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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won its second Super Bowl in franchise history earlier this year in the first year with Tom Brady as the team’s starting quarterback. All Brady does is win Super Bowls, so the Bucs were clearly looking forward to a long playoff run – despite Brady’s advancing age.
After the Super Bowl, the Bucs had almost all of their stock of draft picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, and they picked up a wide variety of positions players to help fill out the roster as well as build the future of the team post-Brady (though he could likely play until he’s 50).
Despite winning it all last season, there’s always room for improvement for any NFL team, and the Bucs are no exception. While most – if not all – of these rookies will likely not play a huge role in the team’s upcoming quest to repeat as Super Bowl winners, a feat that hasn’t occurred since Brady did it with the Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
Read on to explore the two best moves the Bucs made in the 2021 NFL Draft, starting with…
Taking Joe Tryon at No. 31 Overall
First-round picks signal different things for different teams in the NFL. If a team is picking high in the lottery, it usually means they’re looking for a transformative, “face-of-franchise” player that can be built around going forward – whether it be an offensive or defensive figure.
For teams that pick later, such as Super Bowl winners, late first-round picks often serve as safety blankets if things go awry in the regular season. For rookie Joe Tryon out of the University of Washington, it’s the rookie’s versatility that will be key to him getting playing time.
“I'm pretty comfortable with both depending on the situation,” said Tryon in a story on Buccaneers.com by Carmen Vitall. “Down and distance, all that definitely comes into play. I feel like I'm well versed in both and a three-point stance is definitely something I'd like to be in on third downs. It's just all based on the scenario.”
Last season, the Bucs finished tied for fifth in sacks per game per Team Rankings at 2.9 sacks per contest. As a talented edge rusher in the Pac-12 in college, Tryon will likely be given a few opportunities to pick up some tackles for losses next season alongside gifted pass rushers Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaquil Barrett and Devin White.
Mostly, the selection of Tryon is a smart bet on pass-rushing depth – something that aided the Bucs greatly in the Super Bowl as the Kansas City Chiefs’ pocket collapsed regularly due to the onslaught of defenders gunning for Patrick Mahomes.
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Taking Kyle Trask at No. 64 Overall
How can a Heisman Trophy finalist fall all the way to No. 64 in the NFL Draft? While this might be a rhetorical question, the result is that the Tampa Bay Bucs had to be thrilled that a quarterback who put up 4283 yards, 43 touchdowns and a 180.0 passing efficiency rating fell all the way to them at the end of the second round.
This one is a much easier net positive for the Bucs. Tom Brady, despite still being at the top of his game after his 7th Super Bowl victory last year, will – at some point – have to retire.
When he does, it seems that the Bucs are grooming Trask, formerly of the University of Florida to Brady’s long-term replacement in Tampa.
According to a story by Jenna Laine of ESPN, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was thrilled by Trask’s play in the team’s rookie camp:
“He did great. I thought he was fantastic,” Arians said in Laine’s story. “Just the way he processes information. To take it from the first time ever hearing it — he was throwing it to the right guy. There were some really good, disguised coverages that he saw the first day of his career, so I was really impressed with how he processes information, and he was very accurate.”
Clearly, taking a talented QB late in the second round is a boon for any team – let alone one that just won the Super Bowl.
