The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a long history of bad draft picks, but these are their five worst in franchise history.
Recently, ESPN listed their worst draft bust ever for each team and Jenna Laine named Bo Jackson the worst in Buccaneers history. I gave my two cents on the issue and deemed Jackson unqualified for the crown of biggest Bucs bust seeing as how he never donned the creamsicle jersey or Bucco Bruce helmet, and how the majority of that wasn’t actually his fault.
That being considered, there are still plenty of swings-and-misses worthy of such a title. I mean, this is a team that lost its first 26 games, traded away a Hall of Fame quarterback in Steve Young, and been the butt of countless jokes from Johnny Carson to Chris Berman.
Not a whole lot to write home about in the history of Buccaneers drafts.
But who was the worst of the worst? Who takes the cake when it comes to franchise crippling picks that were supposed to help this team take a giant leap in the right direction only to take them ten steps backwards?
We get into it right now
Number Five: LB Keith McCants, Number Four Overall Pick – 1990
Keith McCants was the man the Buccaneers believed was a major missing piece they could get after he put up huge numbers at Alabama. While there, McCants was a unanimous first team All-American, National Defensive Player of the Year, All-SEC first team, and the 1989 Butkus Award runner-up. In 1989, McCants led the Tide with 119 tackles and finished his collegiate career with sixteen tackles for loss.
McCants was the “can’t miss guy” in 1989 and by some “miracle” he slipped to the Bucs at number four. McCants would start only four games as a rookie before being moved to defensive end in 1991. McCants was eventually released in 1993, finishing his Bucs career with only twelve sacks to go along with 156 tackles.
To make matters worse, players picked after McCants include; Junior Seau (fifth), Safety Mark Carrier (sixth), LeRoy Butler (forty-eighth), and Eric Davis (fifty-third). Also undrafted in 1990 was defensive tackle John Randle.
Just goes to show that not all the “can’t miss” prospects are actually can’t miss.
Number Four: DE Booker Reese, Number 32 Overall – 1982
Ah yes, nothing like communication issues to ring in a draft bust. See, Booker Reese was a defensive end out of Bethune-Cookman College that the Buccaneers absolutely loved. They loved him so much that the accidentally drafted offensive lineman Sean Farrell at seventeen overall instead.
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Oops.
They said a faulty phone connection led to the miscommunication and that they intended to draft Reese at seventeen. Refusing to miss out on their guy, the Bucs traded away heir first round pick in 1983 – we’ll get to that in a moment – in order to move up to the thirty-second pick and ensure they draft Reese. Reese would go on to ride the pine for the Bucs for two seasons before being shipped off to the Rams where he would play for two more seasons before drugs got the better of him and he was out of the NFL for good.
That first round pick the Buccaneers traded away? Well, that was the eighteenth overall pick in a draft that featured John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Darrell Green, Roger Craig and a plethora of other future Pro Bowl players. Did the Bucs draft any? Of course not.
Number Three: DE Gaines Adams, Number Four Overall – 2007
Oh boy. In a draft that was sickeningly loaded, Jon Gruden and the Buccaneers went with a Clemson pass rusher that was questionable at best. Gaines Adams was drafted fourth overall after JaMarcus Russell, Calvin Johnson, and Joe Thomas. After Adams? Well, there was Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, LaRon Landry, Marshawn Lynch, Darrelle Revis, Lawerence Timmons, and Greg Olsen to name a few.
Adams was non-existent on the field, never living up to the hype or expectations by Bucs fans or the staff that drafted him. He finished with 63 tackles and 13.5 sacks in three seasons with the Bucs. He was traded to the Bears in 2010 for a second round pick. That pick was traded around a bit, finally landing with the Patriots who selected Rob Gronkowski with it, just to add insult to injury.
Adams, unfortunately, passed away suddenly in January of 2010 of a heart attack. Adams suffered from cardiomyopathy – an enlarged heart – that went undiagnosed. Adams was only 26 years old when he passed.
Number Two: QB Josh Freeman, Number 17 Overall – 2009
He was the future. He was the one that was finally going to bring the Buccaneers a franchise quarterback. His dominant 2010 performance with 3,451 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions gave Bucs fans hope that there was a true quarterback in Tampa Bay.
Then, the wheels fell off.
After finishing 2012 with 27 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, Freeman fell into then coach Greg Schiano’s dog house leading him to be benched after only three games. Mike Glennon would take over for the remainder of the season and Freeman was off to Minnesota where he played in one Monday night game. Freeman would then join the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, only to be cut before the seasons actually started. Freeman’s final NFL game came as a member of the Indianapolis Colts in 2015.
There are plenty of rumors and theories as to why Freeman fell off the way he did. Whether it was Schiano that messed him up mentally or the rumored drug abuse, Freeman never finished developing into the franchise quarterback we all thought he was set to become.
Number One Bust: QB Vinny Testaverde, Number One Overall – 1987
A guy that played over two decades in the NFL is a bust? Abso-freaking-lutely. Vinny Testaverde was yet another “can’t miss” prospect that the Buccaneers were drooling over come the 1987 draft. Testaverde was dominant at “The U”, passing for over 5,700 yards to go along with his 47 touchdowns. Testaverde was the 1986 recipient of the Maxwell Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Sammy Bough Trophy, the Sporting News Player of the Year, the UPI Player of the Year, the Heisman Trophy, and was a consensus All-American.
The Buccaneers thought he was a slam dunk at number one and would light the NFL stage on fire. Due to the selection of Testaverde, the Bucs traded away Steve Young – who they felt was going to be a bust in the NFL – and they handed the reigns over to the rookie.
Testaverde would throw fifteen touchdowns and thirty-five interceptions in his first full season as a starter. He would finish his six year tenure in Tampa with 79 touchdowns and 112 interceptions, never having more touchdowns than picks in a season.
Testaverde would go on to a long career as a journeyman who would start on occasion as a place holder until the team was able to bring in their quarterback of the future as he bounced around to eight different teams. His longest stints were with Tampa Bay and the New York Jets, having played for both for six seasons.
Drafting Testaverde and having him not pan out is bad enough, but trading a Super Bowl winning Hall of Fame quarterback in the process makes it that much worse.
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Who do you feel is the Buccaneers biggest draft bust of all time? Let us know in the comment section, on Twitter, or on Facebook.