The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made 38 roster moves on Sunday to carve out a 53-man team for the start of the 2026 regular season, creating what is often errantly called a "final" roster by the NFL's 6:00 p.m. deadline. While there will likely still be some work done around the edges of that roster, including the formation of a 17-man practice squad, the Bucs now have the basic shape of the group they will hope will return them to playoff contention after their postseason run of five years in a row was snapped last year.

On offense the Bucs are set with Baker Mayfield heading into his fourth season as the starting quarterback, an offensive line that is back to its proven lineup from 2024 and serious receiving depth. Still, we have some lingering questions that we won't know the answers to until after the regular season opens on September 13 in Cincinnati. Here are three of them:

1. Is undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels ready to assume the role of Baker Mayfield's only backup on the active roster?

Mayfield's primary backup in 2023 and 2024, his first two years in Tampa, was Kyle Trask, who never started any games for the Buccaneers but at least had been with the team since 2021. Last year, it was Teddy Bridgewater, who had extensive NFL starting experience. Daniels, of course, has no NFL experience at all after joining the team in May as a rookie free agent out of Kansas.Obviously, it is no knock on Daniels that the team would prefer he not need to play at all this season, but he has now been chosen as the man to step in if Mayfield misses any games for the first time since he arrived in Tampa.

Daniels won the job over veteran Jake Browning, who does offer previous NFL starting experience, and that's a product of how impressive the rookie has looked in practices and games. He has displayed a strong arm and the ability to throw any route with good timing. He also would give the Bucs good mobility if he had to run the offense, which would at least by stylistically similar to what Mayfield does on occasion. Daniels has also shown good poise and appears to have command of Robinson's playbook, so there is reason for optimism that the could keep the Bucs' offense in gear if called upon.

2. How will roles shape up for such receivers as Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson and Ted Hurst III?

We've heard from Robinson that he wants to let second-year man Emeka Egbuka focus on the 'Z' position after being thrust into a wide variety of roles as a rookie. In addition, Chris Godwin Jr. is expected to get the bulk of the work in the slot, where he has always put up his best numbers. Both roles would likely have those receivers getting a lot of pre-snap and at-snap motion.

McMillan came back strong from a scary neck injury late last season and there is still plenty of recollection about the torrid run he went on over the last five weeks of his rookie season. Waves of injuries opened up a surprisingly large amount of playing time for Johnson as a rookie after he was drafted in the seventh round, and he was a revelation, showing an ability to both get open downfield and to turn short passes into big gains. And the Bucs were thrilled to land Hurst in the third round this year and have since watched him stand out as an 'X' receiver who is a big threat in the red zone and can go up high to snatch passes over defenders.

There is little doubt the Bucs want to get all three of those receivers significantly involved in the passing attack this season to make use of their varied and complementary skillsets. Just how that happens is what Bucs fans are waiting to see. Given that the Bucs will surely be getting the ball to Egbuka and Godwin and will also want to feed backs Bucky Irving and Kenny Gainwell plus tight end Cade Otton, it is very difficult to predict how Mayfield is going to distribute the ball and how Robinson is going to distribute the reps.

3. Can the rushing attack return to its dominant 2024 form under the guidance of new Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson, who is devising a more diverse ground game scheme?

The biggest reason the Buccaneers believe they can once again forge a balanced offense with one of the league's best rushing attacks, as they did in 2024, is health. Tampa Bay's rushing numbers fell off dramatically in 2025 but that's not much of a surprise given the significant injuries suffered along the way by Irving, Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke, Cody Mauch, Ben Bredeson and even Godwin, one of the NFL's better blocking receivers.

All of those players who missed huge chunks of time last year are heading into 2026 with a clean bill of health, especially with Wirfs recently returning from a hamstring injury. Irving, one of the biggest surprise stories from the 2025 draft as a fourth-round draft pick, was a big-play machine as a rookie, surpassing 1,500 yards from scrimmage and recording one of the best missed-tackle rates in the entire NFL. Add to that a similar style of back in Gainwell, the Pittsburgh Steelers' team MVP in 2025, and the Bucs have the horsepower in their backfield to take advantage of what should be more consistent blocking in 2026.

The bigger question is just what the rushing attack will look like. The Buccaneers were primarily a gap/duo rushing team between the tackles in 2025. They plan to retain those pages in the playbook but add a lot more wide-zone concepts which they believe will take advantage of the very good movement skills their offensive linemen possess. The combination of scheme and talent could produce much better results after a down 2025, but the Bucs still have to prove that hypothesis correct.