Buccaneers last 10 first-round draft picks, ranked from best to bust
By Brad Smith
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8. CB Vernon Hargreaves III (2016)
With the No. 11 pick in the 2016 draft, the Buccaneers took Hargreaves, a standout cornerback from Florida, making him the third corner taken behind Jacksonville's Jalen Ramsey and New York's Eli Apple. Seven years later, and Hargreaves has made a case as the draft's best cornerback.
Hargreaves began his NFL career in Tampa Bay, compiling 125 tackles, four tackles for loss, 19 pass breakups, and two interceptions in 35 games (34 starts) from 2016-2019, and was named to the NFL's All-Rookie Team in 2016 behind a rookie-class high nine pass breakups.
On November 12, 2019, the Buccaneers decided to release Hargreaves, and the Texans signed the cornerback, who went on to play in Houston for the next three seasons. As a Texan, Hargreaves posted 72 tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and two interceptions in 30 games (23 starts).
Although Hargreaves was never a game-changing player in the secondary for Tampa Bay, the six-year veteran was still alright and did make a difference in helping revitalize the Buccaneers' secondary in the following drafts. Compared to other first-round selections, taking Hargreaves with the No. 11 pick wasn't awful, but did show that Tampa Bay missed out on superstar cornerback Xavien Howard (No. 38), along with tackles Laremy Tunsil (No. 13), Taylor Decker (No. 16) or defensive tackle Kenny Clark (No. 27).