Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Best pick per round on day-three of draft

Fifth Round: Porter Gustin, EDGE, USC

As the Buccaneers continue their transition to a 3-4 defense under Todd Bowles, the Bucs are looking to add depth on the defensive side of the ball to provide players with rest to handle the many blitzes that Bowles throws at opposing offenses. For a team transitioning from a 4-3 to a 3-4, it does not always make sense to merely shift a left or right end to the outside, as sometimes they do not possess the speed to play the outside linebacker position correctly.

If the Bucs want to properly run their new defense, they will need to add more pure outside linebackers that have the size and the speed to play the position better than a defensive end. To accomplish this, the Bucs could draft Porter Gustin from USC. Gustin weighed in at the combine at 255 pounds and ran a 4.69 second 40-yard dash, mixed with 31 reps on the bench press. While not as talented as his counterparts in the first 2 days, Gustin does have the measures to be a competent backup at the position.

Gustin was off to a solid start in his senior season with 10 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks over six games until an injury ended his college career. Despite this setback, Gustin was still able to show out at the Combine and prove that the injury would not be detrimental to his professional career. While perhaps the second edge player taken by the Bucs in this draft, Gustin could provide the Buccaneers defense with the depth that they need to be competitive this season.