Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Grades and reactions for day-three picks
By Cory Kinnan
Fourth Round: Anthony Nelson, EDGE, Iowa
The entire city of Tampa Bay was relieved to see the Buccaneers’ fourth round pick and first selection of day-three was not a defensive back. Instead, Licht opted for Iowa defensive end Anthony Nelson.
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Nelson is big and long, no other way around it. At the combine, Nelson measured in at 6’7 and 271 pounds, with nearly 35 inch arms and a wingspan of 83 inches; this ranked Nelson in the 92nd percentile or above of all EDGE prospects in the class in height, arm length, and wingspan. He proceeded to test in the 74th percentile in the 40 yard dash (4.82 seconds), the 87th percentile in the vertical jump (35½ inches) and in the 82nd percentile in the broad jump (118 inches).
Showing off his elite agility, Nelson tested in the 92nd percentile in both the 3-cone drill (6.95 second) and in the 20 yard shuttle (4.23 seconds). He did, however, test in the bottom seventh percentile on his bench press with just 18 reps.
Nelson and Carl Nassib are going to look identical on the field with their big and long stature, and hopefully Nelson can bring the same intensity which Nassib does. For waiting until the fourth round to get pass rush help, the Buccaneers got good value in Nelson.