TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the 2026 season with three specific statistical targets set by the team’s editorial staff: a top-five finish in NFL rushing yardage, a positive differential in special teams big plays and a top-10 ranking in scoring on both offense and defense.
The annual Fourth of July roundtable, published by the team’s website, also graded last year’s goals. Staff writer Brianna Dix wanted the Bucs’ defensive pressure rate on four-man rushes to hit 35 percent; it climbed from 31.0 percent in 2024 — 16th in the NFL — to 33.9 percent in 2025, ranking eighth. Contributor Gabriel Kahaian called for the defense to double its franchise-low seven interceptions from 2024; the unit recorded 13, one short of the 14-pick target. Senior writer Scott Smith wanted at least six quick-strike scoring drives of four plays or fewer; the offense managed four after producing just one in 2024, ranking 20th in the league.
Dix’s 2026 goal centers on the ground game under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. The Bucs ranked fourth in rushing yards per game (149.2) and third in yards per carry (5.25) in 2024, setting franchise single-season records in both categories. Running back Bucky Irving posted 1,122 rushing yards and 392 receiving yards on 47 catches that season — the second-highest yards-from-scrimmage total by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only Doug Martin’s 1,926 in 2012. Irving ranked 10th in the NFL in yards from scrimmage and first among all rookies. Robinson, from the Sean McVay coaching tree, is expected to incorporate more wide-zone runs with Irving and Kenneth Gainwell, using a horizontal stretch to generate cutback lanes and open the RPO and boot-action game.
Smith’s goal addresses what he called a costly special teams deficit in 2025. The Bucs produced five big plays on special teams — defined as blocked kicks, kickoff returns of 40-plus yards, punt returns of 20-plus yards, forced turnovers and touchdowns — while allowing 15. Tampa Bay had five kicks blocked (three field goals, two punts) without blocking any opponent kicks and surrendered a league-high nine kickoff returns of 40-plus yards while producing only one. No other NFL team allowed more than six such returns. The Bucs did record three punt returns of 20-plus yards while allowing one, forced one turnover without committing any, and neither scored nor allowed a return touchdown.
New special teams coordinator Danny Smith, hired from Pittsburgh, brings a track record that includes zero blocked punts allowed in his final nine years with the Steelers. Smith has said he prefers kicking off into the landing zone rather than settling for touchbacks, a philosophy that will demand sharper coverage units. Veteran special teams ace Miles Killebrew followed Smith to Tampa.
Kahaian’s target — top-10 finishes in total points scored and total points allowed — builds on Dix’s rushing projection, with the expectation that a balanced offense under Robinson and continued defensive improvement can push the Bucs back into NFC South contention.
The roundtable series continues Friday with predictions for surprising individual statistical achievements by Buccaneers players heading into the 2026 campaign.