The offseason for NFL teams means that we are flooded with NFL mock drafts. For the Bucs, they are one of the harder teams to fill the needs of in the NFL Draft since they have some key positions that deserve attention.
Thankfully, the team at PFF’s NFL Stock Exchange gave the Bucs a two-round mock draft to see what their analysts think the team could achieve.
Connor Rogers and Trevor Sikemma used their notes from both the Shrine and Senior Bowl weeks to formulate a two-round mock draft for teams. In the case of the Bucs, they addressed the defense with both picks Tampa Bay had in the two rounds.
They gave the Bucs Shavon Revel out of East Carolina in round one. The talented cornerback tore his ACL this past season, but there is a chance he will be back in time to test for the NFL Scouting Combine. He has great man coverage skills and the size to handle NFL-wide receivers, and he is a reliable tackling option on defense.
In the second round of their mock draft, they gave the Bucs some much-needed help at the edge position. They drafted Princely Umanmielen out of Ole Miss. The former Florida Gator transferred to Ole Miss in 2024 and became one of the best edge rushers in all of college football. He uses his speed to get past tackles but also has fast hands to win one-on-ones.
This would be a great 1-2 punch for the Bucs defense in the NFL Draft. Whether they can pull this off is yet to be seen, but this could likely be the outcome of Jason Licht and his staff.