PHOENIX -- There is a rising, young, confident team in the NFC South, and it isn’t who you think.
While the Falcons were a blown 25-point lead away from being the Super Bowl champions in February, there’s another young team a little south of Atlanta that might be poised to take the next step, possibly unseating the division champs.
Yep, watch out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A year ago, under first-year coach Dirk Koetter, the Bucs finished 9-7, just missed the playoffs and beat the Falcons at the Georgia Dome in the first week of the season. It’s that type of season, combined with having a franchise passer in Jameis Winston and a group of young, improving players, that has the Bucs as a team you should know more about in 2017.
You might get your chance, too.
There is a strong possibility that the Bucs could be the team that is featured on the HBO series “Hard Knocks.” They are one of several being considered, but it looks like it very well might be Tampa Bay that lets the NFL voyeurs spend training camp getting to know this team better.
Most coaches would cringe at the idea of having cameras around 24 hours a day, but Koetter isn’t one of those -- if indeed Tampa Bay is that team. It would be good to get this team national exposure, which has been lacking in recent years.
“I think it would be good,” Koetter said. “When a team has not been one of the main faces of the league for a while, it can be a contribute to that. The No. 1 thing that contributes to that is winning football games.”
This is a team that won nine last season, and is being built around Winston, the third-year quarterback who was the top overall draft pick in 2015. Winston would be one of the stars of “Hard Knocks” if the Bucs are chosen, but he’s also the star of the offseason -- as usual.
Winston is a grinder who never seems far away from working on his game. He trains with Tim Grover, the former trainer for Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Koetter said Winston also got his Tampa Bay receivers together in Houston to work out recently, and when he’s in Tampa, he calls local college receivers together at a park.
“The one guy I know who will be ready to roll on April 17 [first day of OTAs] will be Jameis Winston,” Koetter said.
Winston threw for 4,080 yards with 28 touchdown passes last season, but he also threw 18 interceptions. That gives him 33 interceptions in his first two seasons in the league, which is way too many.
That’s because Winston takes chances. He is a gunslinger who will try to fit passes into tight windows, looking to make big plays. But Koetter said that’s one thing that Winston has to change moving forward, and it’s something that will be even more of an emphasis as he matures.
“The next thing Jameis has to do is understand the ball is the most important thing, and that every play does not have to be a great play,” Koetter said. “He’s been really good at turning bad plays into good plays, but when we look at all of our tape we spend more time on our bad plays than good plays. All plays aren’t going to be home runs. Jameis has to learn when it’s time to cut our losses and get to the next play. Sometimes going to the next play is punt.”
To help Winston, the Bucs signed former Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson as a free agent. He will give them deep speed opposite Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans.
The defense made big strides as well last season under coordinator Mike Smith. With the addition of free-agent defensive tackle Chris Baker, and likely using their first-round pick on that side of the ball, the Tampa Bay defense should improve on its ranking of 15th in points allowed.
There are still some issues on offense. The offensive line is just OK, and their best runner is Doug Martin, who will be suspended the first three games. That’s why when a picture of Winston working out with Adrian Peterson hit the internet Tuesday, it got a lot of attention.
“I’ve seen Adrian Peterson many times -- one of the best running backs to ever play,” Koetter said. “I’m anxious to talk to Jameis and ask him about how his workouts went.”
The defense has some issues as well. They don’t have a great edge pass rusher, although second-year player Noah Spence has that ability. They need help in the secondary as well.
Then there’s the division itself. The Falcons won it last season on their way to the Super Bowl; the Panthers won it in 2015 when they made the Super Bowl. The Saints have reloaded some this offseason, improving their defense, and you know the Sean Payton-Drew Brees marriage will again roll up big offensive numbers.
It has a chance to be the best division in football this season, and winning it will be an accomplishment.
“The last two Super Bowl teams have come out of our division, teams we know well, so our guys say, ‘This is possible because we beat those teams and then watched them make it to the Super Bowl,’’’ Koetter said. “Expectations are a good thing. If you don’t have them, you’re not going to be around as a player or a coach. If you are a in the NFL, you have to have high expectations. If you can’t have high expectations, and you players don’t have high expectations, you probably don’t want those guys on your team.”
Get to know this team, whether they do Hard Knocks or not. They will be a playoff team in 2017 -- maybe even a lot more than that.
