NFL offseason wish list: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Welcome to our fantasy football wish lists where we’re going through each NFL team and listing three things we’d love to see them do this offseason for fantasy reasons (but also real football reasons).

The Buccaneers should be a fantasy powerhouse given the talent on the team and the change in command from Dirk Koetter to Bruce Arians and his vertical passing offense. With Jameis Winston entering the last year of his rookie deal, a lot will be expected from him to prove he’s the man to lead them into the future, and fantasy players need to know if he’s a viable late round quarterback to stash at the end of drafts. The Bucs were also one of the weakest rushing offenses in the league in 2018, and they’ll need to get a little more from the run game to keep opposing defenses honest.

Sign Tevin Coleman

The Bucs simply don’t have the cap space to get involved in the Le’Veon Bell stakes, despite the obvious fit and so they’ll have to go cheaper to improve the run. Tevin Coleman fits the bill of a ‘do-it-all’ back in the style of Bell and he averaged a whole extra yard per carry (4.7) than Peyton Barber (3.7) achieved for the Bucs in 2018. Arians has talked up Barber since taking over, but Coleman offers more versatility in the pass game which was missing from their offense last season.

Sign a backup quarterback who won’t threaten Jameis Winston

With Fitzmagic set to leave in free agency, it gives Jameis Winston a free run at a make or break season for him. To enable the Bucs to make a clear decision on whether Winston is the future of the franchise as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, they need to sign a low-level backup quarterback who isn’t likely to start for any reason other than due to injury. The most likely would be to re-sign Ryan Griffin, though a Trevor Siemian or Brett Hundley type player would also serve a similar purpose. Winston finished as the QB 17 in points per game in 2018 and a full season in Bruce Arians’ offense, Winston could be a sneaky good fantasy QB option this season.

Unleash O.J. Howard

In just 9 games in 2018, O.J. Howard finished with the 5th highest points per game among Tight Ends with 9.61. With Adam Humphries set to leave in free agency, that leaves over 100 targets up for grabs and given the production, Howard should be the man to benefit most from his departure. Jameis Winston has shown a fondness for targeting Cameron Brate in the past, but his younger and more athletic colleague has the opportunity to be one of the premier players at his position if given a greater opportunity. Howard will be very high on my tight end rankings prior to draft season so hopefully the Bucs will take heed and make him a bigger part of their offense.