Building The Buccaneers Big Board: 11-20

Buccaneers fans, we are less than a month away from the NFL Draft. Teams have seen the workouts and are in the process of continuing to meet with prospects. This is all part of the process for creating individual team big boards.

These boards will vary from team to team. This is because some players will fit certain teams more than others based on the system they run and what they are asking their players to do. So the players who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking at might be very different than who the teams around them are looking at.

Of course, there will be a lot of overlap with these players. Some players are scheme versatile and will be high on every team’s big boards. These will essentially be used as rankings and a pecking order as to who teams will draft come April.

For this series, I will attempt to create the Buccaneers big board. This will highlight the Bucs priority targets ranging across several rounds. Some big name players will not be included due team fit, so keep in mind that this is team specific. 

1-10

Travis Hunter
Abdul Carter
Mason Graham
Will Campbell
Will Johnson
Tyler Warren
Mike Green
Colston Loveland
Donovan Ezeiraku 
Jihaad Campbell 

11-20

Jalon Walker

Part linebacker, part edge rusher, all athlete. Walker is a hybrid who I project as an edge rusher, but is more the build of an off ball linebacker. He’s a terrific athlete and his football character seems very high. I see him as a Hasson Reddick type, so learning under Reddick might be appealing for the Bucs.

Mykel Williams

Another super athlete with sky high potential. Whether he has his hand in the dirt or he’s attacking the edge, you can see disruption from Williams. He’s already a good run defender and if he polished the pass rush portion of his game then this could be the steal of the draft.

Darius Alexander

When Jason Licht and Todd Bowles talk about pass rush, we all assume they’re talking about edge rushers. However, Alexander is as disruptive of an interior pass rusher that you’ll find. The length, explosiveness and power just jump off the screen. Put him next to Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey and the Bucs defensive line will be unblockable. 

Jahdae Barron

This begins my list of seniors round targets. While I believe that Barron is an ideal fit, even at pick 19, I fear that the Buccaneers length and athletic testing thresholds will push him down the board. However, Barron can play safety, nickel and outside corner and would cure any concerns you might have with the secondary.

Shavon Revel

As an outside corner, Revel is a perfect fit in this Bucs defense. He has excellent size and he moves very well. If not for an early season injury, Revel might have been a first round lock. If he’s on the board in the second round then this is a no brainer type of pick.

Xavier Watts

This offseason has been all about pass rush and takeaways. Well there is no better defensive back in the draft at forcing takeaways than Watts. He has 13 interceptions over the last two seasons and has excellent ball awareness as a former wide receiver. On top of that he’s also a very good run defender.

Shemar Stewart

The big boom or bust prospect in the draft. While Stewart will hit all athletic metrics for the Bucs, there is a major lack of production over his college career. For a freak athlete, Stewart only had 1.5 sacks per season over his three years in college. I would expect him to have a better pro career than he did in college, but I believe Licht will let someone else make that bet in the first round.

Tetairoa McMillan

The days of Mike Evans won’t last forever. The Bucs need to seriously consider his future replacement. McMillan is a big body playmaker who wins in the intermediate and deep parts of the field. I’m not saying McMillan will be the next Mike Evans, but there are similarities in style here.

Princely Umanmielen

If you could build an edge rusher in a lab then he would probably look like U——-. The physical tools are excellent and he looks so natural bending around the offensive tackle. There is some polishing to do with his pass rush moves, but the upside is very high.

Malakii Starks

Starks is a better player overall than I believe where the Bucs will value him. This is because this isn’t a natural skill set match. Where the Buccaneers are looking for a ballhawk, Starks is a lockdown man coverage corner who doesn’t take the ball away like some of the other options in this class.