It was a somewhat surprising start to the NFL Draft for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who zagged when everyone expected a zig. History should have tipped us off to this, as general manager Jason Licht pulled a similar move in back-to-back years leading into this draft.
Rather than take a quarterback in the first post-Tom Brady year, he went with edge rusher Calijah Kancey, and instead of trading out of No. 26 last year, he waited around for Graham Barton to fall. This year, the Bucs opted not to take a defensive player in the first round and went with Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
It's a massive investment in Tampa Bay's offense, from Baker Mayfield all the way to first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Licht admitted it was also an insurance policy after watching the team struggle following injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
What the pick didn't do was address a key defensive need -- of which the Bucs had many.
Cornerback was a big-time need for Tampa Bay, and the Bucs wasted no time taking care of it on Day 2. Not only did the team manage to find a cornerback they loved, it doubled as Licht finding first-round talent on Friday night.
The Bucs drafted Notre dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison with the No. 53 overall pick.
It's a total steal for Tampa Bay, and it helps their gamble on taking Egbuka in the first round pay off. Draft grades were a little all over the place for Morrison, but he was at one point mocked to the Bucs ahead of the College Football season starting back in August.
He's a late-first rounder who fell to the Bucs on Day 2, which is enough to feel great about the move. What Morrison provides beyond that sweetens the deal, as he joins a secondary in desperate need of depth.
Jamel Dean is injury-prone -- and some thought he'd be released -- while Zyon McCollum is fantastic but still a little raw. If the Bucs add a veteran cornerback like Stephon Gilmore to round out the room, all of a sudden things feel complete different in the secondary than they did last year.
That's huge, because the Bucs can't afford to let another season get pushed to the brink by a side of the ball that the team usually relies on to take care of business.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors