Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2026 preview: New era begins without Mike Evans, Lavonte David

• The pass rush has significant upside: First-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. joins YaYa Diaby and Al-Quadin Muhammad after leading college edge defenders with 83 pressures in 2025.

• Tampa Bay moves forward without two franchise fixtures: Mike Evans and Lavonte David are gone, but Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Alex Anzalone help provide experience at their respective positions.

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A 6-2 start put the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a strong position to reach the playoffs, but a 2-7 stretch following their Week 9 bye left them with a losing record and cost them the NFC South on a three-way tiebreaker.

There has not been significant turnover among the projected starters heading into 2026, but the Buccaneers did lose two franchise legends in wide receiver Mike Evans and linebacker Lavonte David.

Here's our 2026 preview of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Key Free Agency/Trade Additions

Edge defender Al-Quadin Muhammad is coming off the best season of his NFL career, earning a career-high 74.4 PFF grade while generating 53 total pressures. Of those pressures, 21 resulted in sacks or quarterback hits, also a career best. If he can replicate that production in Tampa Bay, Muhammad should immediately become a valuable rotational piece along the defensive front.

Alex Anzalone joins a linebacker corps that will be without Lavonte David for the first time since 2011. Anzalone has developed into a reliable starter over the course of his career and enters his 10th NFL season having earned PFF grades above 65.0 in each of his past three years with the Detroit Lions.

2026 NFL Draft Class

The Buccaneers landed one of the most productive defensive players in the 2026 draft class in edge defender Rueben Bain Jr., who fell due in part to concerns about his arm length. Bain ranked third among edge defenders with a 92.8 PFF grade in 2025 and led the position with 83 total pressures. His physical profile means he will need to overcome historical precedent to succeed at the NFL level, but it is difficult to fault Tampa Bay for betting on a player with that level of college production.

Linebacker Josiah Trotter is another rookie defender who should see significant playing time immediately. He was a standout run defender in college, earning an 89.2 PFF run-defense grade in 2025. His coverage ability is a bigger question, however, after he earned PFF coverage grades below 50.0 in each of his final two college seasons, making that an area to monitor as he transitions to the NFL.

Reasons for optimism

There is plenty to like about the Buccaneers' depth on the edge following the additions of Rueben Bain Jr. and Al-Quadin Muhammad. YaYa Diaby has impressed over the past two seasons, generating 70 pressures in 2024 and 62 in 2025. Tampa Bay also gets David Walker back after he missed his entire rookie season. Walker earned PFF pass-rush grades above 90.0 in each of his final three seasons at Central Arkansas, giving the Buccaneers another intriguing option in what should be a deep rotation.

Despite the departure of Mike Evans, Tampa Bay still has a talented wide receiver corps. Chris Godwin is now 30 and has battled injuries in recent seasons, but he has dropped just 4.3% of his catchable targets over his career. Emeka Egbuka showed plenty of promise as a rookie, averaging 1.75 yards per route run, while Jalen McMillan returned from an injury-plagued second season to average 2.14 yards per route run over the final four games.

The departure of Evans leaves the Buccaneers without the size he provided as a prototypical X receiver, but rookie Ted Hurst gives them another bigger-bodied option. The former Georgia State standout recorded 33 contested catches over his final two college seasons.

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Reason for pessimism

Outside of Vita Vea, there are significant question marks along the Buccaneers' defensive interior heading into 2026. Calijah Kancey missed most of his third NFL season and has earned PFF grades below 50.0 in each of his first three years. He has flashed as a pass rusher, but his PFF pass-rush grade, pressure rate and total pressures all declined from his rookie season in 2023 to 2024, with his pass-rush grade falling again over a limited sample in 2025.

Veteran A'Shawn Robinson provides experience alongside Vea and Kancey, but he has not earned a PFF grade above 65.0 since 2021, leaving Tampa Bay with plenty of uncertainty beyond Vea on the interior.

Breakout Candidate

After two solid seasons to begin his NFL career, 2026 could be the year Tykee Smith starts to receive more league-wide recognition. The 2024 third-round pick out of Georgia has earned PFF grades of 72.0 and 65.8 in his first two seasons.

Smith is at his best playing close to the line of scrimmage, and his 23 tackles resulting in a defensive stop in 2025 ranked 21st among safeties. Another step forward in Year 3 could establish him as an important piece of Tampa Bay's defense.

Key roster battles

Second-round pick Benjamin Morrison struggled as a rookie, earning a 47.0 PFF grade across 360 snaps. He started Tampa Bay's final three games, allowing 10 receptions for 114 yards on 18 targets across 103 coverage snaps. Third-round pick Jacob Parrish fared better, earning a 65.7 PFF coverage grade, though the majority of his snaps came in the slot.

If Morrison continues to struggle this summer, it will be interesting to see whether the Buccaneers give fourth-round rookie Keionte Scott an opportunity in the starting lineup. That would likely mean deploying Scott in the slot and moving Parrish outside.