Draft Day is here.

The 2025 NFL Draft will get underway in just hours, and a couple of hours after that, the Bucs will be on the clock for the first time all weekend with the No. 19 overall selection.

General manager Jason Licht and his scouts have been in evaluation and information-collecting mode for months, and now it’s almost time for the pick to be made.

Licht and the Bucs’ brass will obviously know by now who they’re zeroing in on at No. 19, though it’ll be multiple players as the team has to see which way the board falls within the first 18 picks. But the point is, Tampa Bay’s front office has come to a consensus on the potential choices. And our staff here at Pewter Report has reached a general consensus that the Bucs will stick and pick Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku with their first-round pick.

But what about Bucs fans and Pewter People? We’ve heard you weigh in on our five mock drafts, as well as the countless draft-centric Pewter Report Podcasts over the last few months. But with our final Pewter Poll before the 2025 NFL Draft begins, we wanted to ask plain and simple: Who will be the Bucs’ first-round pick on Thursday night?

Bucs Fans Have Seemingly Closed In On Two Intriguing Prospects

Earlier this week, the latest Pewter Poll hit social media, and we asked who Tampa Bay’s first-round draft pick will be. After final results came in over the last couple of days, they revealed an interesting split.

Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku – Photo by: USA Today

Over on Twitter/X, there were 757 votes on the poll, with 42.5% of voters choosing Donovan Ezeiruaku and 38.3% selecting Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Meanwhile, 12.8% of voters chose Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston and 6.3% of voters responded with “Other.”

The results flipped a bit over on Instagram and Facebook. Between those two platforms, a total of 536 votes came in and 43.8% favored Campbell, while 32.3% backed Ezeiruaku. Behind the top two choices, 16.4% chose Hairston and 7.5% went with “Other.”

So, overall, it ended up being a close call. With 1,293 total votes, Jihaad Campbell came out as the slight winner, taking 40.6% of the vote. Donovan Ezeiruaku got 38.3% of the vote, while Hairston received 14.3% and “Other” got 6.8%.

Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell Photo by: USA Today

The close split makes sense, as inside and outside linebacker are up there among the Bucs’ biggest needs heading into draft weekend. Once healthy Campbell, who is coming off shoulder surgery, would immediately upgrade the inside linebacker room, completing an intriguing trio of starting options that obviously also includes the legendary Lavonte David and the up-and-coming SirVocea Dennis. Anthony Walker Jr. would then round out the room as LB4.

On the flip side, Ezeiruaku makes sense as a first-round selection as well, especially with Todd Bowles’ insistence on wanting to improve the team’s four-man pass rush this offseason. While the team is hopeful that the duo of Yaya Diaby and Haason Reddick can lead the way, adding Ezeiruaku – who had 16.5 sacks last year at Boston College – to the mix that also includes Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson could absolutely elevate the floor for that position group.

It might’ve been a little surprising that Hairston only garnered 14.3% of votes considering Tampa Bay’s needs at cornerback, but Jason Licht and his staff have been experts at finding starting-caliber corners on Day 2 – and even Day 3 in Zyon McCollum’s case – in the past.

Some Bucs Fans Have Other Thoughts On The First-Round Choice

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

It was only 6.8% of the vote, but some Bucs fans had dissenting thoughts on what the team will do with the No. 19 overall pick on Thursday night.

Some responses favored an edge rusher not named Donovan Ezeiruaku, as some of the Tampa Bay faithful are in on Marshall’s Mike Green. Another voter went with Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., who – like Green – has some reported character concerns that teams will have to weigh when deciding to bring them on board. Georgia’s Mykel Williams had some supporters as well.

Others went the cornerback route, giving their votes to Michigan’s Will Johnson, Texas’ Jahdae Barron or East Carolina’s Shavon Revel Jr., who was the Bucs’ projected second-round pick in our final mock draft earlier this week. Georgia safety Malaki Starks, a Pewter Report Bucs Best Bet at safety, also had some support among Tampa Bay fans who voted “Other.”

While the general consensus – even among those who didn’t vote for Campbell, Ezeiruaku or Hairston – seems to be that the team will go with a defensive player at No. 19. However, there were still some differing opinions that stood out, too. Some Buccaneers fans went with wide receivers, namely Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, Texas’ Matthew Golden and Missouri’s Luther Burden III.

And finally, there were some fans who believe (or perhaps want) a trade back to be in the cards. Jason Licht has traded back and collected some more picks before, right? Well, could he do it again? We’re set to find out in mere hours.

NEW Pewter Report Polls Every Monday And Friday Across All Channels

Stay tuned to Pewter Report’s social media channels each week for more Pewter Report polls. Every Monday and Friday, we’ll be looking to hear from Bucs fans on the latest surrounding the team.

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Join Pewter Report’s LIVE 3-Day Bucs Draft Show – April 24-26

Pewter Report will be broadcasting its annual LIVE 3-Day Bucs Draft Show from One Buccaneer Place on April 24-26 – presented by Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux. Bucs fans are encouraged to watch nearly 20 hours of wall-to-wall draft coverage from the Pewter Report staff streamed on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel, which has over 18,000 subscribers.

The LIVE 3-Day Draft Show will also be streamed on PewterReport.com in addition to Pewter Report’s X and Facebook accounts – @PewterReport. Here are the broadcast times:

Thursday, April 24 – 7:00 pm ET / Day 1 starts at 8:00 pm ET
Friday, April 25 – 6:00 pm ET / Day 2 starts at 7:00 pm ET
Saturday, April 26 – 11:00 am ET / Day 3 starts at noon ET

Nobody covers the Bucs draft like Pewter Report, and we’ll publish our fifth and final Pewter Report 2025 7-Round Bucs Mock Draft on Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET on PewterReport.com.

The entire Pewter Report staff will be on hand to preview and discuss each Bucs draft pick, offering insight and analysis found nowhere else – in addition to answering questions from fans and reading their comments from the chat on-air.

The Pewter Report staff will also be offering live reaction from interviews with general manager Jason Licht, head coach Todd Bowles and Tampa Bay’s draft picks following their selections.