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Scott Reynolds of the Pewter Report answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we wanted to answer for this week’s edition.

ASK: Why do you think the national media seems to dismiss the Bucs organization so quickly and so often. First it was, “Can Baker Mayfield play well?” Now it’s, “Yeah, but can he do it again?” When will the national media finally give this organization its flowers?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Well, consider that the national media was enamored with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the Tom Brady years. The Bucs had a more regular presence on ESPN and NFL Network thanks to Brady’s star power, and became a more national team by winning the 2020 Super Bowl and a franchise-record 13 games in 2021. When Brady retired after the 2022 season, most national media thought the Bucs would go into rebuild mode — even after the team signed Baker Mayfield to a cheap one-year deal to prove himself.

Mayfield went from being the flagship of the Cleveland franchise to a quarterback wanderer overnight in 2022. But he revived his career with a very good year last season and the Bucs made the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and won the division for the third year in a row. Mayfield has never been able to put together two very good seasons in a row due to injuries or inconsistent play in the past. That’s a fact. We’ll see if he can change that story this season.

So why are there still so many skeptics about the Bucs in the national media? First, Tampa Bay is a small market, so there’s a natural bias toward teams with bigger markets and against teams with smaller markets. That’s why teams like Chicago in the NFC get more hyped than the Bucs even though they have a rookie quarterback and a rookie wide receiver in Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, and a team like Houston gets more hyped than Jacksonville even though the Jaguars were only one game behind in the AFC South.

Another reason is that the Bucs have won the last two division titles in Weeks 17 (2022) and 18 (2023) over the past two seasons. Tampa Bay has barely made the playoffs the past two years and hasn’t had a double-digit win season since going 13-4 in 2021. That, and the fact that two highly paid, prominent “name” QBs have entered the division the past two seasons in Derek Carr of New Orleans and Kirk Cousins ​​of Atlanta, ensures that the spotlight is elsewhere in the NFC and not on Tampa Bay.

If the Bucs can get to double-digit wins this year — which they should — and if Tampa Bay wins the NFC South championship for the fourth straight year in 2024 — which they can — then I think they’ll get the respect they deserve this season and beyond. Another really good year from Mayfield can help make that happen, and then he’ll get the respect he deserves.

QUESTION: Did Todd Bowles attack Jason Licht and the personnel department a few weeks ago when he made comments about the team’s depth not being as good as it once was?

Bucs OLB Jose Ramirez – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: No, I definitely don’t think the Bucs head coach attacked the team’s general manager and executive management over the team’s depth. The term “depth” can be interpreted in two different ways. It can mean experience or talent. Of course, it’s best when teams have depth full of experienced talent. That was the case in the Bucs’ 2020 Super Bowl season.

For example, Antonio Brown was the team’s third wide receiver behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin that season and had Hall of Fame recognition for his career performance. The Bucs had a 900-yard rusher in Ronald Jones II and a former 1,000-yard rusher in Leonard Fournette. That’s a perfect example of experienced, talented depth.

This year’s Bucs team may have talent, but it lacks experience. NFL coaches love talented players, and Bowles himself is used to letting rookies play or even start. But there’s no substitute for experience. Experienced players who make fewer mistakes on the field help coaches sleep better at night, and I think that’s what Bowles meant when he said the Bucs don’t have much depth – he meant experienced depth.

For example, Bowles has mentioned that while outside linebacker is the position with the most players on the team, it is incredibly inexperienced outside of Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and reserve Anthony Nelson. Yet Tampa Bay kept six outside linebackers because that position is so talented, and Bowles obviously had a say in that decision. So that’s an example of him appreciating the talent but probably wishing he had more experience at the position.

ASK: What grade would you give the Bucs management for their efforts in assembling this roster?

Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: That’s a good question, but it’s a little tricky because I have to make a prediction. Did the Bucs actually draft the right players and sign the right free agents to make the playoffs and maybe win another NFC South title? Now that I expect Tampa Bay to be 10-7 this year. and win the NFC South division championship for the fourth year in a row, I’m inclined to give Bucs general manager Jason Licht and his staff, as well as head coach Todd Bowles, a very high mark.

Let’s take B+. I think the team hit 10 wins this year, as far as the floor goes, with a ceiling of 12 wins. Licht and Bowles deserve credit for resisting the temptation to break up an aging roster and rebuild after Tom Brady retired. The two decided there was enough talent on the roster to win with, with several Super Bowl winners still on the team. And a quick look at the NFC South showed — exactly — that the division was still up for grabs.

Therefore, the Bucs decided to sign an experienced quarterback in Baker Mayfield rather than drafting another quarterback in the first or second round after Brady’s departure. The fact that the team found a very competent replacement at quarterback allowed the Bucs to go from having one of the oldest rosters in the league in 2022 to one of the youngest rosters in the NFL just two years later. It’s quite remarkable that Tampa Bay actually won more games with last year’s roster, which was younger and less experienced.

QUESTION: How hard is it to induct Mike Alstott into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Former Bucs FB Mike Alstott – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I like that attitude because I know Mike Alstott personally and enjoyed following him around during his time with the Buccaneers, but that’s not going to happen. On paper, the legendary A-Train has a few things going for him. Alstott was a six-time Pro Bowler and a three-time first-team All-Pro selection. Those are accomplishments that even future Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans has yet to achieve. And like Evans, Alstott has a Super Bowl ring, which helps his cause.

But the fact that Alstott made the Pro Bowl all those years as a fullback when he was actually more of a blocker actually speaks against him. Alstott’s highlight reel consisted of more big runs and touchdown catches as a tailback than at the position where he was listed for the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams. Considering he never had a 1,000-yard rushing season – although he came close in 1999 with 949 yards – doesn’t help him with voters either.

Although Alstott had many great plays and tackle-breaking runs and even scored the first touchdown for Tampa Bay in Super Bowl history in 2002, he lacks a standout moment like Ronde Barber’s 92-yard pick-six against the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. And Alstott never came close to winning an MVP award like Lee Roy Selmon (1979), Warren Sapp (1999) and Derrick Brooks (2002).

There’s a bit of an argument to be made given his number of Pro Bowl and All-Pro nominations, but knowing the bias of some Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, Alstott would have no chance of making it to Canton. Remember, the Bucs have already inducted four members of the 2002 Super Bowl team into the Hall of Fame. And that alone is probably why Simeon Rice won’t be inducted. For some reason, it’s just hard for Hall of Fame voters to justify inducting more than four members of a Super Bowl team.