Buccaneers take on a gamble that will totally backfire in latest 2026 mock draft
The Bucs know better than this.
Every NFL team has some kind of need, but it’s abundantly clear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a glaring hole at linebacker.
The Buccaneers are going to have to pour not just resources, but valuable resources (aka money or a high draft pick), into the position. Even if Lavonte David comes back for another year.
That’s why the results of A to Z Sports’ latest three-round mock draft have the Bucs setting themselves up for major failure.
Bucs wait until Round 3 to draft a linebacker while passing up good prospects
I love my co-workers, but they definitely overlooked the degree of the Bucs’ needs, here. Yes, there’s always a chance Tampa Bay invests heavily at linebacker in free agency, but we won’t know that for sure until it happens.
And it’d still be a good idea to draft a ‘backer high, anyway. Not only do the Buccaneers need an impactful player – they need one who will be around for the long haul. It’s gotta be viewed as two open positions on the defense because SirVocea Dennis hasn’t proven anything, yet.
It’s hard enough to fill one spot with an impactful player, let alone two. The Buccaneers can’t risk having a deficiency at the position, either, when considering how vital it is to Todd Bowles’ defense.
My guys have the Bucs taking EDGE Keldrick Faulk, a 6-foot-6, 285-pound beast who has a violent first step, but may not be ready for a full-time, three-down job just yet. He was selected over Georgia linebacker C.J. Allen, who has a better chance of stepping in and becoming a three-down, Day 1 starter, right away.
Pick 15 may be a little high for Allen, but the Buccaneers could always trade back and there’s always the thought process of if you know the guy is going to be gone by your next pick and he’s the top player on your board – you might as well take him.
It’d be a major gamble and the Bucs double down on the decision in the second round of this mock by taking defensive back Kamari Ramsey from USC.
This is an even bigger head-scratcher, as Ramsey profiles more of a nickel/safety-type hybrid and didn’t play a lot on the perimeter. That’s how he’d likely translate to the NFL and the Buccaneers simply don’t need that kind of player, right now. Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith are shaping up as one of the NFL’s best safety duos and Jacob Parrish flashed plenty in the slot in 2025.
And again, it’s who was still on the board at the time: linebackers Josiah Trotter, Anthony Hill Jr., Jacob Rodriguez, and Jake Golday are the top ones.
The Bucs finally took a linebacker in Round 3 with their selection of LSU’s Harold Perkins Jr. While I like Perkins overall, he doesn’t appear to have the instincts to be the instant-impact player the Bucs need at the position. He can be slow to diagnose run plays and there were plenty of mental lapses in coverage last year, as well.
Again, the Bucs need a viable short- and long-term option and yes, admittedly, that’s not easy to find. And again, for not one, but two positions.
However, this kind of strategy would not be the way to go unless the Bucs wrap things up in free agency and considering the other potential needs (TE, interior iOL, swing tackle, cornerback, defensive line), it’s hard to see them spending the money needed to land that kind of player at both spots.
The likely and most logical path is fixing the position through both free agency and the draft, which means high spending (doesn’t have to break the bank to be clear) in both contexts – not like this.
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