Bucs 2025 Draft Recap

The NFL Draft (finally) took place this past weekend, and with the Bucs making six picks across the seven rounds, they’ve wrangled a pretty impressive crop of talent. They opted to double up at the wide receiver, cornerback, and edge rusher positions, improving their depth at their two most injury prone positions, wide receiver and cornerback, and getting some potential competitors for the previously flimsy edge rush spots.

Round 1 WR Emeka Egbuka, OSU

6’0” ⅞ 202 lbs 

40-yard dash: 4.48s

Vertical: 38in

RAS: 9.72

Licht found a Chris Godwin clone in round one of the draft and that’s barely a joke. Their 40-yard times were within two hundredths of a second of each other, Godwin measured an eighth of an inch taller and 7 pounds heavier at the combine, and Egbuka’s vertical jump was 2 inches higher, but even their playstyles are identical. Some may not love the pick, may wish the Bucs had taken a defender at 19 overall. But fans are sure to fall in love with this pick.

Egbuka and Godwin are both mainly slot receivers, but they are also both perfectly proficient on the outside. Egbuka was dominant over the middle of the field in college, and he ranked above the 95th percentile in yards per route on crossing routes and hitch routes. Egbuka is more than a willing run blocker, he’s enthusiastic about it. He was often a lead blocker in the Ohio State offense, coming off of jet motions or even occasionally lining up in the backfield.

According to multiple sources, including Peter Schrager and Jason Licht himself, Emeka Egbuka is highly motivated, smart, humble, and had an all around great interview. Expect Egbuka to make an immediate impact in year one, changing the geometry of the offense as the Bucs attempt to stretch the field horizontally to complement the verticality of WR Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan.

There were a lot of defensive pieces I would have really liked to see picked here including CB Jahdae Barron and LB Jihaad Campbell. Love the pick, but not entirely thrilled with the timing given how bad the defense has been and the overall strength of the WR room.

Grade: B

Round 2 CB Benjamin Morrison, ND

6’0” 2/8 193 lbs

Bench: 17 reps

Morrison has the potential to be the biggest steal of the entire draft. Looking back at the so-called “way too early” mock drafts that are often published nearly a year in advance is always a fun thing to do after the draft finishes. In the 2025 additions, Morrison was often the second or third defensive back off the board, usually in the top 10 (some had him ahead of Travis Hunter and behind Will Johnson!).

Now obviously, Morrison missed all but six games last season after suffering a torn labrum in his hip. He also had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder that forced him to miss most of spring practice. He also told Bucs media he had surgery to correct a bilateral hip issue he’s had since birth. He needed to wait for his growth plates to fuse to avoid hindering his growth, so he had one hip done in high school and got the other done around the time of his labrum injury. Other notable players that had these hip issues include Ed Reed and Brett Favre.

Aside from the injury issues, Morrison is a really, really, really good cornerback. As a true freshman, he nabbed 6 interceptions, the most by any Notre Dame player since Manti Te’o. That season he allowed a passer rating of just 29.1, and he only got better. He allowed a completion percentage of 44% in his limited time this season. He’s got an opportunity to get much better at the next level, and his physical traits will lend him a massive advantage in press man, something the Bucs corners have struggled with in recent years. His ability to stick with receivers, and force them up against the sideline when he’s playing outside limits their ability to surprise him will be instrumental at the next level as he brings his press-man abilities to the zone-heavy secondary in Tampa Bay.

While he may still need recovery time from his hip surgeries (he meets with the Bucs medical staff this week), Morrison figures to compete for one of the outside jobs as early as this season while he plays some nickel in the short term.

Grade: A

Round 3 CB Jacob Parrish KSU

5’9” 6/8 191 lbs

40-yard dash: 4.35s

Vertical: 37.5 in

Bench: 12 reps

RAS: 8.82

Don’t let his diminutive frame deceive you. Parrish is one of the big dawgs. He does sometimes struggle with what you would expect a shorter corner to struggle with: playing overly physical, ankle biting, and he can’t necessarily play outside corner. The one thing he doesn’t do is get manhandled. Despite his height, he’s filled out his frame very well, and hasn’t sacrificed any of his speed, burst, or explosion. He’s fluid and agile and should be a consistent nickel corner in the future, so long as he can become a more consistent, dependable tackler. He will also probably be an important depth piece, given the rash of injuries in the Bucs secondary seemingly every year.

