2022 Pre-Draft Fantasy Football Outlook: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I don’t know about you, but I thought everything was about to fall apart for the Buccaneers. The landscape of the NFL has been changing quite drastically recently but one thing that didn’t change is the Bucs ability to keep their talent for at least the foreseeable future. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have everything it takes to once again be one of the top teams in the NFC in 2022. The following is the pre-draft fantasy football outlook for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Quarterback
He’s backkkkkkkkk. I thought it was only appropriate to write about the Bucs right after Tom Brady came out of retirement. It is not really necessary for me to convince you to draft Brady as we have seen for the last 22 seasons what he is capable of bringing to the table. Brady may once again be a value due to his age and the fear of him falling off at any point. That is what happened last year and it probably will until it happens or he retires. When it comes to it I am not one of those that are afraid of Brady falling apart. The man is like no one else and I would expect a very similar season as he had in 2021 in 2022. Brady is a mid-tier QB1 with a top 5 upsides in 2022.
Running Back
After Tom returned to Tampa, everything else pretty much fell back in line with Fournette returning to the team as well. With Ronald Jones signing with the KC Chiefs, the Tampa Bay backfield pretty much only consists of Fournette, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, and Kenjon Barner. This leads me to be very confident in Fournette in 2022. He should have the bulk of the carries, and goal-line touches, and is also valuable due to his ability to catch the ball. Fournette should have no problem returning the value for where you draft him in 2022. He is a low-end RB1 with an upside.
Wide Receivers
The wide receiver position is easily one of the strongest positions for the Buccaneers. It never really mattered who Tom Brady’s receivers were in the past but in Tampa Tom is set up nicely with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Bucs also added Russell Gage this offseason which was a solid add for their WR3 spot. Evans and Godwin both figure to be WR2’s heading into 2022 and Gage should be a solid flex option with upside.
Tight End
The biggest question mark for the entire Buc’s offense is whether or not Rob Gronkowski will be coming back for another season. With OJ Howard leaving in free agency, Cameron Brate is currently the top TE on the Bucs roster and should keep that job if Gronk doesn’t come back in 2022. If Gronk doesn’t come back I have Brate as a mid-tier TE2 with upside this upcoming season. If Gronk does decide to return, he automatically falls right back into the low-end TE1 tier with upside in 2022.
Defense/Kicker
Tampa Bay does not only have an elite offense, they also have a top-tier defense. With the news of Brady returning I would expect most of the integral free agents to return to the Bucs. This being said I would expect much of the same for the Bucs defense as a whole this upcoming season. The Bucs finished as the 6th ranked defense in 2021 and should automatically be one of the top 5 defenses selected in 2022. Draft the Bucs defense with confidence this upcoming season.
As I have said multiple times, good teams produce good kickers. The Bucs should score early and often which means Ryan Succop will offer a safe floor with solid upside on the regular for the Bucs in 2022. He is currently slotted in as my 5th ranked kicker and should be one of the top 5 taken in the later rounds of your 2022 drafts.
