In an ongoing series leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, we at Pewter Report are taking a stroll down memory lane. Looking at the past six drafts the Bucs and general manager Jason Licht have had we are attempting to evaluate how good each draft was based on the players picked at each spot, the players that went shortly thereafter and the next couple of players taken at the position addressed.

I took the first stab looking at the 2017 draft, while Adam Slivon evaluated the Bucs’ 2018 draft class. Today I will be examining Tampa Bay’s 2019 draft.

Following a disastrous 2018 season where the Bucs finished 5-11, the team let go of head coach Dirk Koetter and lured Bruce Arians out of retirement. The defense saw a few starters depart that offseason in MLB Kwon Alexander, cornerback Brent Grimes, and defensive tackle Beau Allen. This naturally led to an impetus to focus on that side of the ball come draft time.

Bucs 2019 Draft Class

Pick No. 5 – ILB Devin White

While White has had a splashy and inconsistent pro career, no one can deny that he was an elite prospect coming out of LSU. His platform year featured a phenomenal Pro Football Focus grade of 89.5 with a 91.5 coverage grade to boot. On top of that White featured physical traits that make defensive coordinators swoon. Check out his relative athletic score.

Devin White #RAS pic.twitter.com/WiMfy4iQLB

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) September 20, 2022

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White would immediately crack the Bucs starting lineup and over the past four seasons has emerged as a highlight machine and one of the best blitzing inside linebackers in football. By all accounts he is in line to reset the off-ball linebacker market with potentially the highest contract ever for that position sometime in the next twelve months. With that said, White’s play has left something to be desired, and there is an overall consensus that the value of inside linebacker as a position may not be worth a top-10 pick in this day and age.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

QB Daniel Jones

OLB Josh Allen

TE TJ Hockenson

OLB Rashan Gary

DT Christian Wilkins

OG Chris Lindstrom

DE Brian Burns

DT Dexter Lawrence

DT Jeffrey Simmons

Next two players at position:

LB Devin Bush

LB Jahlani Tavai

There were some extremely talented players that came off the board shortly after the Bucs took White. Gary, Burns, Lawrence and Simmons have all emerged as some of the best pass rushers in the league at their respective positions. Lindstrom has become a Top 10 guard. Wilkins is a very good interior lineman. While White has shown himself to be better than both Bush and Tavai and was rightfully selected as the top middle linebacker, given the positional value there were certainly better options Licht and company could have selected here.

Pick No. 39 – CB Sean Murphy-Bunting

Bucs CB Donovan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The recently departed Murphy-Bunting was a traits-based pick, as SMB presented a great combination of size, speed and agility. The potential red flags stemmed from the lack of competition he faced while playing at Central Michigan.

Unfortunately for the Bucs and Murphy-Bunting he was never able to put it all together for an extended period of time. He eventually lost his starting job to Jamel Dean in year four before not being re-signed this offseason. His one-year, $3.5 million-deal that he just signed with the Titans shows that the league has not seen enough from him to view him as a top tier, or even an average corner.

I will say though, we just found out SMB will be wearing the number “0” now that the league is allowing players to wear that number, so be on the lookout for an All-Pro season from the former Buc.

Players who have confirmed they will wear No. 0 next season:

• #Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley
• #Giants WR Parris Campbell
• #Lions WR Marvin Jones
• #Cowboys S Jayron Kearse
• #Titans Sean Murphy-Bunting

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 5, 2023

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

OG Elgton Jenkins

WR AJ Brown

RB Miles Sanders

Next two players at position:

CB Trayvon Mullen

CB Joejuan Williams

Just looking at the cornerbacks taken after him, Murphy-Bunting is the most successful of the three. He played over 450 more snaps than the next closest of the two (Mullen). He also had the highest graded season of the three (76.6 in 2021). And finally, he was the highest regarded of the three in free agency this offseason. Murphy-Bunting’s $3.5 million average per year outpaces Mullen’s $1,232,500, while no one has signed Williams as of this writing.

Looking past the positional options and there weren’t a ton of extremely successful players taken shortly after Murphy-Bunting. But the three that were successful have been major hits. Jenkins has been a Swiss-army knife for the Packers, playing several positions along the offensive line at a high level.

AJ Brown has ascended the wide receiver charts into a legitimate Top 10 player at the position. He was integral to the Eagles’ Super Bowl run this past season. As was Miles Sanders, who just signed a big contract with Bucs division rival Panthers.

Pick No. 94 – CB Jamel Dean

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In retrospect, this was easily the best pick of the Bucs’ 2019 draft. Dean has turned into a legitimate top cornerback in the NFL. Since cracking the top-three cornerback options in 2020, Dean has ranked 18th, 32nd and 12th in the NFL among cornerbacks in PFF grades in each of the last three years.

This culminated in Dean signing a four-year, $52 million contract with the Bucs this year. That ranks Dean tied for the 13th highest-paid corner in APY in the league. Paired with Carlton Davis, the Bucs have a legitimate 1A and 1B cornerback duo.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

TE Dawson Knox

S Mike Edwards

S CJ Gardner-Johnson

DE Maxx Crosby

Next two players at position:

CB Julian Love

CB Kendall Sheffield

Outside of Crosby, Dean is easily the best player taken in this range of the draft. He has easily outplayed Love and Sheffield. And while Gardner-Johnson is one of the best slot safeties in the league, his impact isn’t quite to Dean’s level. Knox and Edwards have shown themselves to be solid role players, but Dean is a difference maker. Given the context of Davis being selected just the year prior and Murphy-Bunting being selected one round earlier, this has to be considered a phenomenal pick for the Bucs and Licht.

