New Buccaneers WR Coach in 'Dream Scenario' With Tampa Bay

Coming off a 9-8 season which saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find their groove with their current core, is returning a bulk of its team from a season ago. They made solid additions in the 2024 NFL Draft, and now they're gearing up for another playoff-hopeful season.

Last season, the Buccaneers suffered a midseason losing streak. Then they found out what they had in the duo of Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. The star wide receiver and the quarterback both re-signed with the franchise this offseason, giving the Buccaneers a clear direction.

Evans completes a solid wide receiver room of Chris Godwin, Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan. Evans and Godwin, both of which were stars on the Buccaneers' most recent Super Bowl-winning squad, are veterans within the room.

Still, the duo of wide receivers will make life easier for the Buccaneers' new wide receivers coach in Bryan McClendon. The former Georgia coach has a big opportunity with Tampa Bay, having two veteran star wide receivers and a nice pair of young, developing wide receivers alongside them.

"Walking into a room where you have a Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, those players, makes it real easy. The thing that makes it easier is who they are as people. Those guys more so than anybody else. They understand that. Not just on the field, but off the field," McClendon said.

Evans is 30 years old and Godwin is 28 years old. The two have been doing this long enough, and they're great examples for not just the Buccaneers' wide receiver room, but the entire roster as a whole. It'll also make things much easier for McClendon.

"They want to be coached, they want to be corrected. They want to be doing everything they can do to improve their game. That's what you kind of dream of as a coach. Just talented guys that go out there and they're really striving to be as good as they can possibly be and get better every day, so that's what makes it easy."

In his presser, McClendon alluded to the fact that Godwin will return to the slot, helping open things up for the run game with Rachaad White and Bucky Irving. Having Godwin be as talented as he is combined with his willingness and open-mindedness is going to make things operate much more smoothly in the offense.

"Those guys know that there is still room for their games to improve. Those guys still have aspirations, as crazy as that might seem. Those guys have standards for themselves of where they want to play at."

With Mayfield proving he's still capable of leading a team to the playoffs a season ago, the wide receiver room and offense as a whole have a big opportunity this season. If the defense can remain stout, and the offense can function on a consistent basis in both the run and pass game, the Buccaneers' ceiling in the NFC South remains high.