Who are the five best third round draft picks in Buccaneers history?
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The NFL draft as been a place the Buccaneers have excelled lately. This hit or miss waste land has brought the team the likes of Jameis Winston, Mike Evans and Kwon Alexander, just to name a few. After a whole lot of years of bad drafting, things have turned for the better.
Jason Licht may have figured out free agency, but he isn’t too shabby at the draft either.
Well it is that time again for the Bucs and for the NFL. The strong wave of free agency has passed on by and the draft is rapidly approaching. April 27 will be here before we know it, and it will be time to see who Jason Licht and company believe are the stars of tomorrow.
While we wait for that process to play out, we continue our trip down memory lane. We have been looking, by round, at the best draft picks in franchise history. So far, we have covered the first round and the second round.
This morning, we take a look at the third round.
5. Martin Gramatica
Hey, kickers are people too. Don’t be jaded based on your experience with Roberto Aguayo.
In 1998 the Bucs did finish 8-8. However, kicker Michael Husted was average at best. He missed four kicks from inside 40 yards, and only went 21-28 for a 75% field goal percentage. Husted missed an extra point as well, making it clear that it was time for a change. Tony Dungy and company knew the difference that a good kicking game could make
In came Martin Gramatica, drafted in the third round of the 1999 draft. As a rookie he showed that the Bucs made the right move. In 1999, he made 84% of his field goals and 100% of his extra points. In fact, for his career with the Bucs that lasted into 2004, he missed a grand total of two extra points. Over the first four years of his career in Tampa, Gramatica was perfect on extra points, and didn’t post a field goal percentage lower than 79%.
The young man from Argentina could make a kick in a big spot as well. In seven playoff games with the Bucs, Gramatica went 15-15 on his extra points and 11-12 on field goals, a percentage of 91.6%.
He fell off the pace in 2003 before leaving for Indianapolis prior to the end of the 2004 season. His career field goal percentage for the Bucs is 76.5%. He is the franchise’s leading scorer with 592 points, making him, though a kicker, more than worth of placement on this list.
4. Donnie Abraham
In 1995, the Bucs had difficulty defending against the pass (sounds familiar). Despite finishing 7-9, they were 26th in the league against the pass, allowing 247.4 yards per game and a completion percentage that exceeded 62%. The poor performance played a role in the firing of head coach Sam Wyche. In came Tony Dungy, but nobody knew how that would work out at the time.
The Bucs needed help. With their third round choice, they selected Donnie Abraham to play cornerback, and help is exactly what they received. Abraham became a starter as a rookie, starting 12 games. His first interception came in a week three loss to Denver. He picked off five passes as a rookie as well as recovering two fumbles.
Abraham didn’t stop there, posting five more interceptions in his sophomore campaign in 1997. After an off year in 1998, he took the league by storm over the next two years. In 1999, he intercepted seven passes, returning two of them for touchdowns. From November 21 through December 6, Abraham posted five interceptions (two for scores) in three games. That’s a man on a roll, folks.
2000 yielded Abraham’s only Pro Bowl appearance. He intercepted seven more passes that year, followed by six interceptions in 2001. He also posted three interceptions in the playoffs for the Bucs, albeit in losing efforts.
His 31 career interceptions with the Bucs rank Abraham second in franchise history. Not bad for a third round selection, huh?
3. Mark Carrier
1986 was another lost year for the Bucs. They finished 2-14. They were second to last in the league in passing, averaging just 156.1 yards per game. Steve Young was the quarterback at the time, but he hadn’t exactly come into his own yet. However, with his best receiver posting 640 yards, it’s not as if he was blessed with a plethora of weapons.
In the third round of the 1987 draft, the Bucs selected a wide receiver out of Nicholls St. named Mark Carrier. As a rookie he didn’t exactly take the world by storm, posting 26 catches for 423 yards and three touchdowns. The next year, however, he became a regular starter and showed why he is on this list.
It got going for Carrier in 1988, when he posted 57 receptions for 970 yards and five touchdowns. His best day came when the Bucs nearly upset Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins. That day, he posted nine catches for 142 yards and a 17-14 loss.
The following year yielded Carrier’s only Pro Bowl appearance. That year he posted career highs in receptions (86), yards (1,422), and touchdowns (9). His yardage total ranked him third in the league behind Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe.
By the way, the Bucs were 12th in passing in 1988 and 14th in 1989. That would qualify as much better than before Carrier arrived.
He fell off to 813 yards the next year and 698 the year after that before he was off to Cleveland. But, his career total with the Bucs of 5,018 receiving yards ranks him first in franchise history.
2. John Lynch
We all know that the real resurrection of the Tampa defense began in 1995 with the selections of Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks. That’s when they began their giant leaps towards what would end up becoming a Super Bowl championship. Despite that, however, there is one guy that was here to see it all through. One guy saw it build up from the ruins into one of the most dominant units in league history.
His name is John Lynch.
Lynch was selected in the third round of the 1993 draft. It took him a couple of years to work his way into the starting lineup, but once he did, he made it his own. Specifically, he became the guy that changed the safety position. There is an expression in baseball about a guy being a “five tool” player. It means that he can do it all, run, hit, throw…etc. If that term was appropriate for anyone, it was appropriate for John Lynch.
He could get after the quarterback. He could come up and make a play against the run. He could intercept a pass when called upon. Boy, could he level a hit or what? Remember…
Aren’t memories just grand? “Hitman 47” was a well-earned moniker. He could terrorize any player that came his way.
Why is he not in the Hall of Fame? You already know that we don’t get it. Hopefully he is part of the 2018 class. Lynch will certainly hold a special place in the hearts of Bucs fans everywhere.
1. Ronde Barber
You didn’t really think I would leave this guy out now, did you?
In the years leading up to 1997, the seeds of something special were starting to sprout. Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks were in town, terrorizing quarterbacks. The aforementioned John Lynch was patrolling the middle. Mike Alstott was running people over. But, the Bucs record in 1995 was 7-9, and in 1996 it was 6-10.
They needed another piece. The Bucs need a cornerback that could shut people down on the outside. Ronde Barber came along in the third round of the 1997 draft. The Bucs didn’t finish below .500 again until 2003, the year after they won the Super Bowl. I think that tells us as much about his impact as anything else does.
Barber took over the starting role in 1998. That year he posted his first two career interceptions. He went on to post at least two interceptions every year of his career except for one (2009). He was an absolute model of consistency, earning five Pro Bowl selections, not to mention the four times he was named first team All-Pro.
His best year of his life came in 2001 when he posted ten interceptions, tied for first in the league with Anthony Henry of the Cleveland Browns. The following year in the run up to the Super Bowl, Barber posted a 92 yard interception return for a touchdown in the 27-10 route over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.
For his career, Barber posted a franchise best 47 interceptions, tops by a wide margin (Donnie Abraham is second with 32).
Next: David Njoku Would Be the Perfect Draft Choice
How do you feel about this list? Did I get it right? Sound off in the comments below…