The Buccaneers should be one of the more interesting agents in the 2026 NFL Draft as they currently sit at a pivot point that they could really leverage to their gain. For the first time this year, I’ve included trades in a mock because I want to embrace the chaos. Without further ado…
I highlighted some points on this selection in my full seven-round mock earlier in the day, but we’ll expand a little more here.
I need to emphasize that while everyone and their mother has honed in on Miami’s Akheem Mesidor as Tampa’s pick, I can no longer get there based on everything we know about this team under Jason Licht’s leadership. Please consider the following:
The Buccaneers run a tight ship (pun intended, go ahead and boo me), and they do not leak picks or even really prospect preferences. Their top 30 visits can vaguely guide how they’re thinking but not always (the Bucs had no reported meetings at all with neither Emeka Egbuka nor Calijah Kancey). Nobody truly knows anything about the inner workings of this team beyond what they willingly share, and if everyone guesses right on Mesidor, it’s simply because it makes sense from a talent-fit perspective.
Mesidor is very talented at rushing the passer, that is not the issue. The issue is he’s very old (25), which the Bucs do not go for, and he is not a top-tier athlete, which the Bucs very much prefer in Round 1. This isn’t a year or two of samples either, this is an established philosophy galvanized and honed over many drafts.
With that said, I just don’t see what makes Mesidor so special that he’s worth entirely tossing out your established, successful process. It would reek of desperation and show a regime that’s fine with ignoring proven principles over the allure of someone who everyone assumes is going to contribute at a high level right away.
Malachi Lawrence is sitting in pretty good company from both a sack production and athletic measurables standpoint (see graph below). He also posted those testing numbers at the Combine after adding six pounds since the Shrine Bowl.Lawrence has been one of the more enjoyable… https://t.co/QinuoMgT2g pic.twitter.com/xMldm6WJEd
With Malachi Lawrence, he is a long, great athlete (9.90 Relative Athletic Score, a top-25 figure since 1987) and has a deep toolbox to attack the edges with. He’s fairly young (23), has produced at the college level (21 career sacks and 28 tackles for loss), and has tons of juice, and the only real knock is that the run defense needs to improve — but he has the tools to do that.
It’ll be fascinating to see how it shakes out, but I’m going to vouch for the fast-rising Lawrence.
We’re cooking on the hot stove, folks, wear your mittens.
Passing on inside linebacker in Round 1, which feels likely, will again put the Bucs in a pinch draft position-wise. Your two top-of-the-line options are Jacob Rodriguez from Texas Tech and C.J. Allen from Georgia, and I feel fairly confident Rodriguez is going between picks 25-35. Could the Bucs pull off a trade for him? Possibly, but instead we’ll sneak them up 9 spots to 37 to secure Allen.
CJ Allen (6’1” 235) Georgia+ Takes proper pursuit angles+ Over 1,600 snaps in 3 years+ Still just 20 years old+ 88.6 run defense grade in 2025+ Very reliable as a tackler with just a 7.4% missed tackle for his career+ Team leader and captain + Sideline-to-sideline range… pic.twitter.com/nJwZCOATbR
— Bengals & Brews (@BengalsBrews) January 16, 2026
By giving up their fourth-rounder, which is totally palatable after acquiring the extra third from the Steelers in the proposed Round 1 trade, they can secure a bonafide leader and tone-setter in the middle of their defense. Allen may not be a splash-play machine with crazy athletic potential, but he is very steady and controlled as a true MIKE, and the Bucs desperately need that.
In a mug-and-drop system like Todd Bowles’s, Allen will fit in perfectly with his strong feel for blitzing and ability to quickly close out in coverage drops.
The Bucs put on a Bulldog front during Day 2 by getting some offense in Oscar Delp.
Delp (nearly 6-foot-5, 245 pounds) is extremely athletic for the position, posting a top-25 RAS for a tight end since 1987 (25th). That shows up on the field via straight-line speed, fluidity, and explosiveness, making him a true mismatch weapon against most linebackers.
Oscar Delp is a TE prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.84 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 25 out of 1456 TE from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/BSHyixQrAs pic.twitter.com/tPU7WWkvUL
His lack of production at Georgia is a tad puzzling (only 9 career TDs, never recorded more than 300 receiving yards in a season after four years), but not enough to say he was “bad.” His short arms can make securing catches and trumping sticky coverage difficult, and he still has some headway to make as a blocker.
That said, he’d offer a dimension in the tight end room that the team currently lacks since he offers big-time size as a deep threat down the seam, and he can do more in the short game than Cade Otton can. And though the blocking stands to improve, he’s still a strong, very willing participant whose agility and pop can take defenders by surprise.