What could have been?
Joe has a gnawing feeling however this season shakes out, for years we will look back and wonder what could have been.
What could have been if Mike Evans stayed healthy?
What could have been if Chris Godwin hadn’t gotten his ankle destroyed last year?
What could have been if Bucky Irving hadn’t messed up his shoulder?
What could have been if the NFL didn’t have worthless preseason games and Jalen McMillan never got undercut by a piece of camp meat trying to make a splash play to get a job?
What could have been if Cody Mauch hadn’t blown out a knee?
What could have been if Luke Goedeke stayed healthy?
That’s sort of the way Mike Jones of The Athletic is looking at the Bucs. In a column studying every possible playoff team, Jones calls whether a team is a pretender or if they are a contender to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy in the Northern California night air in February.
Because of the Bucs injuries, Jones labeled the Bucs as a “pretender.”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) — Pretender
Give Todd Bowles, his staff and Baker Mayfield a lot of credit. The Buccaneers haven’t been at full strength since they reported for training camp. Whether it’s the offensive line, the wide receivers, running backs and even their defensive front and secondary, the Bucs have spent the season plugging and playing. And yet, they still lead the NFC South with a 6-3 record. However, the Bucs have a rough next couple of weeks with road games against the Bills and the Rams, but have winnable games against Arizona, New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina twice and Miami remaining. However, it’s difficult to see this team managing to overcome rampant injuries to make a Super Bowl march.
It seems Jones has overlooked the potential that many hurt Bucs could return for the playoffs.
Joe hopes Godwin can come back. But there is a reason why the Bucs are keeping Godwin’s condition a state secret on the level of possessing nuclear codes. Teams don’t generally hide good news.
And as the creator, curator and overall guru of Pro Football Talk, the great Mike Florio once wrote, “Silence invites speculation.”
The fact Bucky returned to practice last week suggests he is close to getting back on the field.
Evans could return for the playoffs. So too could Calijah Kancey.
McMillan is a wild card. The Bucs are being very cautious and over-the-top careful with McMillan. Broken bones in the neck are nothing to screw around with.
If the Bucs could get Evans, Godwin, Kancey and McMillan back, provided they can quickly get in game shape, that totally changes the team makeup..
And getting all of those guys back could turn the Bucs back into contenders again.
