth-and-14 late. The Bucs did beat Carolina in the regular-season finale, but the Panthers still won the division at 8-9 because of a three-team tiebreaker.
That finish, Schwab wrote, was so rough that there was even speculation that Mike Evans left in free agency for the San Francisco 49ers because of head coach Todd Bowles, who remained in place after Tampa Bay “blowing one of the worst divisions in NFL history.”
Even with the skepticism, Schwab did acknowledge the Bucs have real talent. His issue is trust.
In his view, if Tampa Bay were a team you could count on to play to its ceiling, it would be much higher than 22nd. He noted that the Buccaneers play in an NFC South that became one of five divisions in NFL history to send a losing team to the playoffs in 2025, and said this is the kind of roster that should be winning the division by multiple games and making noise in the postseason.
Still, after the way last season ended, he isn’t ready to assume that will happen.
Schwab’s concerns don’t stop there. He gave Tampa Bay only a C+ for its offseason, citing the departures of Evans and cornerback Jamel Dean, along with the retirement of Lavonte David. He also questioned whether running back Bucky Irving will get back to the explosive form he showed as a rookie in 2024, and said Bowles’ earlier report on Irving’s health did not sound especially encouraging.
Despite all of that, Schwab still sees a path for Tampa Bay to win the division in 2026 and believes the Bucs can win a playoff game or two “if they hit their peak.”
That’s a pretty low ranking for a team with that kind of upside, but the doubt is understandable. The Bucs put themselves in this spot, and now they have to prove last year’s collapse doesn’t define what comes next.
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