What will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look like in five years?

While we look at the afterglow of the 2017 NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving on to the next big thing: winning a Super Bowl. That’ll take some time, though. perhaps as much as five years—or perhaps even longer. The future is fickle.

So let’s look at five different scenarios for where the Bucs could be in five years. And you can decide which one’s most likely.

Super Bowl(s)

With Jameis Winston emerging as a franchise quarterback heading a powerful offense, and the defense at least good enough to win a few games, the Bucs are now the latest NFL dynasty.

The new Atlanta Falcons

Great offense, mediocre-to-terrible defense, and constant playoff failures. While Jameis Winston and his weapons develop, the team struggles to build a defense year after year. The Bucs will get somewhere, but not quite where they want to go. At least they still have Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith.

Middling results

Jameis Winston turns into a solid quarterback, but doesn’t quite get to taking that next step to becoming a great passer. Perhaps because the pieces around him are just a little short of great. On defense, the Bucs get stuck in the same old much and cannot put together a consistent, top-notch core. Perhaps the Bucs win a division title or two, but they can’t manage to do any damage in the playoffs.

Mediocrity forever

2016 becomes the norm: seven to nine wins, close to a playoff berth, and then just falling short in the end. Year after year. Jameis Winston is solid but not good enough to lift the offense to the next level on his own, and the defense is messy.

Total collapse

Disaster strikes. Key players suffer catastrophic injuries, young talents can’t manage to develop into more, Dirk Koetter and Jason Licht get fired after a terrible 2018 season and the team as a whole just cannot put anything positive on the field.

What do you think the Bucs will look like in five years?