There were a lot of factors behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers monumental collapse and blown NFC South division lead in the 2025 NFL season, and while the biggest factor was honestly the incompetence of their head coach Todd Bowles, who has still somehow kept his job, the actual personnel defensively were also plenty responsible.
Baker Mayfield had his struggles, too, but there was only so much an offense pressed into perfection could do in order to mitigate basically starting every game 10 points behind with how woeful the defense was at the basics.
And no area of the defense was weaker for the Buccaneers last season than the front seven. There were miscues, missed tackles, and the most anemic pass rush in the NFL with Vita Vea and YaYa Diaby standing out as the only two even remotely legitimate options to go after the quarterback.
The Bucs need to rebuild their linebackers
With Lavonte David finished, the linebacker core was just as bad, and the Buccaneers are going to have to leverage both free agency and the draft - not just one of those options - such is the severity of their plight on that side of the ball.
Well, the good news for the Buccaneers is that the best possible option to help upgrade their defense through the draft is now officially available. Ohio State University linebacker Arvell Reese officially declared his intention to join the 2026 NFL Draft, and while that was honestly never in doubt, the confirmation is a huge boon to the Bucs.
Reese is one of those football players who can transform an entire defense. He has always been expected to go in the top half of the draft, and whlie things can change between now and the draft itself in a few months, blue chip players from storied programs like Ohio State tend to keep their draft stock well.
So a silver lining of the Buccaneers having such a lousy end to the season is that they are now able to draft a potential superstar like Reese since they are picking closer to the top 10 than they would have otherwise if they made the playoffs over the Carolina Panthers.
Reese alone will not solve even half of the Bucs issues defensively, but he will come close if he pans out. He is the best pure linebacker and best tackler in the draft class, seasoned beyond what you would expect from a college player, and those traits will make him antidote to one of the poisons that ills this Bucs squad.