2020 Buccaneers Record Watch: Week 1

At long last, the Buccaneers open up their highly anticipated 2020 season on Sunday in New Orleans against the division rival Saints. There is a ton of hype surrounding this game, and why shouldn’t there be?

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are making their Buccaneer debuts, for one. Brady is matching up against fellow future Hall of Famer Drew Brees. And hey, it’s Bucs football and it’s back for the first time in eight and a half months.

There is plenty to be excited about heading into Sunday, that’s for sure. It would be huge for Tampa Bay to start the season—and the Brady era—with a victory over a top contender like New Orleans. But beyond the in-game matchups and final score, there are some individuals on the Bucs’ roster looking to move up in the franchise’s record book. With that in mind, let’s take a look at where things stand heading into the 2020 season.

Career Rushing Yards

Through two seasons of his career, Ronald Jones II has 768 rushing yards. That’s good for 26th in Bucs history. With 42 yards on Sunday, he’ll pass William Howard (809) for 25th, while 112 would help him pass Doug Williams (879) for 24th.

Career Rushing Touchdowns

Jones has seven rushing touchdowns in his career, which oddly enough has him 17th in team history. With two on Sunday, he’d pass James Owens (eight) for 16th. Three more would have him tied for 14th with Jameis Winston and Michael Pittman (10).

Career Receiving Yards

Chris Godwin is up to 2,700 receiving yards in his career, placing him 16th in franchise history. He needs five yards on Sunday to pass Warrick Dunn (2,704) for 15th. With 45 yards, he’d pass Courtney Hawkins for 14th, and a 143-yard day would put him in 13th ahead of Lawrence Dawsey (2,842).

With 2,156 career receiving yards, Cameron Brate has the 23rd-most in franchise history. He is 62 yards away from passing Jacquez Green (2,217) for 22nd and 129 from beating out Mike Alstott (2,284) for 21st.

Career Receiving Touchdowns

Brate’s 27 career receiving touchdowns have him tied with Mark Carrier for fifth-most in team history. A receiving score on Sunday would tie him with Joey Galloway (28) for fourth.

Godwin has 17 touchdown catches in his career, tying him with Keyshawn Johnson and Gerald Carter for 11th. He is three away from tying Vincent Jackson (20) for 10th.

O.J. Howard has 12 career touchdown receptions, tying him for 19th all-time. One more would tie him with Courtney Hawkins and Mike Alstott (13) for 17th.

Career Receptions

At 195 career catches, Brate is 20th in Bucs history. He is 11 away from tying Lawrence Dawsey and Courtney Hawkins (206) for 18th.

Career Touchdowns

Mike Evans has 49 total touchdowns since coming into the league in 2014. He is 23 touchdowns away from having the most in team history. Mike Alstott (71) currently holds the record.

All-Time Passing Touchdowns (NFL)

There are plenty of all-time NFL records to keep track of now that Brady is a Buc. He is currently No. 2 on the all-time passing touchdowns list with 541, trailing only Drew Brees (546). Of course, the two will match up on Sunday, so that’ll be an extra something to watch for.

Career Solo Tackles*

Lavonte David’s 724 career solo tackles have him third in Tampa Bay history, but he is a distant third. He needs 321 more to pass Ronde Barber (1,044) for second. If he gets that rumored contract extension, he could get there in a few years.

*Before 1994, solo tackles weren’t official and were kept inconsistently from team to team. Since then, they have been consistently recorded but are still unofficial.

Career Sacks*

David has 22.5 career sacks, leaving him 14th all-time. One more would move him past Santana Dotson and Lee Roy Selmon (23, unofficially) for 12th, while two more would have him ahead of Marcus Jones and Stylez G. White (24) for 10th.

Jason Pierre-Paul’s 21 sacks in two seasons with the Bucs have him 16th all-time. He is 1.5 from passing John Cannon (22) for 15th and tying David for 14th.

Shaquil Barrett has only been in Tampa for one season, but he put up a single-season franchise record 19.5 sacks in 2019. Because of that, he is 18th in franchise history. With one on Sunday, he would pass Anthony “Booger” McFarland for 17th. He needs just two to pass Pierre-Paul for 16th. This should be an interesting race to keep track of throughout the 2020 season...

*Sacks did not become an official stat until 1982

Career Passes Defended*

With 45 passes defended, David is sixth in franchise history. He needs 10 more to pass Aqib Talib (54) for fifth.

*Passes defended did not become an official stat until 1999

Career Interceptions

David’s 11 career interceptions are good for a 15th-place tie with Jeremiah Castille and Jermaine Phillips. One more would tie him with Dwight Smith, Mark Robinson and Jeris White (12) for 12th.

Career Forced Fumbles

David has 21 forced fumbles in his career, placing him second in Bucs history. He is four away from taking the all-time record from Derrick Brooks (24).

Career Games Played

Demar Dotson left in the offseason, meaning he finishes his Buccaneer career at 130 games played. That ties him with Brian Kelly for 11th-most in franchise history.

Sunday will be David’s 122nd game with Tampa Bay, which will tie John Cannon for 15th-most all-time.

And finally, Brady will make NFL history on Sunday, as he will be playing his 327th game (including the postseason). He will pass Brett Favre for most games played by a QB in league history (h/t Buccaneers Communications).

**All records and statistics come from Pro Football Reference**