Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2021 NFL Draft Primer: Everything You Need to Know

Here's what you need to know ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, which starts Thursday night.

Author:
Jason Beede
Publish date:
Apr 29, 2021 9:30 AM EDT

It's finally here. The 2021 NFL Draft has arrived! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have eight total draft picks and it all begins tonight with the long-awaited first round.

This year's draft, the 86th annual, takes place live from Cleveland, Ohio and the Bucs will look to address a number of needs throughout the weekend. As Super Bowl LV champions, Tampa Bay holds the final pick of the first round, No. 32 overall.

Below is everything you need to know about the NFL Draft, including how to watch, starting times of each round, and what the Bucs are hoping to accomplish this weekend.

How to watch the 2021 NFL Draft

The first round of the NFL Draft kicks off at 8 p.m. on ESPN, ABC, and NFL Network. The entire draft will air on those three networks.

The second and third rounds of the draft start Friday night at 7 p.m. Rounds four through seven take place on Saturday and begin at noon EST.

In the first round, each team will have 10 minutes per pick. During round two through three, that number drops to seven minutes per pick. For rounds four through six, teams will have five minutes for each selection. Finally, in the seventh round, every team will have four minutes to make their picks.

The official Buccaneers Draft Show, hosted by T.J. Rives and Pat Donovan will be aired on 95.3 WDAE beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday and will continue through the end of the first round, according to the franchise.

Here's when the Buccaneers pick

As mentioned above, the Bucs hold the No. 32 overall spot, the final pick of the first round, on Thursday. If Tampa Bay picks at No. 32, it will mark the second time drafting a player in that slot in team history (1982 - Booker Reese, Round 2, Pick 32).

Below is a full list of every pick the Bucs have entering this weekend:

Day 1, Round 1: Pick 32 (No. 32 overall)

Day 2, Round 2: Pick 32 (No. 64 overall)

Day 2, Round 3: Pick 31 (No. 95 overall)

Day 3, Round 4: Pick 32 (No. 137 overall)

Day 3, Round 5: Pick 32 (No. 176 overall)

Day 3, Round 6: Pick 33 (No. 217 overall)

Day 3, Round 7: Pick 24 (No. 251 overall)

Day 3, Round 7: Pick 31 (No. 259 overall)

Here's what the Bucs need in the draft

While the Bucs return all 22 of its starters from the 2020 Super Bowl run, this doesn't mean Tampa Bay has no needs in the draft.

Rather than looking for potential starters for next season, the team instead should focus on building depth at certain positions and look for potential replacements for the future at other positions.

Here's what we think the team needs in this year's draft:

Cornerback

Tampa Bay returns Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean outside and Sean Murphy-Bunting at nickel, but only two backups currently reside on the roster in slot corner Ross Cockrell and 2020 undrafted free agent Herb Miller. If there's any position that needs more depth, especially on defense, it's at cornerback for the Bucs.

Defensive line/edge rusher

Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul, and William Gholston aren't getting any younger any time soon and they are all entering the final year of their respective contracts. Look for the Bucs to add depth to this position and on the defensive line.

Interior offensive line

With A.Q Shipley being forced to medically retire from football and Joe Haeg off to the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency, adding an interior lineman to the rotation would be beneficial to the Bucs.

Quarterback

This certainly isn't a priority but how great would it be for a rookie quarterback to learn from Tom Brady next season? The team recently re-signed Ryan Griffin to serve as a backup but if the right guy for the future is available in the middle rounds, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Bucs take a quarterback.