Very Favorable Composite Draft Grade
May 8th, 2022
Bucs GM Jason Licht
Look, when a team picks at No. 27 in the draft and its own coach admits it needs more draft picks, it’s difficult to knock that draft out of the park. But per a composite grading of the Bucs’ draft by nearly two dozen NFL analysts, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht pulled off a helluva job.
In studying 20 different draft grades, the composite 2022 score for the Bucs gave them the 18th-best draft in the NFL. Again, that’s starting out with the 27th pick.
The highest Bucs score came from Chad Rueter of NFL.com who gave damn near every team an “A” or a “B.” He gave the Bucs an “A.”
Then the Bucs had four “B+” grades from Danny Kelly of The Ringer, Luke Easterling of Draft Wire, Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic and Ryan Gosling of Pro Football Network.
The way Joe looks at it, if you start with the sixth-lowest draft slot and you add picks and finish with a composite score of No. 18, which is basically middle-of-the-pack on paper, Licht had a helluva weekend.
The graders used to compile the composite built by Cale Clinton of Football Outsiders were: Mel Kiper ESPN+, Mark Maske Washington Post, Nate Davis USA Today, Vinnie Iyer Sporting News, Eric Edholm Yahoo! Sports, Alex Ballentine Bleacher Report, Mike Tanier Football Outsiders, Pro Football Focus Staff, Conor Orr Sports Illustrated, prickly Pete Prisco CBS Sports, Thor Nystrom NBCSports Edge, Ryan Dunleavy New York Post, Andrew Erickson Fantasy Pros, Evan Silva Establish the Run, Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield Touchdown Wire, Easterling, Gosling, Kapadia, Kelly and Rueter.
May 8th, 2022 at 12:32 am
The slight trade-up for Goedeke reminded me of Licht’s trade-up for Ali Marpet in 2015. I don’t really remember how Bucs fans reacted to that (I imagine it was met with some jeers), but if this kid from Central works out as well as Marpet we’ll all be happy.
I’ve heard people say you never should draft a punter, I don’t have a problem with the pick as long as he’s a good punter. With 4.56 speed, I’d like to see him run for it on a fake at least a few times this year. The guy I wanted in the 4th was McCollum, and the Bucs got him, anyway.
May 8th, 2022 at 12:34 am
Means nothing until they play
May 8th, 2022 at 12:48 am
i started off thinking it was a B- draft…
then as i mentioned after digesting everything, learning a bit more about some players, and even factoring in a few udfa signing, i bumped the draft up to a solid B…
to go B+ would be a bit of an over grade at this point imho without even having a first round selection
May 8th, 2022 at 12:49 am
i wonder what the king, joel bucksbaum is thinking of the bucs draft right about now from up yonder
May 8th, 2022 at 12:50 am
buchsbaum*
May 8th, 2022 at 1:45 am
We hope that Goedeke is anything like Marpet. Besides the approximate draft position and the idea, I see no comparison.
Marpet was rock solid coming out of college, slightly undersized but tremendous technically, and all he needed to do was prove he wasn’t just a small school great.
Goedeke has an injury history. That bothers me the most.
May 8th, 2022 at 5:11 am
steele: The comparisons are what Licht and the Bucs look for in offensive linemen: smart, tough, and athletic.
May 8th, 2022 at 5:20 am
Adam from new york
Good minds think alike. I initially gave same B-. I was upset at the punter pick ( could have gotten way later) and i thought bucs could have gotten guard in second if they stayed put. However , I was happy bucs got mccolum still even with taking punter cause they needed a db with all the injuries last year. We shall see w Hall over wyatt. And i thought spiller was better then white
But going back and looking at highlights and doing more research, bucs did pretty good job and filled some huge needs in the process. I think multiple guys picked with contribute right away. Just waiting on gronk. And wouldnt it be great if suh realized he was playing less snaps so he signed for like 5 mil
May 8th, 2022 at 7:24 am
Of course it isn’t being considered but Licht’s acquisition of Shaq Mason for our 5th round pick should count……add Mason to our draft class and it looks much better.
It should count because the absence of a 4th round pick next year will count against our grade.
May 8th, 2022 at 7:34 am
C Minus draft.
May 8th, 2022 at 8:13 am
I would say B+ draft considering Shaq Mason trade for our 5th round draft pick.
Shaq Mason has two years left of pro bowl type play on his current contract.
May 8th, 2022 at 9:21 am
Losing the 4th round pick next year will hurt. How are we supposed to draft our next place holder? Laces out!
