The Bucs are doing their due diligence when it comes to the formal and informal meetings they are holding with numerous college prospects at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine this week. One position where the team is focused on adding talent is at outside linebacker. Tampa Bay has formally met with three potential first-round picks, including talented Marshall pass rusher Mike Green.

Green led the nation with 17 sacks in 2024 and has a lot of promise as a player, but a red flag came up on social media in recent days as sexual assault allegations against him came out. On Wednesday morning, he addressed everything from what sets him apart on the field to clearing his name of any wrongdoing off the field.

Mike Green’s Pass-Rushing Ability Sets Him Apart

Marshall OLB Mike Green – Photo by: USA Today

It is no secret that Mike Green is a talented pass rusher. There is a reason that he appeared in Pewter Report’s first 2025 7-round mock draft. Scott Reynolds had this to say when profiling Green.

Marshall edge rusher Mike Green would be a fantastic addition at No. 19 overall for Tampa Bay. The 6-foot-4, 248-pound Green is a redshirt sophomore who exploded on to the scene with a nation-leading 17 sacks and three forced fumbles in 2024. That was a huge leap from 4.5 sacks in his first season at Marshall in 2023 since transferring from Virginia during the 2022 season.

Green has very good speed-to-power ability and brings the fight to offensive tackles. He had six multiple-sack games in 2024 during his breakout season and lived in the backfield. Granted, it was against largely inferior competition, but Green did notch a sack against national champion Ohio State and also had a pair of sacks against Virginia Tech.

Green is a physical presence at the line of scrimmage with great bend, hard-hitting hands and speed to close and finish, according to FOX NFL analyst Brian Baldinger, a former NFL offensive lineman. He plays with a sense of urgency and hustle and is tough against the run, evidenced by 23 tackles for loss last year. Green lived in opposing backfields in 2024.

At the 2025 NFL Combine, Green had the chance to discuss what sets him apart from some of the other top edge rushers. Penn State’s Abdul Carter will be the first player taken at his position, but he is in the mix to go next.

Marshall EDGE Mike Green Photo by: USA Today

“I’m excited to be here with all of these great guys,” Green said. “I think what sets me apart is my pass-rushing ability. I’m also good in the run defense. I just got a lot of tools in my bag when it comes down to moves that I can do and how I can defend the run.”

He is a bit on the lighter side, weighing in at 251 pounds last month at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Although a bit undersized, a quick look at the film will tell you it is not an obstacle for him to get in the backfield. Green absolutely bowled over a projected first-round pick in Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. on one rep and did that throughout his last college season against opposing offensive tackles and quarterbacks alike.

“I’d probably just say just keep on chipping away at showing what I can do,” Green added. “I know sometimes undersized guys have trouble setting the edge and things like that. I’ve been proving to myself and to other people that I can do things such as setting the edge and power rushing. It might be a little talk out there about me not being able to do certain things, but when you put on the film and watch all 700 plays, you’ll see sparks and highlights of the way I play.”

Mike Green Formally Met With Bucs, Dreams Of Living And Playing In Florida

Marshall OLB Mike Green – Adam Slivon/PR

Taking the podium on Wednesday morning, Mike Green also shared his preference to play in Florida. More specifically, his fit with the Bucs.

“I know they have room for edge rushers right now, and I’m aware of what pick they have,” Green said about possibly playing Tampa Bay. “It would be a blessing to play anywhere man, but Florida is definitely a state that I kind of dream of living in. It would be great to go down there and play.”

Green did not comment much about the team besides them needing an edge rusher, but there is no questioning his fit from a production standpoint. The Bucs’ outside linebacker room had just 12 sacks in 2024, which he outpaced on his own with the Thundering Herd.

Right away, he would step in as the No. 2 pass rusher to Yaya Diaby and it is well within reason to expect him to climb to No. 1 quickly as he adjusts to the NFL. Despite his obvious on-field fit, over the last week, allegations have surfaced that cloud his outlook when determining whether or not he is even still on Tampa Bay’s draft board.

Mike Green Addresses Sexual Assualt Allegations

Marshall OLB Mike Green – Photo by: USA Today

Mike Green took plenty of time to address the elephant in the room at the NFL Combine.

There is not a lot of specific information out there about two separate sexual assault allegations against Green during high school and college, but he did confirm to Pewter Report and other reporters that the accusations caused him to leave Virginia in 2022 and transfer to Marshall. The projected first-round pick asserted he did not do anything wrong and that the claims do not hold any merit.

“There is a lot of talk out there and it’s just a bunch of people that really don’t know what actually happened,” Green said. “I’ve never done anything wrong, I’ve never been charged with anything. My main focus right now is just telling these teams everything that they need and want to know.

“It’s just a little frustrating just seeing online that everybody just has everything to say. That’s not the case. I’m just going to continue to stick to the process and I’m confident in myself and the way that I’ve been handling this process. That’s what I’m going to keep on doing.”

Green continued when questioned about it further.

“I mean, there’s accusations out there. I’ve never been questioned, I’ve never been asked. Nobody ever asked me a question about what happened before I departed from Virginia. It was just accusations and that caused me to leave from there.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Bailey Adams/PR

Bucs general manager Jason Licht surely wanted to do his due diligence with the team having a formal meeting with him to get his side of the story. Licht is known for drafting high-character players and leaders in the locker room, and it remains to be seen how much these allegations will affect Green’s draft stock before the 2025 NFL Draft begins in less than two months.

Green handled the questions asked by reporters by being more than willing to discuss it and stated he was just as transparent with the Bucs and other teams that he has met with.

“They ask everything,” Green said about what kinds of questions NFL teams have asked him about the allegations. “They don’t ask anything that they don’t know. My job here is to tell everything, the truth, and how it is. They ask everything, it’s not just one question that every team asks. They asked about the whole process and about how my [upbringing] was.”

Mike Green remains on Tampa Bay’s radar, and the feeling is mutual. Time will tell if he falls to No. 19, but if the organization believes that his off-field concerns are a non-issue, they could be getting a potential star to improve a defense in desperate need of ballhawks and guys who are, as head coach Todd Bowles put it, “very astute in the game and can see things, go make plays, and go get them.”