Who are the five best second round picks in Buccaneers franchise history?
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Thanks to Jason Licht, the Buccaneers have found some real success in recent drafts. Vernon Hargreaves and Noah Spence are the most recent examples, while Jameis Winston and Kwon Alexander came out of the same draft the year before.
Mike Evans and Gerald McCoy are also original Bucs as we all know. We could go back in history and remember guys like the great Warren Sapp as well. Despite all of the losing, the Bucs, and especially Jason Licht of late, have been have to find gems in the NFL draft.
As the team prepares for the current draft, we are going to take a trip down memory lane. Recently, we took a look at the five best first round picks in franchise history. Today we are jumping back one round to take a look at the five best second round picks in franchise history.
We begin with number five.
5. Noah Spence
We begin our journey in the present.
The off-season prior to last year had a theme we are going to focus on. That theme was to get Gerald McCoy some help on the defensive line. We know the dominance of McCoy, but he also received a lot of double teams. He needed help. They found some in the form of Robert Ayers, signed out of free agency prior to the season.
On to the draft, and Noah Spence. Spence was dominant on the field, but had some problems off of it, getting kicked out of the Big Ten due to drug issues. Licht was high on him, even giving him a first round grade. When he had the chance to pick him with the 39th overall pick, he jumped at it. Licht got the man he wanted, Noah Spence.
Although Spence recorded his first sack in a week two loss against the Cardinals, he really started to come into his own later on in the year. November was his month. As the team got hot and made a playoff run, so did Spence. He posted 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, earning him Defensive Rookie of the Month honors. That included 1.5 sacks and five total tackles in a 14-5 slugfest win over the Seattle Seahawks.
5.5 sacks in one heck of a season for a rookie that people wondered about the character of. He has a long way to go to move up this list, but he certainly deserves to be on it, even after just one season.
4. Lavonte David
We stay in the recent past for our number four selection.
Despite the selection of Doug Martin in round one of 2012, the Bucs needed help on defense. In 2011, they were at the bottom against the run, allowing 156.1 yards per game and five yards per carry (per NFL.com). Basically, they couldn’t stop a nosebleed. Nobody was that close to 100 tackles, the closest being Sean Jones with 92. This just in, you don’t want a safety to lead the team in tackles. It’s not hard to understand the team’s 4-12 record that year.
With the 58th pick overall, the Bucs selected linebacker Lavonte David out of Nebraska, and he stepped right in to help correct the problems of the recent past. All he did in year one was lead the team in tackles with 139 tackles, post two sacks, one interception and five passes defended. That year he had three performance of 14 tackles or more, showing the NFL that he was a player to be reckoned with.
By the way, in 2012, the Bucs jumped all the way to first in rushing defense, allowing 82.5 yards per game and a 3.5 yards per carry average (per NFL.com). David followed that up with some of his best football in 2013. That year, he earned First-Team All-Pro honors, as he posted 145 tackles, seven sacks, five interceptions, nine passes defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. On opening weekend, David sacked Geno Smith twice and picked him off once in a dominating performance that ended in a loss.
Over the next two seasons, David went over 100 tackles both years and earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2015. In 2016 he fell below 100 tackles, but was certainly no slouch with 87 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception.
If David keeps this up he will fly up the list.
3. Kevin House
Now this one is a real trip down memory lane. My apologies to fans that remember these days, but for our younger fans, we will give an idea of who Kevin House was.
Most of you probably know that after the team arrived in 1976, they didn’t win a game until 1977. They only won two games that year. Jump ahead to 1979, and the team finally put things together, well enough to go 10-6, win the division and a playoff game. Things had finally turned around for the team in creamsicle orange. (Kids, ask your parents if you need to clarify the reference).
The passing offense, however, remained relatively dormant. In 1979, they were ranked 18th on the league (per NFL.com). To date, the Bucs had not posted a 1,000 yard performance by any receiver.
