5 Changes the Buccaneers Must Absolutely Make This Offseason

With the kind of season the Buccaneers are having, the offseason can't come soon enough. Though personnel changes won't fix everything wrong in Tampa Bay, they may put the Bucs on the road to being a respectable team again.

The Bucs looked dreadful from the outset of this season and are in need of yet another offseason overhaul, preferably unlike what they attempted earlier this year. Many of the choices made by Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht led to the Bucs' struggles on both sides of the ball.

Despite attempting to rebuild the offensive line and drafting exclusively offensive players, the Bucs offense has been nothing short of dreadful, due in large part to their lack of discipline. Against Cincinnati, the offensive line committed eight of the Bucs' 13 penalties per the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud.

The Bucs have no choice but to make drastic changes to the offense, starting with a new offensive coordinator. The Bucs just announced that offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford has been released from his contract with the team. Tedford has been little more than a ghost whose offensive schemes haunt acting play-caller Marcus Arroyo and the Bucs offense.

Talent could be upgraded too. Josh McCown underwhelms as the Bucs' starting quarterback and obviously the offensive line needs improvements. Though the Bucs defense is coming into its own down the stretch, the defensive end position is too thin with only Jacquies Smith providing consistent production.

Finally, the Bucs special teams took a nose dive this season, particularly punter Michael Koenen. Improving the special teams unit starts with finding a new punter.

Here are the five changes the Buccaneers must make this coming offseason.

Hire a New Offensive Coordinator

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The first thing the Bucs must do once this season ends is to find an offensive coordinator who can actually coach next season.

The Buccaneers just announced they released Jeff Tedford from his contractual obligations, and he will not be the Buccaneers offensive coordinator in 2015, per the Tampa Tribune's Roy Cummings:

"

The Bucs have officially parted ways with offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford. Team will release the news momentarily.

— Roy Cummings (@RCummingsTBO) December 5, 2014"

Tedford's departure was all but inevitable. Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds believes the Bucs already washed their hands of Tedford after announcing he would not return to his play-calling duties this season.

Though the Bucs have numerous problems on offense ranging from talent to discipline, the absence of Jeff Tedford condemned the Bucs' season. ESPN's Pat Yasinskas credits Tedford's departure as a chief reason for the Bucs' lack of offensive identity.

With Tedford gone, the Bucs will need to bring in an experienced offensive mind who can quickly put his stamp on the Bucs' aimless offense. Most importantly he will need to fortify the offensive line to play consistently as a unit.

A real list of nominees won't emerge until after this year's Black Monday when NFL teams start firing their underperforming coaches. One possible name to consider is Chicago head coach Marc Trestman who is looking very shaky with the Bears looking at another losing season.

The Bucs should also look at Eagle's quarterback coach Bill Musgrave. The former Vikings offensive coordinator did an amazing job getting Mark Sanchez ready to play in place of the injured Nick Foles and could bring some knowledge of Chip Kelly's potent offense to Tampa Bay.

Sign Two Starting Guards

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There is no more shameful failure the Bucs suffered this year than ending the season with the same problem they had last year: needing two starting guards.

None of the Bucs choices for the guard position helped solve their dilemma. The Bucs traded away Jeremy Zuttah, the only guard on the roster with starting experience. They waited until the fifth round of the draft to take G Kadeem Edwards. They trusted that Carl Nicks could return from his toe problems and MRSA infection, but instead he retired in July. They signed several backup-quality players like Patrick Omameh and Garrett Gilkey to fill the void.

In a last-ditch effort to salvage the position, the Bucs traded a fourth-round pick in 2015 and tight end Tim Wright to the New England Patriots for veteran G Logan Mankins. Since arriving in Tampa Bay, he's been a shell of his former self.

While the Bucs' impotent offensive design doesn't put the offensive line in a great position to succeed, the guards are simply not good. The Bucs must find new starters.

