Bucs Nation
With the roster picture a little clearer, let’s investigate some potential draft scenarios.
The 2025 NFL Draft is sneaking up quick, now only 5 weeks away.
The final act of the process will accelerate quickly with college pro days, top 30 visits and final medical checks that allow teams to put their finishing touches on painstaking evaluations they’ve built over several months.
The Bucs enter draft season with an even more defined focus than when free agency started: upgrade the defense.
Who might be a possible target? Let's run through some possible names.
This one requires some outside-the-box thinking that I feel Todd Bowles and Co. may be more open to now than they were before, and I think it’s strongly evidenced by who they signed as a free agent a week ago.
Walker is, by all accounts, a marvel on and off the field. A dynamic athlete with unimpeachable leadership and character should already skyrocket him high into the realm of interest given how much emphasis the Bucs have placed on those traits in their first-round evaluation process (see Tristan Wirfs, Calijah Kancey, and Graham Barton).
What he does on the field as an early down off-ball linebacker with potentially game-wrecking pass rushing skills should further intrigue Tampa. I view this as a 2-for-1 opportunity if it’s played the right way, and it should be considered as a very real possibility given how the Bucs approached last year. They hoped to play Lavonte David alongside the tandem of K.J. Britt and SirVocea Dennis, with the former serving as the early down enforcer and the latter taking over passing downs. That didn’t really work out when Dennis got hurt early and Britt turned out to be pretty terrible.
In theory, this wasn’t a terrible plan and the team could see a much more successful iteration play out with Walker and Dennis. Walker is light years more athletic and dynamic than Britt, which would allow him to handle those early down off-ball duties better while pinning his ears back on passing downs (which Britt also could not do).
You know what player has served similar roles in his past? Haason Reddick, who the Bucs just signed to be a proven veteran pass-rusher. Theoretically, you could have Walker play this hybrid role and find out what he does best while learning a wide swath of knowledge from some excellent on-field role models in Reddick and David.
The term “ballhawk” has been the buzz word of the offseason, and for good reason given how the Bucs managed a paltry 7 interceptions all year (tied for fourth-worst in the league). They simply must improve both their cornerback depth and overall playmaking ability, and Hairston represents a very intriguing option in that regard.
Hairston posted six interceptions (three returned for TDs) over his last 20 games. He shows a strong understanding of zone coverage...
