Bucs’ Best Bet – Rounds 1-3: Washington DT Vita Vea

The Bucs have loved Vea’s game for quite some time and brought him to One Buc Place as one of the team’s Top 30 visitors after interviewing him at the NFL Scouting Combine. Vea only recorded 9.5 career sacks at Washington, including just 3.5 during his junior year, but was such a disruptive force upfront that he creates sacks for others with his penetration and ability to smash through double teams. Despite the lack of stats, Vea was named the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season and was a major force on Washington’s defense, which ranked eighth overall and fourth in run defense in 2017. Vea, who is regarded as a top 10 pick, would be a great understudy for Gerald McCoy, playing both three-technique defensive tackle and nose tackle as a rookie.

Bucs’ Best Bet – Rounds 4-7: Sam Houston State DT P.J. Hall

Hall was an incredibly productive small school defensive tackle where he notched 284 tackles, 86.5 tackles for loss, 42 sacks, 29 pass breakups, nine forced fumbles, four interceptions and one fumble recovery at Sam Houston State. Why was Hall so dominant? He’s an incredible athlete with a 40-inch vertical and a 400-pound bench press. The Bucs interviewed Hall at the East-West Shrine Game and used a Top 30 visit to have him to One Buccaneer Place. If the Bucs aren’t able to get Vea or Fort Hays State’s Nathan Shepherd in the first two rounds, Hall would be an ideal pick up in the fourth round. Heck, watch Bucs general manager Jason Licht trade up into the third round to snag Hall, who could be one of the steals in the 2018 NFL Draft.