As we head further into the month of April, all eyes will continue to be glued on the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft and the next wave of rookies that will enter the league. The Bucs, along with the other 31 teams, will all be looking to draft players who can come in and immediately be productive.
Tampa Bay would surely like another haul similar to the one they had last year.
Center Graham Barton, defensive back Tykee Smith, wide receiver Jalen McMillan, and running back Buck Irving each established themselves as long-term pieces who will be a part of the team’s future. Hope remains that the team’s other picks, such as outside linebacker Chris Braswell, pan out, but it was ultimately an impressive draft class that helped contribute to a 10-7 season and a playoff berth.
Just how good they were relative to the rest of the league was recently explored by Pro Football Focus’ Bradley Locker.
Bucs Had A Top 10 2024 NFL Draft Class
The Bucs have rebuilt the team in recent seasons thanks in part to solid drafting by general manager Jason Licht and the rest of the front office. Not every pick will be a hit and there are some misses, but for as much as the NFL Draft is an inexact science, the team will surely take the production they received from last season’s rookies.
Bradley Locker took the liberty of listing all 32 draft classes from last year, placing the Bucs 10th.
Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Despite beginning the season as a backup, running back Bucky Irving was sensational, ranking fourth among qualified running backs in PFF overall grade (90.8), seventh in PFF rushing grade (90.0), first in yards after contact per attempt (3.93) and eighth in missed tackles forced (62). Additionally, versatile defensive back Tykee Smith impressed with a 0.19 WAR, largely fueled by a stellar 90.3 PFF run-defense grade.
The back half of the season featured a breakout from third-round receiver Jalen McMillan, who turned in a 78.3 PFF receiving grade from Weeks 15-18. Altogether, five Buccaneers rookies played 500 or more snaps, including Graham Barton and Chris Braswell.
Also mentioned in the story were the snap counts the rookies played for their respective teams. The 4,414 snaps Tampa Bay received from their 2024 draft class ranked sixth, which is an impressive amount for a playoff team. Among the teams ranked ahead of them, only the Rams (first, 7,649), Commanders (second, 6,256), and Eagles (fifth, 4,577) made the playoffs.
Each had a turnaround season thanks to some rookies. Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kam Kinchens and Omar Speights bolstered Los Angeles’ defense, Jayden Daniels led a “commanding” Washington team, and the cornerback duo of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean helped to propel Philadelphia to a Super Bowl win.
While the Bucs’ rookie class did not reach the heights of those mentioned, one cannot deny the impact they had and will have for years to come.
Bucs Are An “Ascending” Team Thanks To 2024 NFL Draft Class
The Bucs remain in the driver’s seat of the NFC South heading into 2025.
They still possess one of the league’s best offenses led by Pro Bowl quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is on pace to be different than any quarterback the team has ever had. With an all-star cast of weapons around him and protected by an elite offensive line, the sky is the limit for what they can do as an encore.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and NCB Tykee Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Tampa Bay’s defense was ultimately the team’s downfall as the team fell to Washington in the Wild Card Round, but head coach Todd Bowles remains optimistic that this group has yet to reach its full potential.
“I would always like to think we’re ascending every year,” Bowles said at this week’s NFL Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida. “It might be in different areas in different ways, but we have to ascend completely as a team and keep ascending, so I would like to see that this year. We have been ascending every year. We went from an older team to a younger team, to a salary cap team to getting some players in and getting better every year. Next year, I hope to be even more so.”
Why not think that?
The offense added a dynamic running back in Bucky Irving, someone who emerged as a one of the better running backs in the league and is coming off a season where he ran for 1,122 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Graham Barton has all the intangibles to blossom into a Pro Bowl center, while Jalen McMillan tore it up down the stretch and put himself in a position to make noise next season, even in a wide receiver room led by veterans Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Defensively, Tykee Smith made plays as a nickelback, although it remains to be seen whether he stays there or moves to safety.
The Bucs will look to continue building up the defense in the 2025 NFL Draft, but one cannot argue the success they have had in recent drafts by selecting key contributors. The 2024 NFL Draft bolstered the offense, and it is time to do the same on the other side of the football.
