View from the opposition - NFL Week 1 Tampa Bay

The Washington Commanders, led by a new Head Coach and rookie QB, will start the 2024 season on the road with a trip to Tampa Bay.

Here at UKHTTC, we took timeout with Alex Oldham who is a podcaster with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers UK fan club. Impressively the fan club has been going since 1984 and has recognition from the team; it is great to see a franchise aligned so well with their UK fans.

Alex, as for every team in the NFL, success is usually dependent on the QB. Tampa are rolling into 2024 with Baker Mayfield. To my eye test, I have not always been the biggest fan of Baker, but he does have the intangibles and the protection to do well. What’s your view of the guy under centre in Tampa Bay?

I think Baker came to Tampa with a chip on his shoulder. Drafted by Cleveland, was there for 4 years, had one winning season and had a trip to the playoffs.

Then was shipped around in 2022 starting in Carolina and then headed to Los Angeles. I think he just wanted to find another home. I was sceptical when we signed him but from the first game, we saw that he plays with his heart on his sleeve and that is something the fans have really loved about him.

When a player does that, it feeds energy into the fans. He helped us to a winning season and the divisional round of the playoffs and set a career high for touchdown passes with 28 and passing yards with 4044. Bucs fans have quickly come to love him and after last season, we are all now hoping he can help get us back to the playoffs again for the 5th year in a row.

I look in envy at the OL in Tampa Bay, with Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke now getting further help with the addition of Graham Barton who will play inside and was taken with the 26th pick of the draft. Was you happy with the first-round pick of an IOL?

Very happy. Robert Hainsey did a great job coming into replace Ryan Jenson who went down with a knee injury and he was a very key player for us.

I overlooked the centre position as I was convinced we'd look at defence again. I really thought we would go either ILB as Devin White has now moved to Philly or a DB as our secondary has been poor for a while now. I will confess that I don’t follow college football very much at all but what I’ve seen stats wise and heard from coaches and pundits, on paper, it appears Jason Licht has done it again with a solid first round pick in Graham Barton.

He joins an already strong o-line that we have in Tampa with the likes of Wirfs, Goedeke and Mauch (who had a superb rookie season). I am quietly optimistic that we could see Baker having a lot more time in the pocket this season with the protection he is going to have in front of him.

Mike Evans has been a true WR stud in Tampa Bay. Going to assume you are delighted he penned a two-year deal in readiness for his decade season in the NFL?

Delighted, ecstatic, thrilled, overjoyed plus any other hugely positive words you can think of. Mike Evans is a future hall of famer.

Ten seasons in the NFL and he is the only the second player in NFL history to have 1000+ receiving yards in 10 consecutive seasons. He is only behind the legendary Jerry Rice.

But the only player in NFL history to have 1000+ receiving yards in 10 consecutive seasons since starting the run in his rookie season. Those two stats alone are insane. And to think he has set these records with numerous QBs including of course the one and only Tom Brady.

To have him sign an extension which will hopefully mean he is a Buc for life, is just perfect. He is truly loved by all the fans and the foundation which he and his wife, Ashli, runs does amazing work for helping women and children. If any player deserves another Super Bowl ring, it’s Mike Evans and I really hope he can do that as a Buc again.

Thinking ahead to Week 1, what is an area of weakness on the Buccaneers roster that Washington might take advantage of?

In terms of the roster, I have to say the secondary.

It has been our weakest area on defence for a while now unfortunately. Our DBs do struggle with deep balls and may QBs have taken full advantage of that.

However, if Washington want to take full advantage, avoid throwing near Antoine Winfield Jr. 2023 was his best season so far in the NFL and he is the one to watch in our secondary.

When he plays well, the secondary plays well. Another area of the defence to watch closely will be the coverage. If we are playing zonal coverage, then my advice would be to call plays which get the receivers into the gap behind the defensive line and in front of the linebackers.

We did that quite a bit last season and there was tons of space to allow teams to march their way down the field making 7 yards or so a play.

And are there any Commanders who you fear going into the opener?

One man for me. A great FA signing you have made during the off-season: RB Austin Ekeler.

Austin picked up an injury last season so wasn’t the presence he was for the Chargers in 2021 and 2022. He’ll have a point to prove this season to show that he can bounce back and be the player who rushed over 900 yards in 2 consecutive seasons for the Chargers.

If he can get back to that level, and Washington’s OL can create those gaps for Ekeler, then that’s the RB position sorted for the Commanders for the next few seasons.

Finally, I am hugely impressed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers UK Fan club. It seems very well organised and with a good relationship with the team itself. Can you give any further insight into the fan club and how it functions?

Bucs UK is now 40 years old which is absolutely incredible.

The club was founded in 1984 and has gone from strength to strength. The club currently has over 400 paying members. As a club, we have social events such as watch parties every season, our AGM and Cornhole Championships and club visits to Tampa.

We also run members fantasy football leagues and competitions through-out the season which offers our members the chance to win fantastic Buccaneers related prizes.

The Buccaneers have also been part of the NFL International Series games 4 times – three games in London and one in Munich. We have been lucky enough as a club each time the team have come to Europe, to have been a part of the celebrations in London and Munich prior to the games which included members of the Buccaneers staff coming to see us and speak to our members and enjoy team events during those weekends.

A special event happening this year is our 40th anniversary trip to Tampa for the Week 3 game against Denver. Thanks to the Buccaneers, there are some very special plans which have been made to celebrate 40 years of Bucs UK including a special anniversary meal with special guests from the organisation joining the celebrations.

We have club president, Phil Jones, and he is joined by David Cambridge and Kieron Hyams. These three men make the Bucs UK management team and the amount of work they put in behind the scenes to give Bucs UK members everything possible, is immense.