Kevin House was drafted in round two of the 1980 draft with the 49th pick overall. The trend didn’t end that rookie year, as House only started one game. However, he did record 24 catches for 531 yards and five touchdowns. His coming out party came in November, when he posted three catches for 77 yards, two of them for scores against the Minnesota Vikings.
The 1,000 yard drought ended in 1981 when House posted his best season as a pro. He posted 56 receptions for 1,176 yards and nine touchdowns. His touchdown total was good for fourth in the NFL in 1981. Following the strike-shortened season of 1982, he went for 769 yards in 1983, 1,005 in 1984 and 803 in 1985. His final days with the Bucs were in 1986 when he was with the team for seven games before ending up with the Los Angeles Rams.
His 4,928 receiving yards rank him second on the team’s all time list, earning him the number three spot here.
2. Mike Alstott
I think we have jumped back into familiar territory with this one, have we not?
Mike Alstott was chosen in the second round of the 1996 draft, with the 35th overall pick. To paraphrase the great Chris Berman, the Bucs were always in good hands with Alstott. The key with him, and I am sure most of you will agree, was the skill set he brought to the table. When you think of a traditional fullback, you think blocker. This is a player that is going to take the running back through the hole, and you won’t hear much else about him.
Well, Alstott did all of that and so much more. He could run the rock as the lead back, carrying the ball 242 times for 949 yards and seven touchdowns in 1999. He could punch it in from the goal line as well. From 1997-2002, Alstott never posted less than five rushing touchdowns in a season, and posted ten in 2001 alone. As Chris Berman used to bring out with his explosive sounds as Alstott would make first contact with someone, he was tough to bring down.
Here are some “A-Train” highlights for you to enjoy:
Remember he could also catch the football out of the backfield, with 305 receptions for 2,284 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career. He was a big man with soft hands. A rare quality in a man who could intimidate like he could.
He also got it done in a big spot. In the run through the Super Bowl title over the Raiders, Alstott helped his team with four rushing touchdowns.
His 5,088 rushing yards rank him second on the franchise all time list. He was selected to the Pro Bowl six times, and named first team All-Pro three times. The “A-Train” sits firmly at number two on this list.
1. James Wilder
Back to the old days for our final selection.
Right from the beginning, the Bucs lacked a running attack. The highly-touted Ricky Bell ran for 1,000 yards only once between 1976-1980, and that was in 1979 when the Bucs went 10-6. Nobody else ran for anywhere near that number over the team’s first five years in the NFL. Quarterbacks spent a lot of time running for their lives. The team lacked two things, among other back then. They lacked wins and a running attack.
In the 1981 draft, the Bucs selected James Wilder in the second round with the 34th overall pick. His stats at Missouri were solid, as he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and scored 22 touchdowns on the ground. He was also receiver, with 59 receptions (per Sports Reference).
It took him a couple of years to get going, but once he did, Wilder proved himself worthy. He started to show himself in 1983, when he ran the ball 161 times for 640 yards and four touchdowns. He also added 57 receptions for 380 yards and two touchdowns. That year, he had a 219 yard performance on 31 carries in a win over the Vikings.
1984, however, was the year of James Wilder. He carried the ball a league-leading 407 times for 1,544 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was third in the league that year, behind Eric Dickerson and Walter Payton. On top of that, he caught 85 passes for 685 yards. Basically, Wilder had the ball all the time, earning his only Pro Bowl selection for his troubles. He went over 100 yards five times in ’84, including a 172 yard performance on an incredible 43 carries against the Green Bay Packers.
The following year he posted a1,300 yards rushing and added 53 receptions out of the backfield. His career petered out from there before he was gone after the 1989 season. But in the middle of the 1980’s, James Wilder was as good as anybody. He sits at the top of the Bucs rushing list with 5,957 yards, making him the number one choice here.
Next: Bucs Remaining Free Agency Needs
What do you think of this list, Bucs fans? Let us know in the comments.
Stats courtesy of NFL.com and Pro Football Reference unless otherwise indicated.