FAB 2. Inside The Bucs’ Draft

You have questions about Tampa Bay’s 2019 draft class, and I have answers. I’ve spent the week talking to multiple sources at One Buccaneer Place and throughout the league to find out the behind-the-scenes info that you expect from PewterReport.com.

Nobody wanted to go on the record to discuss the draft, which was their prerogative, and I’m okay with that because in the end it allowed those sources the opportunity to speak more freely. Some of the following material is information I’ve gleaned from sources, while other parts of information is based on my informed speculation.

• Tampa Bay made a concerted effort to add more speed. Bruce Arians, an offensive-minded head coach, didn’t take this job to rebuild. He came to the Bucs to win now, and that meant immediately upgrading the defense and special teams because the offense has plenty of firepower and is good enough to win with.

That push began with the team’s first-round draft pick Devin White, the Butkus Award-winning linebacker from LSU. White ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. That prompted me to tweet out on March 3 a post that said, “Tampa Bay #Bucs LB Devin White blazed a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash. #LSU”

It was at the NFL Scouting Combine that the entire Bucs’ brass, including Arians, general manager Jason Licht, director of pro personnel John Spytek, director of college scouting Mike Biehl, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and linebackers coach Mike Caldwell were all blown away by White during his 15-minute interview with the team. After that interview, they all agreed in unison that White should be the pick if he’s there. Of course the film spoke for itself.

When White came to AdventHealth Training Center at One Buccaneer Place for a Top 30 pre-draft visit, Arians told White he would draft him if he were still on the draft board when the Bucs picked at No. 5. If White was going to be there at No. 5 for Tampa Bay, which he was, the Bucs were absolutely not going to trade down – and they didn’t.

• The Bucs liked Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen, but I don’t know that he would have necessarily been the pick at No. 5 if White had been drafted by Oakland at No. 4. Tampa Bay had an awfully high grade on Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat, who is faster, more athletic and plays the run better than Allen does, in addition to having back-to-back years of double-digit sacks.

There were some other concerns about Allen that I haven’t been able to uncover yet, but it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a tough decision for the Bucs to choose White over Allen at the end of the day. There was some clear separation between White, Sweat and Allen on Tampa Bay’s draft board.

Keep in mind that Oakland took Clemson pass rusher Clelin Ferrell instead of Allen at No. 4 for a reason, too.

I’m hearing the Bucs liked Sweat better than Allen and also Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver. Oliver grew on the Bucs’ staff during the pre-draft process, but concerns about his frame being maxed out around 280 and holding up against double-teams in the run game or even one-on-one in the run game against a 330-pound guard raised some red flags.

Oliver has some of Aaron Donald’s athletic traits, but Tampa Bay was convinced that he wasn’t the pass rusher Donald was – not even close. Oliver ranked inside the Bucs’ Top 10 draft prospects this year, but wasn’t in the Top 5.

Kentucky OLB Josh Allen – Photo by: Getty Images

• Speaking of Allen, the Bucs interviewed a lot of Kentucky draft prospects this year, including cornerbacks Lonnie Johnson, Derrick Baity and several other Wildcats and asked them all which player from last year’s Kentucky team they would take with them to the NFL if they could pick just one. The universal answer wasn’t Allen. It was safety Mike Edwards, who was drafted in the third round by the Bucs.

Edwards was not only the leader of the Wildcats secondary, he was also the leader on defense. For a Bucs secondary that is lacking leadership, the team hopes that its third-round pick can assume that role sooner rather than later.

• Aside from adding more speed to the secondary, which happened with the selection of Central Michigan cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting running a 4.42, Auburn cornerback Jamel Dean running a 4.30 and Edwards running a 4.50, the Bucs wanted to add more splash plays. Breaking up passes is one thing, but creating takeaways with interceptions and forced fumbles is something else.

Last year’s DB draft class of cornerbacks M.J. Stewart and Carlton Davis along with safety Jordan Whitehead totaled an impressive 81 pass breakups in college, but only 13 interceptions. This year’s DB draft class of cornerbacks Murphy-Bunting and Dean and safety Edwards totaled 55 pass breakups, but had 21 interceptions.

North Carolina CB M.J. Stewart – 41 PBUs, 6 INTs, 3 FFs, 3 FRs
Auburn CB Carlton Davis – 28 PBUs, 4 INTs, 3 FFs, 1 FR
Pittsburgh SS Jordan Whitehead –12 PBUs, 3 INTs, 3 FRs, 2 FFs

Central Michigan CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – 15 PBUs, 9 INTs, 4 FFs, 1 FR
Auburn CB Jamel Dean – 17 PBUs, 2 INTs, 1 FR
Kentucky SS Mike Edwards – 23 PBUs, 10 INTs, 2 TDs, 2 FFs, 1 FR

• So why didn’t the Bucs draft LSU’s playmaking cornerback Greedy Williams in the second round? Williams was at no time considered a first-round pick by NFL teams – only by the media. He fell to the second round for some very good reasons that are apparent the game film. Williams had a very good freshman season, but did not play that well last year, especially against the run. He’s not tough and lacks discipline. That shows up on tape pretty clearly.

