Tampa Bay Buccaneers

West Coast — Rhythm passing sets up the run.
Team fit 86.3 A− · Read the full guide →

4-3 Attack — One-gap penetration. Rush four, man behind it.
Team fit 89.8 A

A middle-of-the-league roster with specific, nameable strengths and one problem it cannot hide. The face of it is Vita Vea (DT, 94).

Reality check: Tampa Bay is 2-5, not 1-5 and hopeless anymore. Mayfield returned in Week 7 after three games out with a dislocated thumb, threw only 11 passes, and Tampa ran for 258 yards in a 43-13 rout at Carolina. The Jalon Daniels experiment is over.

Bucky Irving (HB, 86) is the headliner. 92 carrying — the ball simply does not come out; 91 acceleration — zero to full speed in a blink — the first three steps are already gone. He is the first name in the opponent's meeting room, and the ratings say that is correct.

Baker Mayfield (80) at quarterback is serviceable rather than special; the stars around him are asked to make him right. The line has a star of its own: Tristan Wirfs (LT, 94), the kind of blocker whole run concepts get built behind.

Vita Vea (DT, 94) sets the terms. 99 strength — immovable when he anchors; 94 block shedding — sheds blocks like they are optional. Build a game plan against this defense and his name is where the marker runs out.

And he has company at the top: Antoine Winfield Jr (93) also rates 90+, giving this roster 2 defenders at that level.

Chase McLaughlin (81) kicks — 98 leg, 87 accuracy. Riley Dixon (76) punts — 92 leg, 81 accuracy. The return game has a genuine weapon: Kameron Johnson (85 return, 90 speed).

Offense: Ted Hurst III (WR, 72 OVR). Read the ratings page twice: the overall says 72, the speed says 92. Overall is about the whole job; that speed is about one job, and he can already do that one as well as most starters.

Defense: Keionte Scott (CB, 73 OVR) — a 95 speed buried at 73 overall. Speed is the one trait that plays at any overall — it travels to any package, any formation, any Sunday.