The Core Is Pretty Thin?
July 14th, 2026
Core belief.
Earlier this year, Joe’s good friend, NFL humorist/columnist Mike Tanier typed the Bucs should consider themselves a rebuilding team rather than a retooling team.
Tanier pointed out there are only four starters left from when the Bucs won the Super Bowl. That’s not much of a core.
And the more “this Joe” looks at the Bucs roster, Joe tends to lean toward Tanier’s analysis. Tristan Wirfs, Chris Godwin, Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield is a really nice foursome, but is that a “core” of a winner? Just four guys out of 22, two on each side of the ball?
Many, including Gilberto Manzano of SI.com, beat the drum that the Bucs have a good core, a nucleus to be a winner.
First, the Joe typing here considers the “core” of the Bucs as the four starters left from the Bucs’ second Super Bowl win in franchise history.
And the Joe typing here is still triggered by the Bucs going 2-7 down the stretch to cough up a division title and miss the playoffs. Which Baker Mayfield will we be getting? The 2024 Mayfield who was one of the best quarterbacks in the league or the guy who couldn’t find a way to win just one more game to clinch a division title?
The Bucs are banking on three rookies, one on each level of the defense, to play lights out in order for the defense to show a pulse in December and January.
A team with a solid reliable “core” doesn’t need to lean on three rookies to play like Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and Rondé Barber in their primes.
So yeah, Joe thinks the Bucs being lifted in preseason rankings based largely on “core” is a bit inflated.
If Joe was truly a cynic, Joe would ask how that same core (including Lavonte David and Mike Evans) rallied the Bucs last year?