2024 NFL Power Rankings: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Most improved: Interior offensive line

The Buccaneers selected center Graham Barton with the 26th draft pick to replace Ryan Jensen, and they drafted guard Elijah Klein in the sixth round to compete with Sua Opeta and Ben Bredeson for the starting left guard position. Tampa Bay had a league-worst 59.6% run block win rate at center last season. At guard, the Bucs had a combined 70.2% run blocking win rate, ranking 16th. The team is hoping the new talent will be an upgrade. -- Jenna Laine

Pick after solid pick, I kept nodding along to what the Bucs were doing -- hardly exciting, but thoughtful and purposeful throughout. Center Graham Barton will start Day 1. Edge Chris Braswell (No. 57 overall) was the only pick I semi-shrugged at, but having said that, I also think he has more untapped ability. Round 3 picks Tykee Smith and Jalen McMillan will upgrade the slot potential on both sides of the ball (Smith on defense and McMillan on offense). For me, this draft class was an extension of the Bucs' offseason as a whole: low on big-name imports but high on depth fortification. Is it a conservative approach? Maybe, but Tampa also should benefit again from playing in the NFC South and enters the season as the division's most solid team.

Re-signing Baker Mayfield and others gives them a chance to run it back as division champs. This is a team with a nice mix of young and old.

Seems like they have the best team in the NFC South. But will that be enough given their modest personnel gains this offseason coupled with the division's hardest schedule?

Jason Licht might be the NFL's poster boy for patience. Licht has been the Buccaneers' general manager since 2014. In four of his first five seasons, Tampa Bay finished last in the NFC South. Now the Bucs have won the division three years in a row, and Licht seems to keep bringing in good players. This year, he got every analyst's favorite under-the-radar offensive lineman, Duke's Graham Barton.

Against all odds, the Bucs brought back almost all the key pieces of a team that made a playoff run last year. I never would've guessed Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Lavonte David would all re-sign in Tampa, but here we are. On top of that, I really dig this draft class, highlighted by an immediate starter in center Graham Barton, who could help the run game in a big way.