Bucs continue defensive improvement with 2018 draft
Jason Licht obviously felt that the improvements he made to the defensive line in FA were not quite enough as the Bucs surprised everyone by picking Washington DT Vita Vea with the No. 12 pick in the draft.
Vea a 6-4 347 pound lineman will be play next to Gerald McCoy in the newly re-worked Bucs DL. With the addition of Vea to the DL, I am hard pressed to find a better DL anywhere. When you can line up Vinny Curry, Gerald McCoy, Vita Vea, and Jason Pierre-Paul, that’s a pretty good fab with no disrespect to the Beatles. We haven’t even mentioned Beau Allen, Mitch Unrein, and Noah Spence who will rotate in to keep the line fresh.
As we found out last year, you can never have enough DL as the Bucs were really hurt by injuries last year.
The Bucs also addressed their needs at RB, and DB in the second round as Jason Licht was able to wheel and deal and add three additional picks on day 2.
The Bucs selected RB Ronald Jones from USC with their first pick in round 2. Jones ran for 1550 Yds last season and 19 TD’s at USC. Jones is a small back at 5-11 and 200 pounds. He is a quick back and can score from anywhere on the field. Jones will be a nice addition to the backfield and should be a good compliment to Peyton Barber.
I would bet that Jones will be the starting back and Barber the backup. The Bucs also have Jacquizz Rodgers and Charles Sims in the Backfield. In what was kind of an under the radar move, the Bucs did re-sign Sims to a one year deal. Licht could really never find a back he was happy with for the money that he wanted to spend, thus Sims was re-signed. Sims will be usd primarily as the main pass catching threat out of the backfield, as Jones was used primarily as a runner at USC.
The Bucs then took two DB’s In round 2. First up, MJ Stewart out of North Carolina. A small DB at 5-11 and 200 pounds, Stewart is a physical back and can play both corner and safety. The only concern I have is his height. With the trend toward bigger taller WR’s, this could be problematic at times for Stewart.
Carlton Davis from Auburn was the next player off the board for the Bucs. Davis is a bigger DB at 6-1 and 205 pounds. He is a physical corner and likes to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage. This type of player has been missing in the Bucs backfield for quite some time and will be refreshing to have some physical play back there.
The Bucs went OL in the third round taking a chance on Alex Coppa a D2 lineman from Humboldt Sate. Coppa was an all league selection all 4 years he played at Humboldt State and is very physical in his play. Licht took a chance on Ali Marpet in 2015 from a D3 school and is hoping that Coppa will develop as well as Marpet has.
Even though the Bucs lost Kevin Pamphile to Tennessee in FA, there is some depth on that line. It will be needed as JR Sweezy continues to rehab from 0ff-season surgery and will miss OTA’s and may not be ready for training camp.
In the latter rounds the Bucs picked up S Jordan Whitehead from Pittsburgh and WR Justin Watson from Penn. Watson‘s best chance to make this team will be on special teams.
