2 Positions Bucs Are Most Likely to Target First in NFL Draft

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need plenty of help at multiple positions on their roster. Defensive line, edge rusher, cornerback, and inside linebacker are all needs, and that's just on the defensive side of the ball.

However, a recent post by Football Insights gave an interesting prediction for one of the most likely options the Bucs will go in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Market implied probabilities of the first position that teams could draft in April pic.twitter.com/oIUUF0USrn
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) March 31, 2026

A very realistic option for Tampa Bay in Round 1

Let's start off with the obvious. Pass rusher is very much on the Tampa Bay for their first round pick in the 2026 draft. Miami's Akheem Mesidor, Auburn's Keldric Faulk and Texas A&M's Cashius Howell are all some of the top options that are likely to be available to Tampa Bay with its 15th overall pick, should they decide to keep it.

Dec 4, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Bucs did add Al-Quadin Muhammad in free agency, a capable veteran who had 11 sacks in his most recent season with the Detroit Lions. Also, the team is hoping for more from young pass rushers David Walker and Chris Braswell.

Walker was a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft from Central Arkansas and Braswell was a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft from Alabama. However, Walker is coming off a torn ACL that eliminated his entire rookie season, and Braswell has yet to show he has what it takes to be a contributor to a pass-rushing room at the NFL level.

Regardless of the Muhammad addition and youngsters like Walker and Braswell, it would still be in the Bucs' best interest to take a pass rusher early, if not in round one of the upcoming draft.

Feb 27, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq (TE23) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A Surprise Option Possible?

What is surprising is that the second-most-likely position to be taken in round one for Tampa Bay is tight end, per Football Insights. The Bucs were busy bringing back their own in free agency, with Cade Otton signing a three-year, $30 million deal with $20 million guaranteed to return, and the team also brought back blocking tight end Ko Kieft.

The top option available at tight end currently is Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq, who, yes, is a game changer and one of the more impressive tight end prospects in recent memory. However, it is also just as clear that Tampa Bay does not have a major need at tight end anymore. If the re-signings of Otton and Kieft had not happened, it would have been much more likely that Sadiq could be the selection at 15 for Tampa Bay.

Now, it would be surprising and very disappointing given all of the other needs the Bucs have on their roster.

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