Round 5, Pick 145: Oli Udoh, OT, Elon
With their fifth round selection, the Buccaneers take small school offensive lineman Oli Udoh from Elon. With Demar Dotson’s time in Tampa Bay looking to come to a close after the 2019 season, the Buccaneers are making it a priority to nail down his replacement before the 2020 season.
Expect only one offensive lineman to be selected, and expect it to be a tackle in a later round. The Buccaneers have sunk money into Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, and Ryan Jensen, and used a day-two pick in Alex Cappa one year ago. All four of them have had valuable assets invested into them and the Buccaneers will ride them out in 2019.
Udoh is a raw prospect, but has the size (6’5/323, 35.37 inch arms) and lateral quickness needed to compete at the next level. Running a 5.05 second 40 yard dash with above average explosiveness for a man the size of Udoh creates a relatively high ceiling for a day-three pick.
Tampa Bay may be the perfect situation for Udoh as he will have the 2019 season to sit and be groomed before being thrust into NFL action. With their fifth round pick, the Buccaneers think ahead to the future and draft Udoh to replace Dotson in 2020.