3 Things We Already Know About the 2026 Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted more attitude in 2026. And throughout the NFL Draft and NFL free agency, they've certainly found it.

The Bucs signed and drafted players like defensive tackles A'Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches and linebackers Alex Anzalone and Josiah Trotter to inject some of what head coach Todd Bowles likes to call "killer instinct" onto the roster. Those high-energy players are meant to be great football players first, but they're also there to get some energy to the team that the Bucs thought was lacking in 2025.

Returns are early, and things can change in the regular season. But so far, it seems as if getting some players with attitude has trickled down to the rest of the roster.

“I think people have said it. We needed some assholes over there," Quarterback Baker Mayfield said this offseason. "And [A'Shawn Robinson] is one of them."

They're Very Big Fans of Rueben Bain Jr.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers thought they got a steal when edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. fell to them at pick No. 15 in the first round. And since they drafted him, he's only proved it.

Bain has looked very strong in preseason. He's dominated joint training camps, impressed in a big way in one-on-ones during team drills and also played quite well in the six preseason snaps he had against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2 of preseason, where he was PFF's highest-graded rookie to that point.

Plenty of people in the organization have commented on how prepared Bain looks and how game-ready he is, and Todd Bowles is among the most frequent figures praising him.

"For me, it is his intelligence, his understanding of the game," Bowles said this offseason. "There are some things that you cannot teach, and he does not learn like a normal rookie, and he does some things that a three-or four-year guy can do."

The Bucs definitely expect Bain to perform this year. And if he does, Tampa Bay's pass rush could be revamped in a big way.

The Bucs are Revamping Their Run Game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going with a different kind of run game in 2026 with new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.

The run game that Robinson utilized in Atlanta and the one that the Bucs will use this year is called wide zone. In this run scheme, the offensive line moves horizontally toward the sidelines in an effort to stretch the defense out, and that will create opportunities for the running backs to cut back inside through the available lanes.

This is an interesting change, because the Buccaneers have tried it before. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen looked to run wide zone with the Bucs in 2024, but the offensive line didn't respond too well — as a result, he switched to a gap-running scheme (where linemen have man assignments) and successfully revitalized the team's run game.

The Bucs ran gap in 2025, too, though it didn't nearly go as well. Will Tampa Bay be able to get the wide zone scheme down in 2026? Or will it just end up a struggle like it did two seasons ago?