See where Buccaneers' 2025 draft class ranks among all NFL teams

It's incredible how much things can change in just a few short months.

Heading into the 2025 NFL regular season, optimism was sky high in Tampa Bay. Not only were the Buccaneers coming off their fourth consecutive NFC South Division title, but the team and fanbase were both ecstatic regarding expectations for the incoming rookie class.

Fast forward 7 months, and not only did the Bucs fail to make the playoffs altogether, but Todd Bowles — who, to the surprise of many, was retained as head coach — fired practically his entire staff.

Aaron Schatz of ESPN recently released an article ranking the rookie class for each NFL team, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' collection of first-year players falling right in the middle.

Bucs rookie class finished middle of the pack

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were ranked 16th overall in terms of their 2025 rookie class compared to the rest of the NFL.

And considering the Buccaneers surprisingly used their first-round pick on Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka, who lit the league on fire over the first quarter of the season, he was the primary focus of the write-up.

"Let's start with first-round wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. His production slowed down in the second half of the season, but that's in part because Baker Mayfield was throwing him fewer catchable passes," Schatz wrote. " For the entire season, Egbuka had 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns. Fellow wide receiver Tez Johnson, a seventh-round pick, had 27 catches for 322 yards and five touchdowns.

The article also talked about the Bucs' defensive rookie class, which was clearly a priority for Jason Licht in last year's draft despite drafting a WR in Round 1.

"At cornerback, the Bucs were getting production out of second-round pick Benjamin Morrison and third-round pick Jacob Parrish. Parrish became the regular slot cornerback and finished with 76 combined tackles, seven passes defensed, two picks and two sacks." he wrote. "Morrison played in 10 games and had 26 combined tackles with four passes defensed. The Bucs also got help from defensive linemen, fifth-rounder Elijah Roberts and the undrafted Elijah Simmons. "

The best is yet to come

Although it's completely fair to rank the Buccaneers' rookie class in the middle of the pack based on 2025, it's also reasonable to expect this group to be remembered much more fondly in the years to come.

The article mentions Mayfield's passing regression in the second half of the season as a reason for Egbuka's falloff, which is a legitimate point. With a full cast of receivers around him for an entire season, there's no reason that Egbuka can't blossom into a top-10 receiver in the NFL.

Tez Johnson was also a very pleasant surprise as a rookie and he proved without a shadow of a doubt that despite his slight frame, the elusiveness and instincts that made him such a threat in college have translated to the NFL.

On the defensive side, promising edge rusher David Walker hasn't even played a game yet after tearing his ACL during training camp. Meanwhile, Benjamin Morrison, who showed promise in short spurts, should be much healthier next season with a full offseason under his belt and two years removed from the hip surgery that ended his collegiate career.

Jacob Parrish, despite being undersized, showed that he has the goods to become one of the league's premier nickel defenders. Not only that, but he held his own on the outside when forced into the role due to a plethora of injuries in the Bucs' secondary.

Overall, the early returns on the Bucs' 2025 rookie class are mediocre at best, but the group has promise to develop into much more than that in the years to come.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2025 season.

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