For the second time in three years, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the 19th pick in the NFL Draft, and the precedent has been set for Jason Licht to knock his selection out of the park. The last time Tampa Bay had this pick was in 2023 when the team drafted Calijah Kancey despite everyone assuming a quarterback would be the pick.
It's taken almost no time at all for the Kancey pick to have aged incredibly well. He's dealt with injuries over his first two seasons in the league but when he's been on the field he's looked every bit like the elite pass rusher the Bucs desperately need him to be.
What made the pick two years ago notable was how much of a zag it was from where the consensus was. Tampa Bay had just watched Tom Brady retire and had an unproven Baker Mayfield as its QB, so taking a defensive end with its top pick was a bit of a surprise. Everything has worked out though, and ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. tossed out a similar situation for the Bucs in this year's draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. lists two standout wide receivers as options for Buccaneers with No. 19 pick
Kiper has the Bucs taking Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell, who seems to be the growing consensus pick, but also mentions two other top prospects as potential options at No. 19 overall. Including Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan and Ohio State's Emeka Egbuka -- both Top 5 wide receivers in this year's class -- as fits for the Bucs can't go unnoticed in his blurb about Campbell.
"This is another potential landing spot for McMillan or Egbuka if Chris Godwin signs somewhere else. But what about the hole linebacker Lavonte David -- another Tampa Bay free agent -- will leave if he doesn't return? Campbell could pick up the slack," Kiper wrote.
A lot of this hinges on Chris Godwin's future, although all signs continue to point toward him re-signing for at least one more season in Tampa Bay. His season-ending injury might hurt his value on the open market, and if a prove-it deal is the route he ends up going to try and set up a bigger contract next offseason, then returning to a familiar place makes the most sense for him.
Even if that happens, the Bucs might still be tempted to take someone like McMillan at No. 19, or trade down to gain more draft capital and still land a top prospect. Tampa Bay's offense seems to be in good shape but giving Baker another explosive weapon, and setting up first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard for success, is a winning strategy.
The better strategy is tending to the defensive side of the ball. While all eyes are on Godwin's future, what happens next for Lavnote David is just as important. Tampa Bay's depth was tested in a big way last year and it's hard to say it passed. Linebacker was hit particularly hard with injuries, as the team was relying on K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell as starters in key games late in the year.
That can't happen, and addressing linebacker depth in both the draft and free agency feels like a no-brainer. So, too, does drafting Campbell to help take the torch from David. Last year at Alabama, Campbell recorded 112 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks while showing blazing sideline-to-sideline speed. It's shades of peak Devin White, someone Bucs fans thought would be the successor to David's reign before he completely fell off.
Getting Campbell and either having him as a replacement for Lavonte or pairing him with a future Hall of Famer in his rookie season feels like a good plan. We still have two months before the NFL Draft arrives, but it seems like the Bucs are in a perfect position to continue adding to their group of young talent in the locker room.
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