What kind of start to the 2026 season is projected for the Bucs?

Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report recently evaluated every NFL team’s expected start to the 2026 season following the schedule release, with the tampa-bay-buccaneers/362" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tampa Bay Buccaneers landing somewhere in the middle of the league.

The projection reflects a team that still looks competitive on paper but has enough offseason transition to make the opening stretch difficult to predict with confidence. Tampa Bay addressed several defensive concerns this offseason, though many of those additions are still relatively unproven at the NFL level.

That becomes especially important early in the season. Rookie contributors like Rueben Bain Jr. and Josiah Trotter are expected to play meaningful snaps quickly, while veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone was added to help stabilize communication and leadership in the middle of Todd Bowles’ defense.

The offense should keep Tampa Bay competitive most weeks. Baker Mayfield provides the Buccaneers with consistency at quarterback, and the younger receiver group continues to gain experience entering another season together.

The overall outlook feels less about whether Tampa Bay can compete and more about how quickly the reworked defense comes together. That will likely determine whether the Buccaneers start fast enough to separate themselves early in the NFC South race.

This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Bucs projected for steady start for the 2026 season