May 8th, 2022 at 9:37 am
Agreed with Joes. We’re so accustomed to having a top 5 pick we’re prone to criticize that we didn’t get a sure fire all-pro out of the gate.
May 8th, 2022 at 10:39 am
Grade C draft. Logan Hall is a solid DL but why pass on a talent like DT Devonte Wyatt when he was available at #27? Goedeke was available at #57 anyway and is not a sure fire starter to beat out Aaron Stinnie or last year’s RD3 pick Robert Hainsey who can play both center and guard. RB Isiah Spiller was a much higher rated RB than Rachaad White. The two players drafted who probably will contribute the most and receive playing time are TE Cade Otton RD3 and CB Zion McCollum RD5. Overall an average draft.
May 8th, 2022 at 11:15 am
Back in the day I stated Zach Thomas was gonna crush it in the nfl prompted by an announcer during the hula bowl game.outside of him Von Miller was the only other one I was sure about …J.L. seems to have grown into the job as G.M.over time …spytek seems like a real f.b. junkie…time is the best teacher….we shall see what these young guys are all about….
May 8th, 2022 at 11:25 am
I thought we did well in the draft coming out with 8 picks and still getting one of the guys who was projected to fall to us at 27th in the 2nd round. Hall will be a good fit in our defense and should get the snaps to showcase his talent. Picking up Logan for a 5th shored up one of our biggest concerns and drafting Goedke with the next pick to possibly fill the other hole and still have the supporting back up cast on the offensive line gave us the luxury to fill other holes. Getting the backup running back White in the 3rd who with his versatility to be the lead will give us a better running attack than last year. Getting Otton in the 4th will give us the mini Gronk and hopefully we will the real one back shoring up the TEs. The punter is always a stretch but let’s say we got the best one ever and he is able to pin our opponents to very minimum returns, then he has covered up all our excess players on special teams which is worth its weight in gold. The 5th I thought was a steal as long as he is coachable, he will excel and give us security for this year and years to come. Drafting a blocking TE shows what our intent is this year in the run game and protecting Brady both will make us hard to beat as we will be much more wearing on defenses. The last pick is a good gamble cause you can never have enough good DE and we have the luxury of molding this one.
May 8th, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Mason shouldn’t figure into the draft grade. It was much more of a salary dump by belichick than anything. A fifth rounder is hardly equal value for one of the best guards in the league. No licht didn’t pants belichick.
As for the real draft, these grades are a joke. Any draft expert should know what a reach it is taking a back with the 90th pick. Licht continued his insanity drafting a punter at 133. I don’t care if it’s Ray freaking Guy. You can can get plenty of very good punters in the sixth or seventh rounds. Are the bucs planning on playing field position this year? I did like his other picks, but the stupidity of taking a back and a punter as high as he did is inexcusable. D+
May 8th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
I think grading this draft completely depends on what criteria and goals you think should be achieved through a given draft. If I graded this as maximizing assets to win a Super Bowl this season, “A” imo. Shaq Mason is almost the same cap hit as Kappa’s contract over the next 2 seasons. 5th for immediate upgrade there is an obvious win. Punter was a problem area and we took a very consistent prospect while significantly reducing cap expenditure. Theoretically making it easier to bring back another vet elsewhere and stabilizing if not improving punting. At the same time, I don’t think our punter has a really high ceiling. Good, but not imo “great”, draft picks at positions of immediate need. Players like White who might not be the best all around prospect, but have a more clear projection to an immediately valuable role. Dipping into future draft capital for a development athlete who projects to immediately help on special teams. A lot of what we did makes sense to me for next season. If I look at positional value and opportunity cost if not trading down more (like not going from 33 to 53 and 59), I like our draft less. So if I was grading how draft assets will impact our team 3 years and beyond, it’s probably more of a “C”.
May 8th, 2022 at 6:58 pm
I never understood the pick of Sean Murphy (-Bunting) before that of Carlton Davis III. So what?
No, I don’t think I am smarter than Jason Lich and his crew. I just happened to have latched onto Davis for some unknown reason, now. I really did not know something special at the time.
As long as we get what we “need” or “are of value”, I don’t care what round we find them in. Drafting a quality punter in any round later than the first is OK by me.
I did not always see things this way.
Go Bucs!
