It’s been an interesting offseason but the National Football League has succeeded in powering through a national outbreak to make sure the draft and free agency period took place.
Things are still far from normal entering the 2020 season. Within the NFC South alone there’s been moves several moves that are still somewhat hard to process. One former MVP quarterback, Cam Newton, has signed with the Patriots, while New England’s former MVP QB and six-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Former Bucs No. 1 pick Jameis Winston has signed with the Saints, and Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is now saying he’s the best QB in the division. There’s been a lot of movement to say the least, so here’s our early NFC South power rankings.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Key Additions: Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr.
Key Losses: Jameis Winston, Peyton Barber
Tampa Bay easily made the most headlines, but are they this year’s most over-hyped team or a legitimate contender? Substituting turnover-machine Jameis Winston for an aging version of the best quarterback ever seems like an upgrade.
The collection of offensive weapons the Bucs have is probably unmatched. Wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, along with probably the deepest tight end group in the league should be enough to maximize Brady’s diminishing skills. Defensively, Tampa Bay is extremely talented with established veteran linemen Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul up front, and versatile linebacker Shaq Barrett coming off of a 19.5-sack season in 2019.
The Buccaneers consistently create good pressure on defense and should be able to control the ball a bit more offensively with Brady. Add in an aggressive, proven head coach in Bruce Arians and you’ve got a potentially great team. At worst, the Bucs probably go 8-8. At best, I could see 13 wins in 2020.