The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a handful of moves to address their depth issues on the defensive side of the football by signing players like Haason Reddick, Anthony Walker Jr., and Kindle Vidor this offseason.
In a recent mock draft, one situation sees the Bucs continue to stockpile talent on the defensive side of the football by adding one of the standout performers from the NFL Combine.
Bucs Select South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori in Recent Mock NFL Draft
The Tampa Bay secondary certainly dealt with its fair share of injuries last year with Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead, Jamel Dean, Tykee Smith, and Bryce Hall all missing time due to injury in 2024.
This has Ben Standig from The Athletic seeing the Bucs addressing their depth issues in the secondary at No. 19 overall by selecting South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori in the first round.
Standig wrote, “The secondary lacks needed quality, especially at cornerback, but safety offers the best options with Barron and Will Johnson off the board. Emmanwori is an athletic freak â the 6-3 safety popped at the combine with a 4.38 40-yard time and 43-inch vertical jump â who returned two of his four interceptions last season for touchdowns.”
There is no denying that Emmanwori has an exceptional physical and athletic profile for an incoming safety prospect.
The Bucs parted ways with Whitehead this offseason, which does leave a potential opening at one of the starting safety spots entering the 2025 NFL season.
It is worth mentioning that Smith could move from nickel to a full-time strong safety role in this defense with Christian Izien potentially moving to the nickelback spot on a regular basis, but adding Emmanwori could allow Bucs head coach Todd Bowles to utilize Smith in that valuable nickel role where he showed an immense amount of promise with 53 total tackles, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions in just 13 games his rookie year.
The Bucs defense was a bit boom or bust in 2024, generating a healthy amount of sacks and pressures on the quarterback but having to do so at one of the highest blitz rates in the league.
Tampa Bay gave up the third most passing yards in the league at 245.3 per game in 2024. The aforementioned injury issues definitely played a factor, but this unit did struggle for the vast majority of the year.
In a defensive scheme that prioritizes athleticism and versatility on the back end, Emmanwori certainly feels like a viable option in the first round.
Other Directions the Bucs Could Go at No. 19 Overall
The Bucs’ defense certainly feels like the priority entering the draft with the organization managing to keep the entire starting offense intact by re-signing both Chris Godwin and Ben Bredeson this offseason.
The starting linebacker opposite of Lavonte David feels like SirVocea Dennis entering the year, but the team could certainly use some depth behind David for whenever he decides to call it a career — making players like Jihaad Campbell and Jalon Walker options.
Additionally, Reddick is on a one-year prove-it deal, which puts edge prospects like Mykel Williams, James Pearce Jr., Mike Green, and Shemar Stewart all in play in the first round in an attempt to add some pass-rushing juice opposite of YaYa Diaby moving forward.
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