2. Will the offense be hampered early in the season by the potential absence of All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs?
The first part of this question is how long this will this be an issue for the Buccaneers' offense. The decision not to place Wirfs on the reserve/PUP list is a good sign, and he has now come off the active/PUP list and could start practicing in the coming days. He could still miss the first four games while getting back into playing shape but there is a general sense of optimism within team headquarters that his absence won't be quite that long.
The Buccaneers don't employ Lane Johnson or Trent Williams, so it will be impossible for them to replace Wirfs, a first-team All-Pro selection, with the comparable level of player. That said, the Buccaneers have expressed confidence in veteran Charlie Heck, who was signed to be the swing tackle and is currently holding down left tackle in Wirfs' absence. After him on the depth chart is undrafted rookie Benjamin Chukwuma, who has been quite impressive in training camp and the preseason games but remains very green.
For however long Wirfs is out the lineup, will the Buccaneers adjust their offensive approach to emphasize getting help for Heck and the rest of the offensive line? Will there be more two-TE sets or a higher rate of using the tight end on the left side? Will the Bucs try to chip opposing edge rushers with backs, receivers and tight ends? And how effective will any of that be? It's worth noting that the Buccaneers' Week Two game is against a Houston team that features the dangerous edge duo of Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. And the Philadelphia Eagles, who always seem to have a deep stable of pass rushers, come to Tampa in Week Four.
3. How will the offense look under first-team coordinator Josh Grizzard, and what sorts of personnel packages will he favor?
The Buccaneers have a new offensive play-caller for the third year in a row after their ranks were poached for head coaching jobs for Dave Canales and Liam Coen in successive offseasons. This year's transition is a little different, however. While Canales and Coen each brought in their own schemes, playbook and terminology from other teams, new Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard was promoted from within. He was heavily involved in the formation of Coen's game plans last year and offers continuity for Mayfield and company, who don't have to learn another new playbook all over again.
The Buccaneers ranked third in yards gained and fourth in points scored last year and were the only team to finish in the top five in both rushing and passing yards. The scheme worked, Mayfield thrived in it and virtually all of last year's personnel is back, so there is good reason to maintain the status quo as much as possible. That said, NFL offenses tend to need to evolve to some extent each year in order to stay ahead of defensive adjustments. Grizzard won't be the exact same play-caller that Coen was, even if their respective play sheets have a lot of overlap.
What tweaks Grizzard will bring to the system are hard to predict and could depend on developing circumstances. For instance, given Coen's background with the Rams it was widely believed that Tampa Bay's offense in 2024 would lean heavily on 11 personnel, or three-receiver packages. That may have been the plan going into the season, but thanks to injuries to the receiving corps and the emergence of Bucky Irving, the Buccaneers ended up running more two-tight end and two-back formations than expected and actually having a higher success rate in both of those groupings than in the 11 package. Of course, by season's end, the three-receiver set was still the team's most-used package, with 71.6% of the plays.