Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 Winners, Losers of the 2019 NFL Draft
By Cory Kinnan
Loser: Carlton Davis
Poor Carlton Davis. Just one year after being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, his role on the Buccaneers appears to be completely vanquished after Tampa Bay selected Sean Murphy-Bunting in the second round and Jamel Dean with their very next pick in the third round.
While defensive coordinator will run some sets which will incorporate five or six defensive backs, those packages will be few and far between and will not be the base defense in Tampa Bay. As head coach Bruce Arians expressed his desire for big, strong cornerbacks to compete against the likes of Mike Thomas and Julio Jones twice per year, Davis does not fit the mold.
Murphy-Bunting and Dean look to be the front-runners at winning the starting jobs on the outside, while the Buccaneers also decided to pick up Vernon Hargreaves’ fifth-year option. This is the downfall of a new regime change: the new coaches want their own players, and in this case, Bowles and Arians got them.
Most teams will frequently run out three cornerbacks, and Davis now sits as the fourth on the depth chart just one year after starting outside the numbers in Tampa Bay. Do not be surprised if Davis begins to circulate in trade rumors, playing only his rookie season in the pewter and red.