Did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find an undrafted gem?

Sayre Bedinger of NFL Mocks thinks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found a gem in undrafted free agent safety Lukas Denis.

Even after drafting three defensive backs during the 2019 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added a few more safeties to their roster as undrafted free agents. Boston College safety Lukas Denis landed with the Buccaneers after going undrafted, and Sayre Bedinger says the team may have found a gem; we may have to agree to disagree on this one.

Denis really only saw significant playing time over the last two years of his career, tallying nine interceptions, 82 solo tackles, 16 passes defended, and three forced fumbles. Coming off of a stupendous junior season with seven interceptions, Denis was not able to follow it up as he dropped in production in every statistical category.

"“Anytime a guy has seven interceptions in one season, you have to find out if he can take on a sustainable role in the NFL. The Buccaneers will give Denis a shot and if he can prove he’s capable of being effective as both a deep safety and nickel/dime defender in man coverage, he could find a role quickly in the NFL” (Bedinger via NFL Mocks)."

At the NFL Scouting Combine in March, Denis did not do well to prove the doubters of his game wrong, as he did not test off the charts athletically either with a Relative Athletic Score of 3.31. Measuring in at 5-11 and 190 pounds, Denis ran just a 4.65 second 40 yard dash, with a poor vertical and broad jump as well; Denis does, however gave great agility as he ran a sub-seven second 3-cone drill and a blazing 4.09 shuttle.

The good news for Denis is, as a free safety he will have to worry less about straight line speed, and more about changing directions as he reads the quarterback’s eyes and breaks on footballs. Denis still faces an uphill battle to make the final 53-man roster as the Buccaneers overhauled their secondary with young talent.

Already at the safety position for the Buccaneers is veteran Justin Evans, who is a lock to start if healthy, third round pick Mike Edwards, last year’s starter Jordan Whitehead, and starter for the Green Bay Packers a year ago in Kentrell Brice. M.J. Stewart has converted to safety for cornerback a year ago, and Isaiah Johnson still remains on the roster as well.

Other longshots at the position to make the roster are Orion Stewart, who most recently played in the Alliance of American Football, and D’Cota Dixon, another undrafted free agent from Wisconsin. Adding Denis to this list, he may have the numbers to prove his production, but has a long way to go to make the final roster.