Pewter Report’s 2024 Bucs MVPs

The Bucs’ 2024 season came to an early and abrupt end in a 23-20 loss at home to the Commanders in the Wild Card playoff round. The team finished 10–7 with a fourth consecutive NFC South title, but failed to advance to the NFC Divisional playoff round as the team did a year ago.

The Pewter Report staff voted for the 2024 Bucs Season Awards this week, and those results will be revealed in three separate stories. The first is the Bucs MVPs of the 2024 season on offense, defense and special teams, in addition to the Assistant Coach of the Year and the Bucs Rookie of the Year.

On Sunday, the Pewter Report will reveal the most improved and most disappointing players on offense and defense, in addition to the Bucs’ 2024 Season Awards, which include free agent signing of the year, most unsung player, most inspirational player, most overrated player and more. So keep an eye out for those articles this weekend.

Bucs MVP Offense: QB Baker Mayfield

Baker Mayfield was the easy choice here. Not only did he improve his game from a year ago at every level, he also stepped up as a leader. Mayfield’s willpower and gritty play were the catalyst for the Bucs offense, which scored 502 points, which was the second most in franchise history. The 2021 team, which had a franchise record 13 wins, scored 511 points.

Mayfield’s completion percentage jumped from a personal-best 64.3% in 2023 to a career-high 71.4% last year when he reached a new career high with 4,500 yards after 4,044 yards in 2023. The Bucs’ franchise quarterback experienced a seismic jump in touchdown from a previous personal best of 28 in 2023 to 41 last year, which was second most in a single season in Tampa Bay behind Tom Brady’s 43 in 2021.

Mayfield also finished with a career-high 106.8 QB rating and was a perfect fit in Liam Cohen’s new offensive assistant, which saw him post a career-high 7.9-yard pass attempt average. The 29-year-old quarterback also rushed for the most yards of his career with 376 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry. carry. It was a shame Mayfield was snubbed for the Pro Bowl this year.

Others who deserve a mention here include All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, who became the only NFL player in history to become an All-Pro at two positions. Wirfs, also a four-time Pro Bowler this season, has now been an All-Pro at left and right tackle.

Wide receiver Mike Evans, who topped 1,000 receiving yards for an 11th straight season, tying Jerry Rice’s NFL record, and rookie running back Bucky Irving, who became the first Buccaneer to rush for 1,000 yards since 2015, should also be considered.

Bucs MVP defense: DT Vita Vea

Vita Vea was shaken at the end of the NFC Divisional playoff loss at Detroit at the end of the 2023 season. After battling injuries and missing two games, Vea told general manager Jason Licht that he would come back in much better shape in 2024 and vowed to have a better season.

Mission accomplished for Vea, who worked out with former Bucs defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in the offseason and reported to camp noticeably trimmer. Vea missed just one game due to a knee injury and had a Pro Bowl season with a career-high seven sacks, which topped his personal best of 6.5 in 2022 and was an improvement over last year’s 5.5 sacks.

Vea provided excellent leadership up front and was a role model for young defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, who ended up topping Vea for the team sack lead with 7.5 in his second season in Tampa Bay. The 6-foot-4, 347-pound tight end had a career game in Kansas City on Monday Night Football with a personal-best 10 tackles and two sacks on quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Others deserving defensive MVP consideration include Kancey and linebacker Lavonte David, who played in all 17 games at age 34 and led the team with 122 tackles and had 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Bucs MVP Special Teams: K Chase McLaughlin

Tampa Bay’s special teams were average at best, but what kept the unit from sinking below average was the extraordinary season delivered by kicker Chase McLaughlin, who was the unanimous choice for Special Teams MVP. McLaughlin connected on a career-high 93.8% of his field goals, breaking his mark from last year of 93.5%.

McLaughlin was 30-of-32 on field goals and both of his misses came from more than 50 yards, going 8-of-10 on the year. His 15 career field goals in Tampa Bay from 50 yards or longer are also a new franchise record.

McLaughlin was also 54-of-56 on extra points, which was a 96.4% conversion rate. At age 28, McLaughlin is still very much in his prime and was one of the best offseason signings by Jason Licht and the front office.

Assistant Coach of the Year: Offensive coordinator Liam Coen

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht had the unenviable task of searching for a new offensive coordinator in two moves after Dave Canales, who was hired to replace Byron Leftwich in the 2023 offseason, was hired by Carolina to be the Panthers new boss. coach. Canales had shown great promise as a first-year play-caller, especially in the second half of the season, improving the Bucs’ scoring from 18 points per game in 2022 to 21 points per game in 2023.

Bowles and Licht struck gold with the hiring of Liam Coen, who was also a first-year play-caller in the NFL but spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky. Coen spent years in Los Angeles working under Sean McVay and brought his own version of the Rams offense to Tampa Bay. Not only did Coen’s attack catch on, it took the NFL by storm.

Baker Mayfield stepped up to become a Pro Bowl-caliber passer with 41 touchdown passes, which was tied with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and just two behind Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Mayfield and Coen helped the Bucs increase their scoring average from 21 points per game. match to 29.5 points per game, which was fourth in the NFL. Tampa Bay finished with 502 points scored, which was nine behind the team record of 511 in 2021 with Tom Brady under center.

The Bucs offense also made a quantum leap in the regular season, going from dead last in the league in 2023 with 90.4 yards per carry. game to 149.2 yards per game in 2024, which ranked fourth in the NFL. Coen also did a masterful job of hiring assistant coaches as all aspects of the offense stepped up this past season.

Rookie of the Year: RB Bucky Irving

Not only did Bucky Irving become the NFL’s leading rusher among all rookies with 1,122 yards, but Tampa Bay’s sensational running back also finished as the league’s 10th overall leading rusher. Not bad for a fourth-round pick who also led Tampa Bay with eight rushing touchdowns.

Irving was among the league leaders in rushes of 20 yards or more with eight, including three runs of 40 yards or more, which was tied for the fourth most in the NFL in 2024. His average of 5.4 yards was in the Top 5, showing how remarkable consistent he was during his rookie campaign. Irving was outstanding in making the first defender miss while becoming Tampa Bay’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Doug Martin last did it in 2015.

The former Oregon Duck supplanted Rachaad White as the team’s starter in 2024, and he added 77 more rushing yards to his rookie season in the Wild Card playoff loss to Washington. Irving was also dangerous as a receiver out of the backfield, catching 47 passes for 392 yards (8.3 avg.).

While center Graham Barton, nickelback Tykee Smith and wide receiver Jaylen McMillan, who was second with eight receiving touchdowns, all had bright spots as a rookie, Irving was the clear favorite for Bucs Rookie of the Year.