Candidates for the jobs include pending free agents Mike Iupati and James Carpenter. The Bucs will definitely need to look to the draft to develop long-term starters. The Bucs should consider guards like South Carolina's A.J. Cann and Florida State's Tre Jackson, both of whom were ranked as top-five guards by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller.

Rookie Kadeem Edwards could have a place in the starting lineup next season depending on how he rebounds from his season-ending foot injury. Edwards may be the only Bucs guard worth keeping after this season ends.

Draft Marcus Mariota

Steve Dykes/Associated Press

The Bucs have never been very successful trying to find a franchise quarterback, but this year they have an opportunity to turn their fortunes around by drafting Oregon QB Marcus Mariota.

The future of the Bucs offense won't be found on their current roster. Neither Josh McCown nor Mike Glennon possess the talent to take the offense to the next level, as indicated by the Bucs' 2-10 record.

Mariota is the dual-threat so en vogue in the NFL today. This season, he's thrown for 3,470 yards and 36 touchdowns while running for 636 yards and another 11 scores.

The Bucs will likely have their pick of Mariota or Florida State QB Jameis Winston, but Mariota is the preferable choice despite Winston's 2013 Heisman Trophy and national championship. Winston has too many question marks surrounding his maturity and character, question marks that don't burden Mariota.

There is no guarantee Mariota will be able to sustain the success he enjoyed in college, but the Bucs need a spark that McCown and Glennon cannot provide.

Draft More Defensive End Depth

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The Bucs defense recently discovered it does indeed possess a pass rush thanks to the rise of defensive end Jacquies Smith. However, a defense can't hang its hat on one reliable defensive end, so the Bucs need to bolster their edge-rushing ranks.

Smith accounts for nearly half of all the Bucs' sacks from the defensive end position with four. High-priced free-agent signing Michael Johnson, Will Gholston, Da'Quan Bowers, T.J. Fatinkun and former Buccaneer DE Scott Solomon combined for seven sacks. Eleven sacks by six players over 12 games is simply embarrassing.

On a line that boasts All-Pro defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the Bucs defensive ends should disrupt and sack opposing quarterbacks far more than they have this season. With Michael Johnson proving ineffective, the Bucs need to look to the draft for pass-rushing prospects.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller calls 2015 "the Year of the Pass-Rusher" for the depth of talent that will be available in the upcoming draft. If the Bucs choose to forgo taking a quarterback with their first-round pick, they will have their choice of top pass-rushers, including Nebraska's Randy Gregory and Missouri's Shane Ray.

Given the depth of edge-rushing talent in the 2015 draft, the Bucs could get a viable starter in later rounds. Kentucky's Alvin Dupree and Utah's Nate Orchard could be available when the Bucs select high in the second round. Orchard especially deserves consideration for his 17.5 sacks so far this season, breaking Utah's single-season sack record.

Find a New Punter

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In virtually every aspect the Bucs special teams have been awful this season. Fixing their special teams woes begins with cutting Michael Koenen.

The Bucs punter is having one of the worst years of his career. He is averaging a league-worst 40.1 yards per punt and an abysmal 36 net yards per punt, according to NFL.com. His terrible punting has given short fields to opposing offenses all year.

Koenen attributed some of his struggles to a bout of mono he's battled throughout the season, per Sports Talk Florida's Jenna Laine. He's improved down the stretch but still hasn't lived up to his contract.

Koenen is owed $3.25 million in 2015 and 2016, according to Over The Cap. That is an outrageous salary for a player of such inconsistent and frequently poor performance.

The Bucs could save quite a bit of money by cutting Koenen during the offseason. They will have an opportunity to draft a punter or pick one up in free agency next year. The Bucs could also bring back Jacob Schum, who briefly signed with the Bucs' practice squad in November.

If nothing else, the Bucs could turn over kickoff and even punting duties to kicker Patrick Murray, who is capable of doing both. While the Bucs are unlikely to have only one player handle kicking, punting and kickoff duties, Murray can be pressed into action in a pinch.