TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first and last picks in the 2025 NFL Draft were for wide receivers, Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State), Round 1, and Tez Johnson (Oregon), Round 7. In between, Tampa Bay drafted cornerback Benjamin Morris (Notre Dame), cornerback Jacob Parish (Kansas State), OLB David Walker (Central Arkansas), and DL Elijah Roberts (SMU).
Assistant GM Rob McCartney feels these rookies will be a big factor in the Bucs’ success this season.
“Obviously, I think Emeka (Egbuka) is going to have a big impact for us,” McCartney said. “I think both corners (Morrison and Parrish) will play a lot. I think we’re excited about trying to find (David) Walker a way to get on the field, and it’s probably going to come down to third downs early. Then I think the d-line too, he (Elijah Roberts) is going to be able to get into the rotation pretty quickly.”
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The Bucs’ 7th-round pick, Johnson, was a roommate of current Bucs RB Bucky Irving at Oregon. He might be undersized, but McCartney thinks Johnson plays a lot bigger and faster than his numbers on paper.
“There’s not a lot of guys that have cracked it under 160 pounds,” McCartney said. “You’ve got the Tutu Atwell’s, you’ve got a guy like Tank Dell. He (Johnson) doesn’t play 4.5 (40-yard dash time), he plays a lot faster. There are a lot of instances where he’s the fastest player on the field. “His roommate Bucky (Irving) will vouch for that guy everyday.”
The Bucs offense, led by QB Baker Mayfield, was third in the NFL in total offense (399.5) yards per game and fourth in the league in scoring (29.5) points per game. But head coach and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles had hinted at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach weeks ago that he’s learned that you win in the NFL by scoring points, thus the need to draft Egbuka in the first round and still pick up another wideout in Johnson in the 7th round.
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Standout wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin aren’t getting any younger, and Godwin is coming off a dislocated ankle. The biggest need for the Bucs going into this draft was getting a consistent pass rusher and defensive players who can force turnovers. Tampa Bay believes it addressed those needs in the draft and in free agency with the signing of former Cardinals and Jets edge rusher Hassan Reddick.
The Bucs, under the direction of GM Jason Licht, have been pretty successful in the last couple of drafts. Licht put out on X that he believes the team has the “best staff in the league”.
Time will tell, but for now, the Bucs’ braintrust is feeling good.
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