The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not made the playoffs since the 2007-08 campaign, but thanks to an offseason in which they landed Tom Brady, their fortunes may be about to change.
The Buccaneers have become one of the trendy picks to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl next season thanks to Brady and a very impressive cast of offensive weapons.
But are we jumping the gun on Tampa Bay?
Here are the three biggest questions for the Bucs entering 2020:
3. How good is the defense?
The Buccaneers have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball, and in 2019, they racked up 47 sacks thanks mostly in part to Shaquil Barrett's breakout season.
However, their defense ranked just 15th in the NFL as a whole, mainly due in part to a porous pass defense that finished 30th.
Outside of taking University of Minnesota safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round of the draft back in April, Tampa Bay didn't really do much to improve on that side of the ball this offseason.
It should be noted that advanced metrics really liked the Bucs' defense this past year, as the club finished fifth in total defensive DVOA. So, there's that.
Perhaps the production will actually catch up to the analytics next season and the Buccaneers' defense will post better results.
2. Do they have a run game?
Right now, Ronald Jones is Tampa Bay's primary running back, and that doesn't sound very good.
While Jones was decent in 2019, rushing for 724 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.2 yards per carry, I'm not sure he's someone you want as your featured back.
The Bucs did pick up Vanderbilt's Ke'Shawn Vaughn in the third round of the draft, but the jury is obviously out on whether or not he will produce on the NFL level.
It's true that having a great run game is no longer as imperative in today's NFL. Just ask the Kansas City Chiefs, who just won a Super Bowl without a single 500-yard rusher on the roster.
But that's not necessarily the norm, especially considering the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes under center.
A better offensive line should definitely help augment the Buccaneers' ground attack, but there is also no denying that they don't have any truly impressive backs on their depth chart.
1. How much does Tom Brady have left?
Was Brady's shaky 2019-20 showing due to old age? Or was it a direct result of the New England Patriots' dearth of weapons? Or was it both?
Brady will be 43 years old at the start of next season, so it's only natural for him to not be quite what he was a few years back. But I still believe he has more left than some believe.
Think about it: he had Julian Edelman and, well, not much else to throw to this past season.
But going into his first season in Tampa Bay, Brady will have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at wide receiver, not to mention a tight end triumvirate of O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate and…Rob Gronkowski.
How Brady starts the year will likely tell us whether or not his final season in New England was merely because of horrendous weaponry or a sign of the end of an all-time great career.
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