Pick No. 99 – S Mike Edwards

Bucs Safety Mike Edwards. – Photo by: USA Today

Despite drafting Justin Evans just two years prior, and him showing promise, the Bucs still wentafter their third defensive back in the first four picks of the 2019 draft. Since being drafted, Edwards became a part-time ball hawk, grabbing five interceptions and three touchdowns in limited playing time over the first three years of his career with the Bucs.

In 2022 Edwards was given a bigger role, logging 43% more snaps than his next closest season.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

S CJ Gardner-Johnson

DE Maxx Crosby

Next two players at position:

S CJ Gardner-Johnson

S Khari Willis

Edwards was given the opportunity to prove himself as a full-time starter in 2022 and his effectiveness diminished with the opportunity. He certainly did not play up to the level of Gardner-Johnson who has emerged as ahigh-end safety/nickel hybrid. However, Edwards outplayed Willis, who did not play in 2022. And none of these players come close to the level of play that Crosby has established in the last three years.

Pick No. 107 – OLB Anthony Nelson

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Make no mistake, while I am not a fan of the re-signing of Nelson, he is absolutely a successful pick for his draft position. A fourth-rounder who held his own in a starting role this past year, Nelson provided a decent floor and a solid backup for four seasons with the Bucs while racking up 11.5 sacks, three passes defensed and four forced fumbles.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

RB Justice Hill

S Amani Hooker

Next two players at position:

EDGE Austin Bryant

EDGE John Cominsky

Hooker is easily the best of this bunch. His $10 million APY in new money on the contract extension he signed in 2022 ranks 14th in the NFL at his position. Compared to the $5 million APY Nelson received on his new deal with the Bucs which ranks 41st in the NFL at his position. Meanwhile, Bryant got less than $1 million from the 49ers this offseason and Cominsky’s deal with the Lions came in just a bit under Nelson’s. Nelson was a solid pick, but Hooker would have been a home run.

Pick No. 145 – K Matt Gay

Bucs K Matt Gay – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

After the disaster that was the Roberto Aguayo second round pick in 2016, Licht learned his lesson … sort of.  He at least waited until day three of the draft to bring on his kicker of the future. And let’s be honest, he made the right choice for the position he targeted. Looking back, Gay has proven himself to be a top-tier, Pro Bowl kicker.

Unfortunately, that level of play came by Gay after the Bucs gave up on Gay following his rookie year. That decision was most likely due to a disastrous final game of the year when Gay missed all three of his field goal attempts at home in an eventual loss to the Atlanta Falcons. That game relegated the Bucs to a losing record for the season.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

CB Amani Oruwariye

LB Dre Greenlaw

WR Hunter Renfroe

OLB Andrew Van Ginkel

OLB Justin Hollins

Next two players at position:

K Austin Seibert

Gay has easily outpaced the only other kicker selected in that year’s draft. However, given the benefit of hindsight, Dre Greenlaw and Hunter Renfroe have both carved out very productive careers at positions of greater value than kicker. There could be an argument made that Gay has proven himself to be on par with the rest of that list, but I think the arguments for the other side would still win out.

Pick No. 208 – WR Scotty Miller

Bucs WR Scotty Miller – Photo by: USA Today

Miller became a cult hero for the Bucs during the 2020 season when he had the most receiving yards on the team at the half-way point of the season and then made a historic catch at the end of the first half in the divisional playoff game against the Packers.

Beyond that Super Bowl season, Miller only caught 41 passes for 423 yards and one touchdown in his three other seasons with the Bucs. Still, a 6th round pick making it through his entire rookie contract and making a significant contribution to a Super Bowl has to be considered a success.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

OG Nick Allegretti

Next two players at position:

WR John Ursua

WR Terry Godwin

Now with the context of these other picks we can officially call this pick a success. While Miller is short in stature, he stands head and shoulders above the rest of the picks taken after him. Put this in the win column for Licht.

Pick No. 215 – DL Terry Beckner

Beckner never made the Bucs team and never played a down in the NFL. Not much more can be said than that.

Other Players taken within 15 picks of note:

OG Nick Allegretti

Next two players at position:

DL Dontavius Russell

DL Cortez Broughton

Allegretti has been a quality backup, who has logged starting reps when pressed into action over the past four seasons. That’s a major win in round seven. Neither Russel nor Broughton ever played a regular season snap much like Beckner.

Looking at the totality of the 2019 draft and the Bucs came away with a starting linebacker, an elite cornerback, an inconsistent depth corner, a consistent depth edge rusher and a playmaking depth receiver. That’s a successful draft all things considered.

Were there opportunities to get better players with a few of those picks? Sure. But this draft can reasonably be graded an “A” in retrospect considering that most general managers don’t hit on this many picks. No draft is ever perfect and this one is no exception. However, this draft provided several pieces for the Bucs 2020 Super Bowl run.