Buccaneers selected for ‘Hard Knocks’

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had what could be described as a growth season in 2016, posting a winning 9-7 record in quarterback Jameis Winston’s sophomore effort.

They will likely be a sleeper playoff pick in this upcoming season, and so what better way to get a feel for them in that sense than an in depth training camp documentary brought to you by NFL Films? That'll be exactly what we’re getting this August, as the Bucs have been seleted for HBO’s annual miniseries “Hard Knocks.”

There were eight teams in the running, including the Ravens, who were ultimately left off likely due to the heavy renovations to their Owings Mills’ facility where training camp takes place every year. While that is a bit of a disappointment for fans of the team like us, the Bucs will prove to be a nice consolation prize, as they have some nice personalities and potential storylines we can follow.

Winston is a polarizing firebrand of a player, who looks like he could possibly take the next step into becoming a top five to ten NFL passer in 2017, and he will no doubt be interesting to follow this summer. Part of his progression will be due to a strong receiver room which includes Mike Evans, and now Desean Jackson, who should both be fun to follow as well.

Another story to track here is last year’s second round pick, kicker Roberto Aguayo, and his quest to bounce back from a highly underwhelming rookie campaign, especially based on his draft position. Nick Folk was brought in to provide competition for him, and we’ll definitely see the film crew following that battle throughout camp.

It’s tough to make out exactly how head coach Dirk Koetter will translate to the screen, but after the electric factory that was 2016’s Jeff Fisher, it’ll be fairly tough to measure any coach fairly moving forward.

All in all, this is an exciting announcement for “Hard Knocks” who could use a strong 2017 season after the absolute clunker in Los Angeles last year.