LSU CB Greedy Williams – Photo by: Getty Images

Williams is like David Amerson, a big, fast cornerback that will get some interceptions, but won’t support the run and will give up too many touchdowns by freelancing. Fans saw Williams’ name in the Top 10 and linked to the Bucs back in January in some national mock drafts, so automatically they assume that a household name from LSU is supposed to be better than Central Michigan’s Murphy-Bunting.

There are several reasons why the Bucs passed on Williams, and you could also assume that the Bucs got some intel from White, who played alongside Williams at LSU for the past two years, too.

The Bucs thought about trading down in the second round and made some calls, but didn’t get enough compensation to warrant the move. It’s usually better to field trade calls rather than make them, from a compensation standpoint.

After the draft, the Bucs found out that Oakland was prepared to take Murphy-Bunting with the following pick in the second round, and that Detroit would have used their second-round pick a few spots later to draft Murphy-Bunting because the Lions hired John Bonamego, who was just fired as the head coach of Central Michigan, and Bonamego loved his star cornerback. Oakland took Clemson cornerback Trayvon Mullen instead, and the Lions selected Hawaii linebacker Jahlani Tavai. Both teams had needs at cornerback and also passed on Williams.

• Tampa Bay was considering Kansas State offensive tackle Dalton Risner in the second round, but had him and Murphy-Bunting rated about equal. When that’s the case, teams like Tampa Bay will go with the player that fits the more pressing need, and for the Bucs that was cornerback.

Part of the reason why the Bucs flooded the cornerback position was because Licht and Arians did not think there was enough depth in the secondary at both cornerback and safety. When injuries hit last year, Licht had to sign De’vante Harris, Andrew Adams and Josh Shaw off the street and start reserves like Ryan Smith, Isaiah Johnson and Javien Elliott. All three of last year’s rookie – Davis, Stewart and Whitehead – were forced to start even though they weren’t ready.

Central Michigan CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo courtesy of CMU

The addition of Murphy-Bunting, Dean and Edwards provides legitimate competition to Davis, Whitehead, Stewart, Smith and Vernon Hargreaves III. The coaching staff feels that Hargreaves, a former first-round pick, needs a fire lit under him to live up to his draft billing and earn next year’s fifth-year option. Rest assured that the Bucs coaches will play the best players after training camp and the preseason – regardless of whether they were from this year’s draft class or last year’s.

• There will be an open competition between Cairo Santos and Matt Gay, the team’s fifth-round pick. The job won’t be handed to Gay just because he’s a draft pick. The Bucs legitimately want the best kicker kicking for them in 2019. Tampa Bay cut a fifth-round pick, running back Jeremy McNichols, after the preseason two years ago. The Bucs cut kicker Roberto Aguayo one year after the team drafted him in the second-round pick. There are no sacred cows in Tampa Bay, especially fifth-round picks.

• This year’s draft was weak at offensive tackle and there were only a few players the team liked, including Risner, Florida’s Jawaan Taylor, who had some injury concerns, Alabama State’s Tytus Howard, Oklahoma’s Cody Ford and Northern Illinois’ Max Scharping. Those players were all gone by the second round, and the Bucs didn’t feel like there were any other tackles that were worth taking over other players in the secondary or at defensive end, as Iowa’s Anthony Nelson was drafted in the fourth round.

Next year’s draft class should be much richer at the tackle position, and there could be as many as five or six taken in the first round. The Bucs took that into account and didn’t reach for a tackle later in the draft after all of the ones they truly desired were off the board.

Bucs RB Bruce Anderson – Photo courtesy of NDSU

The same could be said about the running back position. Tampa Bay wasn’t really intrigued by too many runners this year, and next year’s class should have better talent and it’s a deeper group of running backs, too. The Bucs were thrilled to sign North Dakota State’s Bruce Anderson as an undrafted free agent and love his ability to pick up tough yards between the tackles, and also catch the ball.

Anderson has a legit chance to make the roster this year, and will battle Ronald Jones II, Andre Ellington, Shaun Wilson and Dare Ogunbowale for a spot on the depth chart. Anderson will have to star on special teams to help his cause.

Next year’s draft class is also quite deep at wide receiver and will be strong with defensive backs, too. PewterReport.com will keep digging and will have even more Bucs post-draft scoop in next week’s SR’s Fab 5.

For more of my post-draft analysis, read SR’s Bucs’ 2019 Draft Evaluation.