NBC's Peter King is Completely Out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2023
Peter King is one of the most reputable, well-established football journalists on the planet. 30 years writing for Sports Illustrated, and being named the National Sportswriter of the Year three separate times will earn you that sort of credibility.
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He's also published a number of books, and gained an expansive following based on his Monday Morning Quarterback newsletter for Sports Illustrated, which was consumed by millions of readers on a weekly basis for several decades.
Now, as a full-time employee of NBC, King continues to produce a weekly NFL newsletter: Peter King's Football Morning in America. In this week's installment, King released his post-draft NFL team rankings.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off three consecutive postseason appearances, but without a proven quarterback at the helm, are widely expected to take a step back this season. But based on his recent rankings, it's obvious that Peter King expects the Bucs to not just to take a step back, but to take a step back, and then proceed to fall off a cliff.
A very steep cliff, apparently.
Of all 32 NFL teams, Peter King ranked the Buccaneers 31st. In other words, he believes the Bucs are the second-worst team in football.
And with all due respect, I strongly disagree.
Sure, the Bucs have some uncertainty at the quarterback position. They've also got a head coach, Todd Bowles, who has a lot to prove in terms of his situational decision-making. But it seems like Peter King is failing to acknowledge three important factors that are working in the Bucs' favor heading into next season: Talent, experience, and the NFC South division.
In terms of proven talent, and Super Bowl experience, the two go hand-and-hand.
Luke Easterling, a writer for Athlon Sports, took a strong stance in opposition to Peter King's ranking and made a compelling argument regarding the Bucs' talent in a simple yet effective way. He listed the players on the roster.
Peter King has a tremendous amount of access to NFL franchises, and he's spent time at almost every NFL training camp over the past few years. That said, it feels like his outrageously pessimistic outlook on the Buccaneers' 2023 expectations is rooted primarily in the quarterback position — you know, the one centered around a projected competition between Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield for the starting job?— while at the same time, failing to evaluate any other position group on the roster.
Which to me, represents a very narrow-minded perspective.
Not to mention, the Buccaneers still play in the NFC South. And despite some improvements made by teams within the division, both the Falcons and Panthers will also be depending on unproven quarterbacks. Significantly more unproven than Baker Mayfield, in fact.
Panthers' incumbent quarterback, Bryce Young, although he was just the first overall pick in the draft, hasn't taken a single snap in the NFL yet. Baker Mayfield, on the other hand, was also a first-overall pick, but he's got experience running a number of different NFL offenses.
Falcons' quarterback, Desmond Ridder, drafted in the third round of the NFL draft just over a year ago, has only played in 4 NFL games, and has thrown for just 2 touchdown passes in his career. In comparison, Baker Mayfield has thrown 102 touchdown passes in his 6-year NFL career. And don't forget people, he's still just 28 years old.
For the Saints, who have brought in Derek Carr, it's tough to argue the Buccaneers' have an edge at the quarterback position. But I think an argument can be made that Tampa Bay has as much, if not more, talent at other positions.
When comparing the Buccaneers with the most recent versions of themselves, there are some valuable coaching alterations that need to be acknowledged. Most notably, replacing Byron Leftwich with Dave Canales as offensive coordinator. What Canales will bring to the table in his first season calling plays is yet to be seen, but there's no question that anyone other than Byron Leftwich should be expected to provide a significant upgrade in the offensive scheme and play-calling departments.
Peter King's write-up for the Buccaneers, when ranking them 31st among all NFL teams, was extremely brief.
"Tampa Bay, well the Super Bowl was still worth it."
When you consider the fact that the Buccaneers are replacing Tom Brady with Baker Mayfield (or maybe Kyle Trask), it's fair to assume that the team is destined to take a step back in some capacity. But they're also replacing Byron Leftwich with Dave Canales. And with the impressive talent and experience that still exists on the Buccaneers' roster, combined with an underwhelming group of NFC South foes, I think Peter King is sorely mistaken with his prediction that the Tampa Bay Bucs will fall off a cliff next season.
But even if they do, I think most fans of the Buccaneers would agree with Peter King on one thing... The Super Bowl was definitely worth it.
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