The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs had a nice year all that’s considered and it was led by Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield. Baker was on a prove it deal and I think he did while giving this team some life that they thought they lost after Brady retired after his short stint there. After a year that seemed to be a success in the eyes of many for the Bucs it was time to get better, so let’s look at their first four picks and see if the future is even brighter for the Bucs.

Ryan Jensen retiring made pick 26 an easy one with Graham Barton (OC) still on the board. Even with Barton not playing Center in three years he was still regarded as the top one of this class, that’s how good he can be. The only knock is that for the last three seasons he has played over 2,000 snaps at LT. While doing very well at OT the Bucs seem to view him as a center but he should be able to get back into it after OTAs an be ready in the middle of training camp.

Pick 57 is one of my favorites of this whole draft in Chris Braswell (EDGE). Braswell had a very formidable 2023 campaign with the Crimson Tide getting over 40 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. At 6’ 3 250 pounds Braswell will be called upon to fill the shoes of Shaq Barrett fast because that Bucs team does not want to give the QB time to light up that secondary that was shredded all last year.

At number 89 the Bucs take Tykee Smith (DB) to help with a secondary that lost pieces and had a poor performance last year. Smith operated out of the slot over 600 times over the last two years giving him what should be a starting spot or at the very least a lot of reps come this season. Being a part of a Georgia team that gets players ready for the NFL just as good as anyone will make Tykee a key draft pick for the bucs and a cheap option in the secondary.

With pick 92 Jalen McMillan (WR) it shows that there is probably a future plan for after Godwin. I would say he had an off year but Jalen was sitting behind Odunze and Polk so I think it’s safe to say his 2022 season is a better one to go off of. He has good size at 6’ 1 providing a nice outside presence but can be put in the slot if needed too. It is going to be fun to watch how they work McMillan into an offense that will be even better this year.

The Bucs have a real shot to take the division again and do it even better this year. The division is still very weak on paper with the Falcons and Saints having a chance. Overall the Bucs had a good draft and grabbed some great value earning them a nice B with their class. I think the Bucs got better but a similar season seems realistic with a playoff berth and potential win.