Next season is shaping up to possibly be one of the best in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. The additions of six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have instantly transformed the team into contenders.
With that being said, the team is still full of talent that the Bucs have drafted over the years and the same can be said about the franchise's history. In the team's 45 seasons, they have been able to scour the draft and select excellent talent later than usual.
5. Chris Godwin
Yes, I know it's very early into his career to cement Godwin as one 0f the best draft steals in Bucs history but the 6-foot-1 receiver was simply remarkable last year and is only three years into his NFL career.
Godwin was a great receiver at the collegiate level with Penn State but as a third-round pick in 2017 (84th overall), Godwin wasn't expected to be a star.
Godwin just turned 24 years old and last season put up 86 receptions for 1,333 yards and nine touchdowns. The future is bright for the Buccaneers.
4. Mike Alstott
One of the best fullbacks in NFL history, Tampa Bay selected the tough 6-foot-1, 248-pound back with the 35th overall pick in the 1996 draft. As a fullback, Alstott's stats aren't going to jump off the page like a premier running back's would but despite never having a 1,000-yard rushing season, Alstott was instrumental in the Bucs success in the early 2000s.
Six Pro-Bowls and three First-Team All-Pro selections are enough to prove that Alstott is one of the best players at his position throughout the league's history.
3. Ronde Barber
Selected 30 picks after his brother Tiki was selected during the 1997 NFL draft, Barber was one of the best corners in the NFL for the good part of a decade. Despite being a third-round pick (66th overall), Barber would be named to the First-Team All-Pro by 26 and would do the same two more times throughout his career.
Ronde played all 16 of his NFL seasons in Tampa Bay and by the time he retired in 2012, the 5-foot-10 cornerback was first in franchise history in interceptions (47) and second in solo tackles (1,044).
2. Derrick Brooks
Quite possibly the best player in franchise history, Brooks fell all the way to the end of the first round when the Bucs selected him with the 28th overall pick in 1995. And while first-round picks come into the league with certain expectations, it's hard to imagine that Tampa Bay thought they had a Hall of Famer on their hands.
In 13 seasons as a Buccaneer, the former Florida State Seminole was named to 11 Pro-Bowls and the All-Pro team nine times. Brooks was a tackling machine and would anchor the team's defense in the late 90s and by the time he hung up his cleats in 2008, his 1,300 solo tackles ranked third in NFL history.
1. John Lynch
If you're sensing a pattern here, you're not wrong. The Buccaneers did a terrific job of drafting talent later in the draft in the 90s. Four of the five players on this list were drafted within a five-year span and Lynch was the biggest steal of them all.
The Stanford safety fell all the way to pick No. 82 in the third round of the 1993 draft and all he did was turn that into a 15-year NFL career — 11 of which he spent in Tampa Bay.
Lynch was a Pro-Bowler on a yearly basis and was named an All-Pro for four consecutive seasons from 1999 and 2002. Certainly one of the best defensive players of his era and an absolute steal in the third round.
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