A lot has been analyzed since the draft and free agency so as we enter week one of the season all the major outlets are predicting division winners, playoff teams and more. Unfortunately, the trend has been an assessed downward trajectory to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even after a close season, 9 and 8 finish, and a conference championship. So are the Buccaneers really “being slept on”?
Where Others Seem Them
Looking through the major media sites you start to see a trend. A trend of confusion and no consensus. The most recent ESPN rankings has the Buccaneers 22nd in the power rankings with a 21.9% chance of winning the division and a 33.6% chance of making the playoffs. They continue on to project 7.9 wins this season. Fox sports is much higher on the Buccaneers ranking them 15th in an article by NFL reporter David Helman. Also ranked at 15 at PFF, they place the team in the middle of the league. Putting the number of wins at 8.1 for the season. Meanwhile the latest report by Pete Prisco, at CBS Sports, has the Buccaneers at 13th, a noted move up by three spots since his last rankings prior to week 1. The best I have seen them ranked thus far is Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk ranks them the highest at 9th and notes, “Everyone is doubting them and they love it”.
2025 Mock Drafts
Mock drafts at this point have been trending on having a more agreed upon ranking and tier for the Buccaneers. A recent Bleacher Report article puts the Buccaneers picking 11th in the draft. Placing the team at the end of the season as the 21st team in terms of rankings and predictions. A CBS sports article by Mike Renner puts the Buccaneers picking 11th as well. Couple that with a Bleacher Report article that came out on the 4th of September that, again, has the Buccaneers picking 11th. So you can see a growing trend here that does not align with the . At least Kyle Crabbs at The 33rd Team has them picking 16th.
Biggest Reason Some Are Down On The Buccaneers
Unfortunately, it appears the shiny new object (Kurt Cousins) in the NFC South has people enamored with the Falcons. Many touting them as the preseason champion in the South. Admittedly, his presence on the team certainly boosts the Falcons capabilities over last years results. Furthermore additional free agent additions have really lifted their hype coming into week one. But we have seen the paper tigers fall hard before.
Final Thought
While retaining all the free agents the team needed to and with just he addition of center Graham Barton this offense will for sure be more potent. We here at Bucs Report have talked about how this team has a potential top ten offense. Regrettably, splash signings give more credence to other teams than retaining their own players and fixing glaring holes. But that’s ok, and to answer the question, yes many are sleeping on the Buccaneers and that will soon change.