May 8th, 2022 at 7:01 pm
@Natural Selection, good turd polishing. Like I said, you wanna take a running back, go ahead, just don’t do it with the 90th freaking pick. There were plenty of good punters to take in the two hundreds, not 133. It’s completely inexplicable. It’s almost like Licht turned into Bill belichick, who had four horrific drafts in a row, before last year. These GMs fall in love with certain players at certain positions, and it’s asinine in my humble opinion.
May 8th, 2022 at 8:59 pm
There was one glaring need….DT……There was one DT in the draft that was head and shoulders above the rest…… Davante Wyatt……. Davante Wyatt miraculously falls to them at 27……They pass on him and move down 6 picks….. Wyatt is taken with the very next pick at 28 by the Packers…..The Bucs draft a far less talented player in Logan Hall……They drafted a 3rd round guard in the second……They drafted a 4th round RB in the third…..They use a 4th round pick on a punter…..Grade C-. The effects of the misses in this draft won’t be felt this year. It will be felt 2 or 3 years from now when the players in this draft should be peaking. Instead, we’ll have a bunch of mediocre players (if they are still on the roster). And for the record I am a Jason Licht fan but this was not his best work.
May 8th, 2022 at 10:25 pm
Devante Wyatt had like 4 domestic violence cases. You don’t spend a 1st round pick on a guy with character issues like that. If you pick the guys that fall to you because of poor character you wind up with the Cincinnati Bengals under Marvin Lewis. A bunch of retards. Those are not the type of characters that you build your foundation with. You take a flyer on them in the later rounds. Plus by not drafting in the first round you don’t have to pay a rookie a huge contract. When you are still trying to sign a Gronk or a Suh why would you want to pay a rookie that kind of a bounty when rookies rarely produce in the first year.
May 8th, 2022 at 10:50 pm
The idea that we saved big money by trading down out of the first round is completely false. The rookie salary scale is a sliding scale and is determined by pick number not round number. There isn’t a big difference going from pick 32 to pick 33 just because a new round was started. In fact the trade cost us more salary. Pick 27 salary cap this year is 2,352,110. In comparison Pick 33 is 1,693,901…pick 106 is 913,486…& pick 180 is 759,035….for a total of 3,366,422. So in fact our rookie salary pool was increased by over a million dollars due to the trade.
May 8th, 2022 at 11:24 pm
I won’t argue that Davante Wyatt’s character is a concern. But I’d rather take a 50/50 chance on a great player than a 💯 percent chance on a mediocre player. If the great player works out you have a pro-bowl player. If the mediocre player works out you have a……..well a mediocre player.
May 9th, 2022 at 1:30 am
bucman, under no circumstances is it ok to select a spouse abuser, never mind 3x. life isnt a game. life is more important than a game. if the woman in question was your sister would you hire this guy? we all need to do the right thing. always..
May 9th, 2022 at 9:34 am
For me it was a strange draft for sure. Overall when I look at the collective group of players we got in the draft and include Shaq Mason who was a steal for a fifth round pick, I think the Bucs did very well.
That being said I am no GM myself but I would have done things slightly differently.
I did not feel that offensive guard running back or two positions of great need to invest such early capital in. I would have rather seen a guard taken in the third.
I would have used our second round pick for another player along the defensive line such as Travis Jones. Or if we stuck to guard there take Perryon Winfrey with our third pick.
I like the tight end pic in the fourth and I love trading into the fifth to get Zion McCollum. I would have used a sixth or seventh round pick for my punter or go for an undrafted free agent. I really think we could have gotten our second tight end with a 7th round pick rather than trading up.
But if I pull back the lens and look at this microscopically I actually think that six out of seven players from this draft will make the roster. I also think three and potentially four will see meaningful playing time for which I mean 50% of snaps of their position group or more without requiring injury. (Hall, Goedeke, Camarda, Orton). I think McCollum will see plenty on special teams and as season progresses will see some reps as a DB and will eventually replace one of SMB or Dean next season. Kieft I understand the pick but likely would have been there in the 7th.
And I don’t mind a flyer on a late pick on a player with injury history and a bit older who was starting to flash.
Not sure he makes the team but if healthy can contribute some snaps and special teams and eventually become a rotational OLB for a few years. We need depth there given after Shaq and JTS we only have Nelson and Gill.
May 10th, 2022 at 7:44 am
All these whiney complaints against our new punter. When he drops several dimes inside the 10 this season, or hangs it on the moon before it drops to be caught with our gunners in their face. Those complaints will go away. Good pick in my opinion, got a better punter and kickoffs player than what we had. Move forward, not backward.
GO! BUCS!!!