A year ago, the Bucs were a popular pick to improve on a 9-7 record in 2015 and get into the playoffs again. And while Tampa Bay fell well short of those hopes with a 5-11 record in 2017, their strong push in the last month is again convincing NFL experts that they could major improvements ahead.

Former Ravens coach Brian Billick was asked on NFL Network last week who can be "this year's Saints" — who went from 7-9 the year before to NFC South champs in 2017 — and he chose the Bucs as his pick.

"I'm going to stay in that division and go with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Billick said. "If they could add to the defense — they already had in free agency with JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) and (Vinny) Curry, and added a little to the offensive line. … New Orleans (got) some defensive help early in the draft (and) if Tampa Bay could expend those resources early in the draft, fortify that defense, maybe in the back end.

Which team can become a playoff contender after the #NFLDraft?@CoachBillick has his 👀s on the @Buccaneers.



📺: Path to the Draft pic.twitter.com/AhWBXLfDbn — NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 31, 2018

"They've got the offensive weapons. We're talking about Jameis Winston coming on and having a much better year than he did last year. But he certainly has the resources around him. They've got to add in the running back position. If they can shore up the defense — and they've taken some big steps toward it — they could be that team like we were all picking them last year to maybe be a playoff contending team."

RELATED: Tom Jones: Bucs were having a great offseason, even before JPP

The Bucs have signed center Ryan Jensen, added defensive end Vinny Curry and defensive tackles Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein and traded for Pierre-Paul in a busy past month. How well that translates to more wins this fall remains to be seen.