TAMPA, Fla. — As next week’s 2025 NFL draft nears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht used his annual pre-draft news conference to give some potential clues as to where the Bucs may be headed with the No. 19 pick and beyond.
Here’s what Licht had to say about the evaluation process and what it may tell us about this year’s draft:
A willing trade partner may not be there in Round 1
Licht said he wouldn’t be opposed to trading down on Day 1 of the draft, and given his history — plus the Bucs only having six picks this year — it’s easy to see why. Since he became general manager in 2014, in the first round, he’s traded down three times (2016, 2018 and 2022) and traded up one spot in 2020.
But some NFL talent evaluators feel the 2025 draft class has less blue-chip talent — light on All-Pros but still strong on starters. So Licht may not be able to find a willing trade partner to do this with. And the last two years, the Bucs have been able to stay put and let things come to them because players they really wanted were still there.
The number of quarterbacks and offensive tackles taken in the first round in 2024 meant center Graham Barton fell into their laps at No. 26, and in 2023, they did a masterful job concealing their interest in defensive tackle Calijah Kancey by not bringing him in for a pre-draft visit.
“There have been years where I’ve thought about it more than others. It just kind of depends on how things fall,” Licht said. “You can’t walk into it saying, ‘I am definitely looking to trade back’ because you don’t know what’s going to fall to you. I do think this year is going to be — I could be wrong — you’re going to see maybe a little less people maybe wanting to move up and offering enough to make it worth your while just because the draft is pretty leveled out at a certain point. You might be able to get the same level of player in the second round as you can in the fourth round at certain positions, so I think you’ll maybe see a little bit less of that.”
Eye test over production
Licht had some interesting comments about production and how numbers don’t tell the whole story because so many schools are now platooning players, which means fewer snaps. Instead, there’s an increased emphasis on the eye test with his scouts.
“You single out the player and you watch the player — I guess they’re playing more in waves now and they’re playing more sporadically than they did in the past,” Licht said. “You’re still watching the player and evaluating when he’s in there. It’s a little bit tougher now. A lot of these players at multiple positions are playing less and less because the colleges want to make sure they keep the younger guys there in the pipeline without entering the portal.”
What does this look like in practice? In a perfect world, a player moves into a full-time edge rusher role like Penn State’s Abdul Carter did in 2024 and registers 12.0 sacks. Or has a career like Mike Green at Marshall — where his 17.0 sacks in 2024 were the most in FBS — or Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, who finished just behind him with 16.5 sacks.
These are the some of the players that the Bucs have met as they evaluate what they do with production versus physical gifts.
There are players like UCLA edge rusher Femi Oladejo who had 13.5 tackles for a loss last year and 4.5 sacks playing off the ball and edge — but he figures to be more of a Day 2 product, while Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart had a 40-inch vertical leap and a 4.59 40-yard dash at 281 pounds, but the production isn’t there yet with 1.5 sacks last year.
“Right now, for me, I want ball hawks,” coach Todd Bowles said, “and whether that’s a down guy, a defensive lineman, whether he bats balls, downs or gets strip sacks, whether that’s an outside line breaker that does it, whether that’s a backer that can punch the ball out or get turnovers, whether that’s a safety that can hit and draw the ball loose or get turnovers, whether that’s a corner that has a nose for the ball — we need ball hawks, we need turnovers. We need guys that are very astute in the game and can see things and go make plays and go get’em, and that’s probably what I’m looking for.”
A word on injuries
It’s no secret that Bucs starting cornerback Jamel Dean has had a hard time staying healthy while commanding a $13.5 million salary in 2025. It’s also not a secret that the Bucs are in need of cornerbacks, which coach Todd Bowles spoke about at NFL owners meetings. It made Licht’s response to a question about drafting injured players particularly interesting because there are a few at cornerback who are in this very position.
“I guess you weigh it in a little bit,” Licht said. “You can only evaluate what he puts out there and what he has out there so you weigh it a little bit. You don’t ideally want to bring in players that have a history of being hurt so we work that into the algorithm, if you will. You ideally want a healthy player so you have to weigh it in a little bit.”
Would the Bucs consider a player at a position of need like cornerback, given Dean’s health, plus reserve Bryce Hall coming a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula and nickelback/safety Christian Izien landing on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle? Cornerback Josh Hayes also missed time with a knee injury and starter Zyon McCollum with a concussion.
Michigan cornerback Will Johnson may be the best at his position in the draft with nine interceptions in 32 games and two pick-sixes last year, but he was sidelined with turf toe last season and missed his pro day with a hamstring strain. Would that drop him on any team’s board?
Then there’s Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison, whom they met with at the combine as well and had nine interceptions in a span of two years at Notre Dame but none in the six games he played in 2024 before suffering a season-ending hip injury that required surgery and forced him to miss on-field drills at the combine.
East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., whom the Bucs did meet with formally at the combine, tore his ACL in September and only played in three games in 2024 but managed two interceptions in those games and had three over the last two years.
“You’ve got to be available,” Bowles said. “You can’t be a great player if you’re not available. If you’re not available and you’re a part-time player, that’s tough. That’s tough to evaluate. You got to be on the field to play. Obviously it’s a health game first and then perform as you go. You can’t perform great and only play half the games.”
So it leaves the question of will the Bucs make an exception to their ideal player to address a position of need? We shall see come April 24 when the draft begins.
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