For many NFL teams, the 2024 NFL Draft is a dramatic spectacle filled with big gambles. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was an orderly affair that featured no trades by the Bucs for the first time in 11 years.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht appeared more than satisfied filling roster holes with the draft capital Tampa Bay already had on deck. The Bucs addressed immediate needs early and filled out the edges of the roster as the draft progressed.
A little ho-hum? Maybe, but not necessarily ineffective.
As the dust settles from another wild weekend, here’s how we grade every pick the Bucs made across all seven rounds of this year’s draft:
The Bucs had two key objectives heading into the 2024 NFL draft: upgrade the offensive line and improve the edge rush. They accomplished the first with their first pick, taking Duke’s Graham Barton. Not since Ali Marpet was a Buccaneer has Tampa Bay boasted such an athletic offensive lineman, only Barton is bigger and faster than Marpet.
Barton was ranked 26th overall and the top center on Arif Hasan’s 2024 Consensus Board, which takes into account 101 media big boards and projections. The Bucs took him right where he was expected to fall and right where interior offensive line value begins to make sense for a first round pick.
Though not a finished product, Barton’s athleticism, reinforced by his on-field attitude, should see him through to becoming at minimum a starting-caliber center, which is where GM Jason Licht projects Barton will play. Center may not be a sexy position for a first round pick, but it is exactly what Tampa Bay needed, with a possible future Pro Bowler now manning the role.
Grade: A-
Outside linebacker was Tampa Bay’s other pressing need, and with the top prospects off the board with the Bucs’ first pick, they took Alabama OLB Chris Braswell. Largely a rotational player for the Tide, Braswell saw the bulk of his action last season when he led the team in pressures (55) and recorded eight sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss.
Braswell is a physical specimen and a true competitor. What is missing from his game is refinement and a consistency in getting to the quarterback. Essentially drafted to replace Shaq Barrett, Braswell is longer, faster and more explosive but does not have Barrett’s bend or arsenal of pass rush moves.
It will take time for Braswell to mature into a reliable contributor to Tampa Bay’s linebacker rotation. The Bucs’ need for more edge rush may not afford him much time or patience from Todd Bowles. With few options left to them, Tampa Bay gambled on Braswell’s upside, considerable though it is.
Grade: C+
Tampa Bay’s first third-round pick was a blatant attempt to draft another Antoine Winfield Jr. in Georgia S Tykee Smith. Their measurables are practically identical:
Still, the Antoine Winfield Jrs. of the world do not come along every year. Smith is an instinctual defender overall, but Winfield Jr. is still on another level when it comes to reading the field, particularly against the pass.
Smith will likely compete with last year’s undrafted rookie upstart Christian Izien for the starting nickel role. Izien is smaller and maybe a bit less physical but plays with better range. Where Smith should have an immediate impact is on special teams. Despite starting at safety, Smith played coverage and returns on special teams.
In terms of value, the Bucs picked up an immediate rotational contributor with starter potential, a desirable outcome for a third-round pick. The outstanding question is whether Tampa Bay might have addressed a position of greater need of an upgrade with the talent in that range, such as tight end or inside linebacker.
Grade: B
The Bucs are getting a little long in the tooth at receiver, so it was natural for Tampa Bay to inject some youth into the position with WR Jalen McMillan. One of Washington’s impressive triumvirate of receivers in this year’s draft, McMillan was Michael Penix Jr.’s top target in 2022 before injuries limited his production in 2023.
Tampa Bay is not getting a one-for-one replacement of Chris Godwin with McMillan. He does not have Godwin’s reliable hands, dropping 14 passes over his collegiate career, and is not half as developed a blocker as Godwin. McMillan also has little special teams experience.
Nevertheless, his production at Washington suggests McMillan can be a valuable slot receiver and could continue to develop in Tampa Bay’s receiver room, assuming he can stay healthy.
Grade: B-
Tampa Bay needed to find a complement for Rachaad White if only to lighten his workload, taking 959 snaps in 2023, second-most among all running backs. They waited until the fourth round to find both a partner for White and a fit for offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s scheme, Oregon RB Bucky Irving.
Irving runs like he is trying to burst out of his 5’9″, 192-pound frame. He forced 69 forced tackles and averaged 3.99 yards after contact according to Pro Football Focus. Irving also boasts excellent vision and feet, maximizing the blocking in front of him. He brings good hands, leading all FBS running backs with 56 catches in 2023.
The biggest issue with Irving is that for his size, he is a mediocre NFL athlete. He does not have exceptional burst or field stretching speed. His size will likely make him a liability as a pass protector in the NFL.
The Bucs were clearly looking for a similar skill set as Rachaad White when they drafted Irving rather than add a back that might get more out of the blocking in front of him, which has obviously been a problem in Tampa Bay for some time. If the Bucs’ run blocking improves with their recent offensive line additions, the Irving pick may yield more production than it appears under the present circumstances.
Grade: C-
Towards the end of the draft, teams are looking for backups, special teamers, the high-upside, low-floor gamble, and the sleeper pick, which is the riskiest of them all. Sleepers presume that a team can scout better than everyone else. For the Bucs, that sleeper is UTEP’s Elijah Klein.
There is nothing outstanding about Klein’s athletic profile. His testing was average at best, though his wingspan and hand size are above the baseline. Looking beyond the measurables, Klein moves quicker than his testing suggests, and he is clearly very strong when engaged.
Klein was not the subject of a lot of pre-draft chatter, but there was some buzz. OL Mastermind’s Duke Manyweather called Klein “one of the biggest sleepers in the draft” and said Klein could be “an NFL starter early on.” As the last sixth-rounder in this draft, any outcome where Klein becomes an NFL starter would make this pick a home run.
Grade: B+
With their last pick in the 2024 draft, the Bucs went with another kind of late-round pick: the high-upside, low floor gamble. Washington TE Devin Culp is a sensational athlete. He was the only tight end with a sub-4.5 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Culp brings a large catch radius and has the potential to be a deep threat mismatch in Tampa Bay’s passing offense.
The flip side of Culp’s speed and potential is the reality of his play up to this point. Culp has a serious problem holding onto the ball, dropping 15.4% of his targets during his collegiate career. He has never been targeted more than 29 times in any season and scored just four touchdowns in five seasons at Washington.
At 6’3″ and 231 pounds, Culp is marginally a tight end and more of a big wide receiver without the flexibility to run a full route tree. Against the tight ends already on Tampa Bay’s roster, there is a real chance that Culp does not make the final 53-man roster in September.
Alas, that is the reality of a seventh-round pick. Culp is a low-cost roll of the dice for the Bucs. If he can do enough to just make the roster, the pick is already a win. If not, the practice squad or another team awaits, as it has for many, if not most, seventh-rounders.
Grade: C+
The Bucs’ 2024 draft class is not as splashy as some other teams’ hauls. Tampa Bay simply lacked the draft resources to take huge swings on top players. Instead, Jason Licht and company let the draft fall to them, filling roster holes both now and with an eye to the future.
Overall grade: B
