NFL Draft Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2023 NFL Draft Outlook

The 2023 NFL Draft is in the rearview mirror and it’s time to start getting excited for the upcoming season after the most exciting offseason event in sports.

With the NFC South largely looking like the worst division in football this upcoming season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to go back-to-back as they kick off the post-Tom Brady era. While the roster is a skeleton of the team that won the Super Bowl in 2021, they made some intriguing selections in an effort to keep winning despite the obvious hole at quarterback.

Led by Baker Mayfield, can the Buccaneers stay on top of the NFC South in 2023? Let’s take a look at their incoming draft class.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft Recap

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rookie Class Outlook

Overall, I’d grade this draft haul as a B+ for Tampa Bay. They opted to pass on a quarterback early on to solidify the trenches on either side of the ball with two intriguing prospects in Pitt’s Calijah Kancey and Cody Mauch out of North Dakota State.

Seeing what they have in Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask was the smart way to go about this season rather than taking another flier on a quarterback like Will Levis. Kancey has drawn comparisons to Aaron Donald due to his small stature and explosiveness at Pitt. Mauch is an absolute mauler on the offensive line and should be a Day 1 starter on a line that struggled last season. Both selections were huge very smart plays.

Third-rounder YaYa Diaby and fifth-rounder SirVocea Dennis were both productive college players and should see time as rotation players this season. Both have upside and adding strong depth in the front seven is a proven way to play winning football. 

As far as offensive weapons go, Tampa added two in the draft with Purdue tight end Payne Durham and Nebraska receiver Trey Palmer. 

Durham was the second-leading receiver behind Charlie Jones for Purdue and could push second-year Cade Otton for playing time immediately.

Palmer started his career at LSU before transferring to Nebraska for his senior season where he grabbed 71 balls for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. With Tampa’s receiver room lacking depth behind Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Russell Gage, Palmer should have a legitimate opportunity to see significant playing time in year 1 and could be a sleeper addition to your fantasy squad. 

The biggest potential fantasy star of Tampa Bay’s 2023 class wasn’t even drafted. The Buccaneers signed former Syracuse running back Sean Tucker to an undrafted free agent deal and as long as the health concerns that caused him to go undrafted are mitigated, he could be a Day 1 starter with Rachaad White as his only real competition in the backfield. Keep an eye on Tucker’s situation throughout the offseason, as he has ideal NFL size and extreme college production, and will be playing in the same scheme he succeeded in at Syracuse.

While I think Tampa Bay did a great job to compete in the NFC South this season and to set the team up for future success, their need for a quarterback remains glaring if neither Baker Mayfield nor Kyle Trask can figure it out. Their roster is too strong to contend for a top 5 pick in next year’s draft, which is oozing with top-level quarterback talent in Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Quinn Ewers. They will be a team to watch during next offseason as they search for their franchise quarterback.

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