The Bucs Player You Want To See Succeed The Most In 2026

 

Pewter Report’s PR Roundtable
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A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. Who is the Bucs player you want to see succeed the most?

Scott Reynolds: I Want To See Yaya Diaby Get To Double-Digit Sacks

Yaya Diaby doesn’t get the credit he deserves as a pass rusher and I would like to see the Bucs outside linebacker take the next step and get double-digit sacks this season. Diaby has led Tampa Bay in sacks in 2023 as a rookie with 7.5 and again last year with seven, while being a top 10 edge rusher over the last two years with 132 pressures.

Does he need more pass rushing moves outside of the long arm and bull rush? Yes. But the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Diaby is an incredibly hard worker and has been working on increasing his flexibility and his ability to bend around the corner over the past year and I think he’s working towards that.

With Calijah Kancey returning to health on the interior and the addition of first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr., Diaby won’t be rushing the passer by himself, as he often felt like he was last year. Bain is an athletic pass-rushing dynamo that could give the Buccaneers a bookend pass rush duo when paired with Diaby, who is entering a contract year.

I remember growing up in Kansas City and watching the Chiefs’ bookend pass rushers Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith. While Thomas, who became a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was the better edge rusher and usually led the team in sacks, that wasn’t the case for three seasons from 1993-95. Due to all of the attention that Thomas garnered, Smith registered 14.5, 15 and 11.5 sacks in those three seasons while Thomas produced eight, 11 and eight sacks. Both outside linebackers were Pro Bowlers in each of those three years.

I could see Bain getting around seven sacks this year as a rookie but causing so much havoc and creating so much pressure that he forces the quarterback into Diaby’s clutches three or four times this year for clean-up sacks. We already know that Diaby is capable of getting seven sacks on his own in one-on-one pass rush situations. Having Bain’s help opposite him will allow Diaby to become Tampa Bay’s version of Neil Smith, who didn’t record double-digits sacks in Kansas City until his fifth season at age 26.

Diaby just turned 27 and is entering his fourth year in red and pewter. So there is a similarity there. Now would be the perfect time for Diaby get 10 sacks or more and completely change the narrative around “Sub Zero” with Bucs fans. It’s easy to root for Diaby, who is a great guy, a fantastic interview and simply wants to be great and help the team achieve greatness at the same time.

Matt Matera: Baker Mayfield Can Have His Best Year Yet With The Bucs

The NFL is often determined by how good a team’s quarterback is, so why wouldn’t I choose Baker Mayfield for the player I want to see succeed the most? If Baker Mayfield performs at a high level, the Bucs are returning to the postseason – and maybe even contending for a title. Remember the 2024 season Mayfield had under offensive coordinator Liam Coen? Remember when he was in the MVP conversation early in 2025? When Mayfield is on, he’s electric. So hopefully he can do that for the entire 2026 season.

Mayfield will have every opportunity to have a career year. He’s reuniting with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, whom he worked with in Los Angeles back in 2022. The offensive line is healthy. And despite losing Mike Evans, the Bucs still have a great wide receiver room headlined by Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Ted Hurst that gives Mayfield plenty of weapons to work with.

The key is Robinson incorporating the right scheme and calling the right plays for Mayfield. Tampa Bay’s quarterback needs to be in rhythm, getting out of the pocket and making throws that best fit his skillset. Robinson can definitely get it out of Mayfield, who is entering a big contract year, it’s just a matter of the offense executing properly. A great season by Mayfield will ensure him a big payday in the form of a multi-year extension and send Tampa Bay back to the postseason as the likely NFC South champions once again.

Adam Slivon: Zyon McCollum Taking The Next Step Would Be Huge

The Bucs had high hopes for Zyon McCollum last season after signing him to a three-year, $48 million deal. That contract was a statement that McCollum was the long-term top cornerback on the roster, signaling an end to Jamel Dean’s time in Tampa Bay. For as much promise that the 2022 fifth-round pick flashed before, 2025 did not go the way he nor the team wanted. He struggled with lapses in coverage, especially against top wide receivers. While McCollum has repeatedly stated a desire to be a ballhawk, that has failed to come to pass with just three interceptions in four seasons.

When it comes to players I want to see succeed in 2026, McCollum is at the top of my list. Cornerback remains one of the most up in the air positions on the Bucs, with Dean’s departure opening the door for Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish to be starters. Still, the best version of McCollum is someone who can really unlock Tampa Bay’s defense.

He has always flashed the potential to be a shutdown corner, given his height and elite athleticism. Converting the intangibles into production would make for an exciting watch and allow Todd Bowles to breathe a sigh of relief. The team will be facing plenty of elite wide receivers throughout the year and must slow them down to have a chance at staying in games.

McCollum has the opportunity to become more of a leader in the Bucs secondary this season. With the defense needing better play across the board, certain players need to step up and prove they can be a part of things for the long haul. Only 27 years old, there is a chance he can hold the top cornerback spot down for the rest of decade.

McCollum is easy to root for and has always been gracious with his time during interviews and appearing on the Pewter Report Podcast every offseason. Now it is his time to lead the room and put it all together.

Bailey Adams: It’s Easy To Want Success For Chris Godwin Jr.

One byproduct of the way the Bucs have gone about building their teams in recent years is that year in and year out, the roster is full of guys who are easy to root for. It’s full of guys you want to see succeed. But in 2026, I’m not sure there’s a single one I want to see succeed more than Chris Godwin Jr.

On the one hand, how cool would it be for Godwin — who has, at best, been the 1B to Mike Evans’ 1A his whole career and more frequently been the Bucs’ No. 2 receiver — to step up and have a big season now that the wide receiver room is fully his? Sure, he and Evans led the room together for nearly a decade, but this is now Godwin’s group.

For that reason alone, I’d love to see him succeed not only as a leader — which is an absolute given considering his character and track record as a veteran voice in that room — but also as a player. Everyone is ready to hand the WR1 keys over to Emeka Egbuka or Jalen McMillan, and that’s because they’re young and talented. But after all this time, it’s hard to not want Godwin to get a season in which he’s *that* guy for Tampa Bay.

Godwin has been close to being that guy before, even with Evans in town. But two major injuries have cut him down at the most devastating times. And that’s the other reason I’d love to see him succeed in 2026. He made it back to the top in 2023 and the first part of 2024 after that season-ending knee injury in 2021. Now, I want to see him get back to the top after that ankle injury that ended his 2024 season.

Godwin was playing some of the best football of his career to start 2024, but that season was cruelly cut short. Wouldn’t it just be nice to see No. 14 have a special year this year after all he’s been through? For the fact that this is finally his room alone, for the leader he is, for his loyalty to the Bucs and for what he means to the organization, I would just love to see a big year out of Chris Godwin Jr. and have him get back to being a 1,000-yard producer.

Because who wouldn’t?

Josh Queipo: I’d Like To See Cody Mauch Bounce Back From Injury

Right guard Cody Mauch was on an impressive trajectory before a knee injury robbed him of almost his entire 2025 season. He had a legitimate case to be a Pro Bowler in 2024 as part of one of the best offensive lines in the NFL that season. I know there has been talk of Jason Licht not drafting a Pro Bowler since 2020, but I truly believe that had Mauch been healthy, that claim would have gone away last year.

His was not the first, but perhaps the most important domino to fall in a season to forget for the Bucs offense. All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs was still rehabbing from offseason surgery when Mauch went down last year. It forced Tampa Bay to go to turn to their fourth, fifth and eventually sixth options at guard (Mike Jordan, Luke Haggard, Elijah Klein and Dan Feeney).

The dropoff in play led to more pressure, both literally and figuratively, for quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield lost some trust in the line which led to some bad decisions. Everything became more difficult.

Rehab can be an isolating experience. You don’t get to be with your teammates much. It’s just you, your trainer and oftentimes lots of negative thoughts. Pushing through the mental pain in addition to the physical pain can be even more difficult than playing a physically demanding sport at the highest level.

I’d love nothing more than to see Mauch return from his injury and pick up where he left off as one of the more promising young guards in the NFL. Especially with this being a contract year for the fun-loving pass protector.