What Buccaneers GM Jason Licht's Big Board Looks Like as NFL Draft Approaches

We're officially just six days away from the 2026 NFL Draft, and all 32 teams are making their preparations for one of the most important days of the year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and general manager Jason Licht hold a particular reverence for the draft in recent years, however, as much of their starting roster is made up of home-grown talent.

Last year, the Buccaneers had just two of 22 opening-game starters — guard Ben Bredeson and quarterback Baker Mayfield — who were not drafted by Licht and the Bucs. That number has dropped a little bit with the signing of linebacker Alex Anzalone and the Bucs will have free agents like running back Kenny Gainwell and defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson play lots of meaningful snaps, but it's clear to see how much Licht and his front office value the NFL Draft when it comes to building a team.

So what does Licht's draft board look like so close to April 23? Licht held his pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, and when he was asked if his draft big board was complete this close to the start of Round 1, he said that preparations on that front are mostly wrapped up.

Bucs' draft board '95% set' as NFL Draft approaches

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht speaks during a press conference during the NFL Scouting Combine | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"I'd say it's about 95% set right now. I think [Todd Bowles] and I will have a few more conversations at the end of this week and early next week, but I think we pretty much have it," Licht said. "There [are] just a few more things to talk about. We have a few visits today, too. I mean, not that that really sets the board based on [if] you've visited with the guy, but sometimes it does. It's just a matter of rearranging a little bit here and there, putting one guy over another when we had some ties, or we had some debates over it. It's pretty much set."

At the time of interviewing, the Bucs were bringing in the last of their top 30 visits and the last college pro days were wrapping up. The Bucs don't always need to have meetings with who they're drafting, though — Tampa Bay selected defensive tackle Calijah Kancey in 2023 despite never meeting with him, so it makes sense that Licht would mention that those visits don't really "set the board" in his eyes.

Licht also went a bit into how many prospects the scouting team considers draftable. He explained that he and his team have a "front board" and a "back board" — the front board is the players the team really likes, and the back board are players that did not make that list.

"We narrow it down to about 150 [prospects]. That's what we go off of, and every year we always have players left," Licht said. "In fact, we have players left and not very many, but two or three or four, and those are the ones we go hard after as undrafted free agents like [Benjamin Chukwuma] was last year and like J.J. [Roberts]. That's kind of the process that we work at. We call them backboard guys, guys that didn't make the 150... We hope that we can get everybody – most of the players that we either sign or draft – from our front board."

The Buccaneers have a lot of work to do in this draft, as defensive depth is razor-thin and the team needs starters at edge rusher and inside linebacker on top of that. Licht mentioned that he isn't averse to picking outside of the team's perceived needs, though, so it wouldn't be surprising to see him do something like he did last year when he drafted wideout Emeka Egbuka at No. 19.

We'll find out for sure when the Bucs pick at No. 15 overall (for now) in Round 1 on April 23.

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