Now that the NFL Combine is behind us, attention can begin to fully turn toward the draft next month. We still have a long road to travel before we get there, one which includes a rather notable pit stop in free agency, but teams around the league have finally gotten their first good look at this year's incoming draft class.
Lines are already starting to be drawn around the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and which direction they might got in April.
Whether it's the draft or free agency -- or both -- the Bucs need to find a way to address the defensive side of the ball. Todd Bowles' unit left a lot to be desired as injuries and poor play held the team back from reaching its potential. The fact that despite those setbacks, the Bucs still won the NFC South and nearly made it back to the NFC Divisional Round says a lot about how the changes that need to be made are more like tweaks than they are anything else.
That means the NFL Draft could once again be ripe for Tampa Bay to retool and replenish as it continues to fortify one of the youngest and most talented rosters in the league.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 NFL Mock Draft after the NFL Combine
Round 1, Pick 25: Donovan Ezeiruka, EDGE/Boston College
Rather than stick around at No. 19 overall, Jason Licht decides to move down and add a few more picks later in the draft. These will come in handy later, but that's getting ahead of ourselves.
We've learned two things about the Buccaneers' draft strategy over the last few years and it's that the obvious pick isn't always the one the team makes. Two years ago, Licht zagged and drafted Calijah Kancey, and he could make a similar move to add edge rush help with Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruka.
He's not a name that has leapt off the page when thinking about who the Bucs could take but he grades off the charts at a position Tampa Bay needs to improve. Much like Kancey, he's flown under the radar when compared to some of the other prospects in this draft class but that shouldn't be held against him.
Ezeiruka finished last season with a 90.5 pass rush grade, which is exactly the starting point the Bucs need to rebuild its edge rush from what we saw last year.
Round 2, Pick 51: Jack Sawyer, EDGE/Ohio State
We all thought the Bucs would double dip on offensive linemane last season but that didn't end up being the case. A similar argument could be made for the team double dipping on edge rushers, especially because it's such an area of need.
Jack Sawyer is among the best Day 2 options for Tampa Bay, as he comes out of Ohio State with an overall PFF grade of 90.5 and a 17.6 percent pass rush win rate. Take that and put it with what Kancey does and what Ezeiruka could do, and all of a sudden, the Bucs go from having a so-so pass rush to a core of young stars on the rise together.
Going for defensive linemen with back-to-back selections might seem odd, but look at how well it worked out for the Rams who took Jared Verse and Braden Fiske in consecutive selections and have been reaping the benefit ever since.
Round 3, Pick 62: Azareye'h Thomas, CB/Florida State
Remember that trade the Bucs made earlier in this mock with Houston? Here's where it come back into play to help create a dream scenario over the first two days of the draft for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay needs to fix its pass rush but the secondary needs some attention too. Early mocks from late last year had the Bucs eyeing Notre Dame's Benjamin Morrison, who makes sense in theory but is a prospect slipping down draft boards.
Morrison is available in most mocks at this point, but so too is Florida State's Azareye'h Thomas who grades out as a better prospect. He finished the season with better marks than Morrison and grades highly in both man and zone coverage schemes.
Tampa Bay could take its own third round pick and package it with the one it got from Houston to move up and land either Thomas or Morrison here to fill another big defensive need. If they don't do that, then standing pat and grabbing Kansas' Cobee Bryant late in the third or early in the fourth round could be a nice contigency plan.
Round 4, Pick 120: Jack Kiser, LB/Notre Dame
Everyone expects the Bucs to go heavy on defense in the draft this year, and polishing off a nice little run by addressing linebacker could be the way to go. Lavonte David's future is up in the air and there's not a lot of trusted depth behind him if retirement is the route he ends up taking.
Yaya Diaby is really the only sure-fire thing the Bucs have and he's only in Year Three, while the jury remains out on SirVocea Dennis and how much of an impact he'll have. Notre Dame's Jack Kiser could help fill that void and answer some questions about what the future looks like at linebacker alongside Diaby.
His PFF grade was down from where it was a year ago, but he still finished with a 83.0 overall grade after posting a 90. 3 in 2024. Those all feel like the type of baseline skills Todd Bowles can work with -- and hopefully Lavonte can mentor if he decides to come back for one more rodeo.
Round 5, Pick 156: O'Donnell Fortune, CB/South Carolina
There are a few ways the Bucs could go with this pick, one of which is shifting attention to the offensive side of the ball. Chris Godwin might leave in free agency, and while Tampa Bay has a ton of internal talent that could be used to replace him it might not be a bad idea to replenish depth with some rookie talent.
If that's what the team ends up deciding to do, then San Diego State's Nick Nash could be a nice pick here. Should the team want to continue hammering defensive picks, then South Carolina's O'Donnell Fortune could be an aptly named gamble to take.
He'd help add more cornerback depth but would come to Tampa Bay with a 90.2 coverage grade according to PFF. There's a lot to be desired with how well he plays the run, but the Bucs could do worse than a high-upside prospect in the middle of Day 3.
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