The Bucs went into the NFL knowing they wanted to upgrade the safety position and did that on Friday night with the selection of Texas A&M’s Justin Evans in the second round (No. 50 selection).

Evans (6-0, 199) is known as a physical punisher who packs a wallop with every hit. The Mississippi native, who was a baseball pitcher in high school, finished with 165 tackles, 14 pass breakups and five interceptions over the last two seasons for the Aggies.

Evan also returned 17 kicks for 474 yards over the previous two seasons, averaging 27.9 yards per kickoff return.

Tampa Bay goes into the 2017 offseason with Keith Tandy most likely a starter, with Chris Conte and J.J. Wilcox battling with Evans. Wilcox was signed as a fee agent from the Cowboys last March and Conte was also re-signed as the Bucs chose to allow Bradley McDougald to walk.

PewterReport.com’s Trevor Sikkema had to this to say in our safety draft preview.

“Evans is the next heavy hitter in this class. He has a highlight tape full of big hits that include Heisman trophy winner, and a player who out-weighs him by nearly 50 pounds, Derrick Henry. He’s not as good in coverage as Jackson, but he can lay the wood.”