With the draft a less than a month away, the Bucs are starting to ramp up their draft process. That continued today when they brought in Auburn cornerback Roger McCreary for a top 30 visit.

The Auburn product doesn’t fit the traditional Bucs prototype at corner, coming in at just 5’11”. Perhaps McCreary can make the move to the slot despite barely playing there in college? Where McCreary excels is his reactive athleticism and short area quickness to make plays on the ball. While he doesn’t possess great length, he’s physical at the catch point and tough in the run game.

A major knock on him in this defense though could be his scheme fit, having mostly aligned in man coverage at Auburn. McCreary has never been in a system that utilizes zone coverage as much as the Bucs. That could be a concern as he transitions to NFL defenses. At his pro day, the cornerback improved on his Combine 40 time by clocking in a 4.46 dash. McCreary’s current projection has him as a late first-to-early second round pick.

Bucs co-chair Darcie Glazer Kassewitz, VP of football administration and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

McCreary had one of his most productive seasons as a senior. The Auburn Tiger totaled 49 tackles, 14 pass deflections, a sack and a fumble recovery. He also had two interceptions, taking one back for a score. Over his collegiate career he totaled 135 tackles, 32 pass deflections, six interceptions, a forced fumble, two recoveries and a sack.

Drafting McCreary would continue the Auburn pipeline already existing in Tampa Bay. Currently the Bucs have three players from the SEC school on the roster in corners Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean, and linebacker K.J.Britt. While corner isn’t an immediate need, the Bucs could be in the market for one with Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting set to be free agents after the season. It’s worth noting VP of Player Personnel John Spytek was at Florida’s Pro Day too. Cornerback Kaiir Elam is projected to be selected somewhere in the 20s of the first round.