The Buccaneers passed up Derwin James in the 2018 Draft, and while they have some talented safeties on roster, Grant Delpit may be a perfect fit in Tampa.
As far as positions of need may go, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not in dire need of a safety. Regardless of this, Bruce Arians’ policy of taking the best player off the board when the pick occurs could possibly pair up Grant Delpit and Todd Bowles in Tampa.
The Buccaneer secondary, as anyone knows, struggled in 2019. There were some growing pains associated with an increase in playing time for a number of first and second year players, one of whom was Mike Edwards; a safety draft pick from 2019.
Edwards played well in 2019 and allowed his versatility to shine through. In addition to this, Jordan Whitehead had his moments on the stat sheet with an interception and nine passes defended, but despite the stats he still graded out to a 45.2 according to pff.com.
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While Whitehead and Edwards are both trending up and Justin Evans will hopefully return from injury in 2020, Grant Delpit has the potential to be one of the best players on the Buccaneer secondary.
Delpit was able to prove over the course of the 2018 and 2019 college football seasons that he is able to be a menace both rushing the passer and in coverage.
In 2018 Delpit put up the jaw-dropping season stats of five interceptions, five sacks, nine passes defended, and a forced fumble. While there was certainly a regression in 2019 (2 interceptions, two sacks, seven passes defended, and one forced fumble), Grant Delpit has shown that he can perform at an extremely high level.
Delpit is currently pegged to fall somewhere in the middle of the first round of the draft. Delpit’s combine scores will likely play a role on where in the first round he comes in at, but there is a chance that he could fall as high as the top 10.
Coming in with the 14th overall pick, the Buccaneers stand a chance to miss out on the likes of most of the offensive tackles and potentially Javon Kinlaw. If this were to happen, Delpit could be available at #14 and be the best player available.
If this were to happen, the Buccaneer defense would only trend upward. The addition of Grant Delpit has a very high chance of improving almost any defense. This pick would also heal some of the wounds that were formed over the Buccaneers passing up Derwin James two years ago.