Aside from the possibility of tight end Kenyon Sadiq coming in to give star quarterback Baker Mayfield one more explosive target to his (nearly) full slate of them, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are pretty much fully expected to go with a defensive player in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft with the No. 15 overall pick on the docket after narrowly missing out on postseason football.
The Buccaneers defense is the biggest reason why the team did not make the playoffs, even if some of the usual media agitators want to point the finger at the Baker under center. Tampa Bay's pass rush was the worst of any semi decent team in the NFL last season, and the rest of their front seven was honestly not any better either.
So most people have the Buccaneers going for an edge defender like Cashius Howell or a star inside linebacker like the Ohio State Buckeyes crew in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Yet a recent 2026 NFL Mock Draft has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going for neither a front seven standout nor even Sadiq at tight end.
Could the Buccaneers go secondary?
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller is one of the most respected in the game, and he decided to throw Buccaneers fans a 12-6 curveball dropping off the table. According to Miller, the Bucs could go with South Carolina Gamecocks shutdown cornerback Brandon Cisse with the No. 15 overall pick this May instead of a Sonny Styles or a Howell.
It would definitely be a surprise for the Bucs to pull a corner in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, because that position is an area of strength for the Bucs. But with how much their No. 2 guy got picked on last season and how much injuries hurt, it actually is not a stupid pick, especially if the Bucs are sold on Cisse.
And Cisse is very underrated and deserving of some love in the first round. He had one of the lowest QB Ratings allowed among cornerbacks in college football last season and may have even been South Carolina's most important player on either side of the ball in 2025.
If the Buccaneers were to draft Cisse in the second or even third round, he would be one of the steals of the draft. So going with him in the first round is not insane, even if, truly, the Buccaneers have much bigger fish to fry than another corner.