The start of the 2018 season is just a few weeks away and fans across the league are excited in some way shape or form about their respective team. Last year Authentic Mike Evans Jersey , when the season ended, there wasn’t much to be excited about with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The season was a huge disappointment and it left many fans wondering what’s next? The team had problems all across the board. The defensive line, the secondary, the offensive line, you name it. It was clear at the beginning of the offseason that the goal for Jason Licht was to improve in the trenches and make significant changes on both sides of the ball. What has me most excited about this upcoming season, is the Buccaneers’ new look defensive line. It’s not just the players that have me excited. It’s the experience that these players are bringing to this football team that has me feeling good about this year’s defensive line. Jason Pierre Paul is 29 years old and is heading into his ninth season, just like Gerald McCoy, and has played in 111 games in his career. On the opposite side you have Vinny Curry, who is also 29 years old, but is only heading into his seventh season. Between McCoy, Pierre Paul and Curry, those guys have played a combined 304 games in this league.The two other additions in Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein also have some valuable experience in this league. Unrein, who just turned 31 Youth Kwon Alexander Jersey , will be entering his eighth season. Allen is the youngest free agent addition of the offseason. He is just 26 years old and will be entering his fifth NFL season.With that being said, it isn’t just age and games played that makes me excited about this group. It’s Super Bowl appearances. Obviously, Tampa Bay hasn’t made a Super Bowl since 2002, so you can eliminate McCoy, Gholston and Spence from that list. Outside of rookie Vita Vea, who was the other addition along the defensive line, all the other players acquired this offseason have played for the Lombardi Trophy with a previous team. Vinny Curry and Beau Allen played last year for the Eagles, Pierre Paul played for the Giants in 2011 and Mitch Unrein played for the Broncos in 2013. These guys know what it takes to get to the Super Bowl and I think experience will help guys like McCoy, Noah Spence and William Gholston who have yet to reach the playoffs during their tenure in Tampa. It’ll sure be fun to watch this defensive line come together and I think all Buccaneer fans should be excited. It’s fair to expect that this group finds a way not to be last in the league in sacks again. In fact, I expect them to be somewhere in the range of 10-15. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stumbled out of their Monday Night Football contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They proceeded to flat out faceplant their way out of Chicago to enter the bye looking like an 0-4 team, not a 2-2 team.On Monday’s episode of the Locked on Bucs podcast my co-host James Yarcho asked me what I do to kind of get my mind off of how my favorite team has done these past two weeks. Well, one of the ways is this column right here. Not necessarily dedicated to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it doesn’t exclude them. I get my crack at three topics from anywhere in the football universe. This week http://www.buccaneersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-donovan-smith-jersey , here are the three I chose.FALSE START: Patrick Mahomes II is the real deal.They said this. I am they.Ok, so it’s not like I thought Mahomes would be a bad quarterback, I just didn’t think he’d light the world on fire like he has.When he did, I kind of viewed him the same way I viewed Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hot start. Great for football, great for him, great for his team, temporary in every way.I assume at some point Mahomes will have a bad game. It happens. But if I learned anything from Monday night’s game featuring the Broncos and Chiefs, it was that I was wrong about Mahomes.Not only is he ready to lead this team for good, he’s even better than advertised.It’s not even so much the plays he made to get his team the win, it’s more how he did it. Completely poised. Never looked panicked. Certainly didn’t look like a young man starting just his fifth NFL game.Mahomes is 5-0 as a starter and 2-0 in Denver. Pretty impressive.He’ll come down to earth at some point, but not because he isn’t talented enough to have done what he’s done so far, but because even Tom Brady loses Super Bowls.Still, I’m going to enjoy watching this quarterback for what I hope is a long career.OFFSIDES: Earl Thomas pays for being a team guy.Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsLe’Veon Bell has been bashed by media. Bashed by fans. Bashed by teammates. He’s a bad guy.Earl Thomas came back. Was ready for Week 1 Gerald McCoy Jersey , and has been on the field for the Seattle Seahawks for each of the opening kickoffs so far this season.Bell has made zero progress on his new contract. Thomas has gone backwards.With his broken leg there’s little to no chance an NFL franchise will pay the safety what he’s looking for in 2019’s free-agency period.But hey, at least he was a team guy.If you only care about the laundry, why are you upset the man wearing it left the way he did?The Legion of Boom is gone. Earl Thomas was the last remaining member and expected to somehow continue the legacy the “12s” expected. But, he should do so quietly. Well, he quietly had three interceptions in the first three games this season. Seattle is 2-2, and they’re about to find out why they needed Thomas around so badly.Richard Sherman is gone. Kam Chancellor is gone. The defense you once knew and loved, and allowed the offensive flaws to not take center stage, is gone.When Thomas returned in time for Week 1 - read that again - returned in time for Week 1, here’s what his Ken Norton Jr. had to say,Bobby Wagner said this,A generational player according to both teammate and coach. And he was the sixth highest paid safety in the NFL until Kam Chancellor retired at the age of 30. The same age Thomas will be next spring.If you don’t think that little occurrence had anything to do with this, you’re wrong. Earl Thomas has made more money right now than I likely will in my entire life. And he’s earned it. He earned even more, he just didn’t get it.One would think the Dallas Cowboys will likely get the first shot at signing Thomas in the off-season Authentic Jameis Winston Jersey , so we’ll find out just how real Jerry’s love is for Earl.Bell is the bad guy, and it’s gotten him hate and no money with the potential to earn more next year.Thomas was the good guy who came back to a ghost of a team compared to the ones he starred on previously, and it’s earned him a broken leg, the ire of Seahawks ‘faithful’, and no shot at getting the money he should have gotten from Seattle or Dallas or whoever.But I’m sure someday the Seahawks will invite him back to put him in their Ring of Honor, or Nest of Greatness, or whatever. If it happens to coincide with when their ticket sales are low and they need to fill seats, that’ll just be a coincidence.
