With the 2025 draft in the books, where were the Buccaneers right and where were they wrong?
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers day three kicked off with a much wanted draft need checked off. A collective sigh of relief was heard throughout the Tampa Bay Bucs’ fanbase when Saturday’s newest Buccaneer was an edge-rusher— David Walker out of Central Arkansas.
Jason Licht had a clear draft strategy this year, identify the positions you want and do not be afraid of overkill. Following the selection of David Walker, the Buccaneers doubled down and snatched up a second edge defender.
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SMU’s Elijah Roberts was Tampa’s fifth round pick. Roberts was also the Bucs’ second pass-rusher with major college production (36.5 sacks over the last two years of college football between them).
Tampa’s lack of fear when it comes to overkill flashed itself again in the team’s final pick. The Bucs went for another wide reciever, their second of the draft. Tez Johnson presents an interesting piece for new Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Weighing in at an undersized 154 lbs, Johnson is a small receiver with a lot of production when the ball gets in his hands.
Where The Bucs Got It Right
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Since the heyday of Shaq Barrett, Tampa has struggled to line up a pass-rusher and watch him win one-on-one matchups. The team did sign Haason Reddick, a perennial double-digit sack player (until his time with the New York Jets), but even under the guise that Reddick will return to form in 2025, the group was still seen by most as a position of need.
Adding not one but two separate players is a big win for Tampa Bay and for Todd Bowles. The Buccaneers added two players with major college production—High sack totals and plenty of time on task.
Where The Bucs Got It Wrong
The bookend selections of Tampa’s draft were both spent on wide receivers. The Buccaneers now have receivers aplenty, however, they had receivers aplenty week ago. There were instant impact defensive players available when the Bucs were on the clock—Emeka Egbuka projects to be a good player and thus a good pick, however, was the pick needed?
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Seventh round picks may not have the expectation of impact performers, but for the Buccaneers to allocate a separate and second asset to the wide receiver position is interesting. Selecting Tez Johnson with other positions having more pressing needs does beg the question of what Tampa’s plans are at linebacker, a position that plagued the team’s defense in 2024.
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