Buccaneers Establish Clear Defensive Identity With 2026 Draft Picks

It was always going to be a defensive draft for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs made seven draft picks in the first six rounds during the 2026 NFL Draft, and four of those players were defenders. What's more, three of those defenders are likely to start.

Linebacker Josiah Trotter out of Missouri and edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and defensive back Keionte Scott out of Miami should all find their way in the lineup in 2026, with Bain playing alongside Yaya Diaby, Trotter playing alongside linebacker Alex Anzalone and Scott filling in at nickel, where Jacob Parrish played last year. All three players have a lot to offer Tampa Bay, but there's one thing all three can do particularly well that should give opposing teams a headache in 2026 and beyond.

Teams will probably have quite a bit of trouble running the football against the Bucs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Looking to Stop the Run

Miami Hurricanes defensive back Keionte Scott (0) against the Mississippi Rebels | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

All three defenders have a lot of prowess when it comes to stopping the run. Bain had 15.5 tackles for loss last season in Miami, and astonishingly, Scott had 13 while playing the nickel position. Trotter had 13 TFLs as well, and all three are effective blitzers who can attack the gap and stop the run game in its tracks.

Tampa Bay was already successful against the run last year, giving up just 99.1 yards per game on the ground — good for fifth in the NFL. But Bain, Trotter and Scott are all excellent run defenders, and their presence should help teams get one-dimensional by preventing any serious progress on the ground throughout the game.

Scott and Bain have already built this rapport in Miami, and opposing college football teams struggled to get the ground game going at all last year. Scott referenced this in his introductory press conference over Zoom, and Buccaneers fans can expect to see a lot more of it in 2026 and beyond.

"Yeah, I think you’ve got to shout out Rueben Bain [Jr.] there, being on the same side," Scott said. "You’ve got to kind of worry about him a little bit, so that allowed me to kind of be freed up. We work with each other, and that's why this is so special to me and so special to him because we've built something already,"

The Buccaneers will also want to focus on improving their pass defense — they finished 27th in the league last year and gave up 238.2 points per game — but the ability of all three players to hit hard and attack running gaps should be a big help for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers want to play physical football and add on some size, and they're set to do both after the results of the 2026 NFL Draft.

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