This pick not only shows that the front office is receptive to the issues in the secondary last season but also that the team may play more press-man coverage in the future, as both Parrish and Morrison excel in press-man. This is a very solid 3rd round find.

Grade: B+

Round 4 LB/EDGE David Walker CARK

6’0” ⅞ 263 lbs

40-yard dash: 4.69s

Vertical: 35in

Bench: 26 reps

RAS: 8.63

Walker may have played in the FCS, but he was an absolute game wrecker, and his highlights from the senior bowl prove it wasn’t because of the weak competition. It isn’t often you see an edge rusher as short as Walker. Former Eagle edge rusher Brandon Graham and Bucs edge rusher Shaq Barrett are basically the only household names at 6’2” or lower. And it will certainly be an issue in the short term, but if he can manage to fine tune his technique and keep up with the pace of the NFL, he could be a very nice rotational pass rusher in a now growing stable for Tampa Bay.

His short arms affect his ability to wrap up on tackles and keep his distance from blockers as well as develop finesse moves. His short strides will affect his speed and leg drive on his power moves but his height gives him a massive amount of leverage, and his relatively high weight lends itself to his bull rush, and his first step is quick enough to keep OT’s on their back foot. He’ll be a name to watch in the preseason for how well he lines up to NFL level talent. He certainly has potential to wreak havoc on mismatches and single teams.

Grade: B-

Round 5 EDGE Elijah Roberts SMU

6’3” ⅝ 285 lbs

40-yard dash: 4.78s

Vertical: 31.5in

RAS: 6.83

The Bucs doubled up on edge rushers, with Elijah Roberts from Southern Methodist University, who has been one of the most productive pass rushers in all of NCAA football over the last 2 years. He has 131 QB pressures since 2023, first among all players, and recorded a total of 21 sacks with a PFF grade in the 90’s both seasons. At his size, he figures to be a down lineman to replace Will Gholston in the short term, and an opportunity to compete for snaps with Logan Hall.

He does have issues with his burst and acceleration, and isn’t quite fast or flexible enough to be an every down true edge defender in the NFL, but he seems perfect to be a down lineman with some combination of Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, Logan Hall, and Greg Gaines. This versatility will be helpful in creating pressure with four rushers, something Bowles has been vocal about this offseason. I would have liked to see an inside linebacker or safety here rather than another edge rusher, but most of my personal favorite players were simply out of reach at this point

Grade: C+

Round 7 WR Tez Johnson ORE

5’9” ⅞ 154 lbs

40-yard dash: 4.51s

Vertical: 37in

RAS: 7.30

Johnson enters the NFL as the lightest in the whole league. His weight is in the 1st percentile among all players drafted since 1987. But Johnson intends to make a name for himself, and he has a good shot at staying on the roster despite the talent backlog at the position. While his light weight lends itself to speed and agility, his short stride length may limit his long speed, but ultimately he’s twitchy enough that it may not matter. His body control is among the best of the best and his highlight reel looks like clips from a video game. While he doesn’t have the strength or weight to contribute as a run blocker, he tries his best. That’s perhaps his best trait is the level of effort on every single rep. I have yet to see him take a play off, even run a route at 90% effort. Every catch is YAC potential for him, and his playmaker mentality will hopefully help him stay on the roster.

He was ultimately a slot receiver at Oregon, with a grade in the high 80s every season, and ten touchdowns the last two years. The best part of the pick? Johnson is best friends with RB Bucky Irving, who was drafted last year by the Bucs out of Oregon. While still would have liked to find a depth linebacker, safety or even potential backup center here, Johnson is about as good as a seventh round WR prospect will get. He will probably be a tool guy if he can stay on the roster, with perhaps some backfield or jet motion or orbit packages to get him in space with blockers. He may also return kicks and punts given his open field ability which would put WR Trey Palmer’s job at risk.

Grade: A-

Despite upsetting some fans with that first round pick, I think the Bucs found impressive players at every pick, and I can’t say they drafted any objectively bad players. This team seems massively improved on paper from last season, which will be very important, because the Atlanta Falcons could be right there on their backs in the division race. It’s very likely that all six of these players see some playing time this season. With optional workouts at the team facility starting on Monday, April 21st, Rookie camp on May 9th-11th, and OTA’s beginning at the end of May, it’s safe to say that preparations for the 2025-26 campaign are well under way.