# Ralph Vacchiano: Vacchiano expects the Buccaneers to be contenders and improve to around nine wins, enough to win the NFC South, while the Jets remain held back by Geno Smith and might scrape out about six wins. He also sees rookie edge rushers David Bailey and Rueben Bain Jr. becoming Pro Bowlers, with Bailey among the NFL's best pass rushers. **Claimed:** Aug 12, 2026 **Pundit:** Ralph Vacchiano — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/ralph-vacchiano **Outlet:** Fox Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/jets-get-harsh-reminder-biggest-problem-joint-practice-buccaneers 7 checkable claims — 2 pro bowl and all-pro calls, 2 season win totals, 1 depth chart call, 1 division winner and 1 positional finishe — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 5 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 3 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the room on 1 and below it on 2. > The Bucs could easily be a nine-win team, and in the NFC South that might be more than enough. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Tampa Bay Buccaneers to finish with 9 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: not settled yet - **David Bailey to finish top ? at his position, by sacks** - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: David Bailey, New York Jets - Verdict: too vague to check - **Emeka Egbuka to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: not settled yet - **Rueben Bain to make Pro Bowl** - Kind: Pro Bowl and All-Pro Calls · About: Rueben Bain, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: not settled yet - **New York Jets to finish with 6 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: New York Jets - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: not settled yet - **David Bailey to make Pro Bowl** - Kind: Pro Bowl and All-Pro Calls · About: David Bailey, New York Jets - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Tampa Bay Buccaneers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/buccaneers - David Bailey — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/david-bailey - New York Jets — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/jets - Emeka Egbuka — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/emeka-egbuka - Rueben Bain — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/rueben-bain ## What others said about the same people - Marcus Ray on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Marcus predicted a 30-13 Buccaneers win over Cleveland with three touchdowns and three field goals, and picked the Raiders to beat a Jim Harbaugh team to start 2-0. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/aa09b337-f1fa-49b0-bc4b-5e2bbaddb5df (scored 19.05) - Ryan LaVoy on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: LaVoy predicted a 28-10 Buccaneers win over the Browns, said even the Falcons would beat Cleveland, and named Detroit, Baltimore and the Rams as teams he expects in the playoffs. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/227e256e-a31d-413d-a568-7f7250dcd161 (scored 16.67) - Jaron Spor on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The host predicted a comfortable Buccaneers win over Cleveland, 27-10, picked Jacksonville as an upset winner at Denver, said the Giants could win seven or eight games as a sneaky team, and expected Deshaun Watson and the Browns to part ways soon. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7a7160b2-ca51-4fce-a478-bd9f75323548 (scored 19.05) - Carmen Vitali on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: In the show's weekly picks segment Vitali took the Broncos over the Rams, the Ravens over the Cowboys in Rio, Tampa at home over Minnesota, the Bills over the Chargers and the Eagles on the road in Chicago. She also agreed that Caleb Williams would be out roughly two to three weeks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/948bc684-6a05-4cb4-a5ff-72861da00102 (scored 0) - Pat Fitzmaurice on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Fitzmaurice gave rest-of-season positional rankings for several Chiefs and other skill players, including Mahomes as his QB10, Kenneth Walker as RB4 behind Gibbs, Bijan and McCaffrey, Kelce at TE8 and Worthy down at WR50, and he picked Tampa Bay to beat Minnesota 21-20. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/31b15133-9938-492f-a5a8-48d1dd02b911 (scored 35.71) - Derek Brown on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Brown laid out aggressive rest-of-season positional rankings — Mahomes QB8, Kenneth Walker RB3, Kelce up to TE7, Rashee Rice all the way down at WR31 and Worthy at WR42 — called Drake London a WR1 with Penix back, and picked Tampa Bay 21-18 over Minnesota while declaring Zay Flowers will not play in Brazil. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/889acfb2-8238-4174-89cb-a194ff0948ff (scored 40.48) ## More pro bowl and all-pro calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Pat Gustavson on Charles Cross: Gustafson picked the Bears, Eagles, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, the Rams and Bears in the NFC, the Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, and the Patriots to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. His awards slate included Stafford for MVP, Puka for OPOY and Liam Cohen for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/671b9c4f-1f25-4f11-ad26-16a1126ea3b8 (scored 0) - Brandon Carney on Trent Williams: Carney made a full playoff bracket, picking the Bears, Niners, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, then Seahawks and Rams in the NFC divisional, Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, with the Rams beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He also gave award picks including Stafford for MVP and Vrabel for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/88101820-7344-4240-93f1-caa15fe95de9 (scored 0) - Peter Bukowski on Zach Thomas: Bukowski breaks down combine performances and predicts Caleb Banks will be the first defensive tackle drafted, that Kyle Lewis will rise into second-round range, that Lee Hunter's poor testing will keep the Packers away, and that the Packers will not draft a tight end in the top 100. He also predicts the Packers will cut Elton Jenkins and expects Kingsley Enagbare to leave while Rashan Gary returns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9156576d-e149-4fd9-8dcc-aa727761e497 (scored 0) - Jeff "Coach Jags" Jagodzinski on Tucker Kraft: The former Packers tight ends coach said Tucker Craft is a Pro Bowl-caliber tight end, and separately endorsed Christian Watson as a true No. 1 receiver for Green Bay. He also ranked the tight ends he has coached all-time. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/21466ae4-1034-4fb8-a341-3653f9f2127f (scored 0) - JP Acosta on Devon Witherspoon: JP picked the Eagles to beat the 49ers in a low-scoring game and the Jaguars to beat the Bills, called Bijan Robinson the best running back in the league, and named his own first-team All-Pro roster. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/660e3494-2b0b-415e-beb7-9e3bf3464e30 (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Puka Nacua: Parkins insisted the Bears cannot lose at home to Green Bay, laid points with Buffalo, Philadelphia (in a blowout) and Houston, picked Justin Herbert and the Chargers to beat New England, and said Puka Nacua will be a first-team All-Pro. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ee4c83a3-1d08-4959-a075-95654fb1b7e9 (scored 0) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=ralph-vacchiano