Jason Licht: “Extra Focus On Defense”
April 3rd, 2025
“You like those smokescreens, Mr. Glazer?”
Perhaps the worst secret in the NFL is the Bucs being laser focused on drafting defensive players when the draft kicks off in three weeks.
Head coach Todd Bowles openly talks about adding cornerback depth and competition.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht, Joe believes, tipped his draft hand during a WDAE radio interview when it comes to drafting a defensive tackle.
“You know, there’s a lot of depth at interior defensive line, which would be good to (stops himself and pauses). You know, it’s always good to have great depth and be able to sub in waves [on] that defensive line,” Licht said 12 days ago. “And we’ve seen that in recent years in the Super Bowl; the Eagles had unbelievable depth at defensive line this year.”
Licht also has referenced that this is a defense year in “the cycle” of Bucs team building. He was direct on that point during his recent chat on the Ira Kaufman Podcast.
But where does Licht stand now? NFL reality is a very fluid situation.
Licht was a guest on Tuesday’s Up & Adams show and host Kay Adams, after hearing Licht deliver typical GM vagueness, told Licht she was trying to push him out of the realm of serving up pre-draft clichés.
He laughed and followed up with, “We’re putting a little extra focus on defense.”
With every starter and many backups returning from a top-flight offense, it’s understandable that the Bucs aren’t too focused this year on drafting the proverbial “best player available.”
They may follow that path, but if Bowles really prioritizes more playmakers, “ballhawks” and “killer instinct” players for his defense, then the Bucs are going to have draft them this month, barring a high-profile trade.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:13 pm
After
LB3 @ 19
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:22 pm
trade down and splurge on defense
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:23 pm
Good to see that JL has noticed we could use another DT/NT beast in the trenches. The bigger & faster & stronger the better.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:28 pm
agree with bucky…
or trade the 1st round pick to the giants for dexter Lawrence lol….him and vita!!!…one can only dream lol
GO BUCS!!!!
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:30 pm
Bigger, Faster, and Stronger. Check, Check, and Check.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:31 pm
And Younger. Almost forgot that one.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:40 pm
Defense Rules Says:
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:23 pm
Good to see that JL has noticed we could use another DT/NT beast in the trenches. The bigger & faster & stronger the better.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If that 6-6 445 lb kid is available in round 4, take him and put him next to Vea once in awhile. It would be like resurrecting the Berlin Wall.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:41 pm
Japan needs to bring on a consultant to help him pick backers and corners
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:41 pm
I’m glad JL got Reddick in free agency.
He’s absolutely terrible at drafting DEs.
DL , WR, RB, S, CB, OL he seems to be good at.
DE, QB, P, and K he is hot garbage at picking.
Go with your strengths.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:44 pm
Best defensive player.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:46 pm
I agree BucDawg
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:03 pm
“DE, QB, P, and K he is hot garbage at picking.”
Um isn’t Kyle Trask the only drafted QB in Bucs history to get a second contract?
Also, Jameis wasn’t a complete bust. The best QB in that draft, and, looking back at that draft, there aren’t really many players you’d say should have been drafted 1st overall instead of him. Maybe Danielle Hunter.
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:29 pm
I feel a signing coming…Baker restructured and freed up some $$…CB? Rasul?
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:36 pm
I would not be upset if the Bucs picked Kenneth Grant DT Michigan if he fell to #19.
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:39 pm
If Starks and Emman are gone, Harmon at 19 would be awesome. Or we can go later, Deone Walker, Farmer, TJ Sanders…a few others i cant think of right now, dont have my notes. I just hope we get at least one on the offense, WR, my pick is Jayden Higgins.
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:40 pm
Top two. CB & IDL. Equal need. I’m generally not a CB guy in the first round but not this year. If they have a 1st round rated guy at CB then take him.
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:40 pm
@StickinUp4Centers
“Um isn’t Kyle Trask the only drafted QB in Bucs history to get a second contract?”
You mean the guy that has thrown 7 passes in live action? Yep, he’s a fabulous round 2 pick……
“Also, Jameis wasn’t a complete bust. The best QB in that draft, and, looking back at that draft, there aren’t really many players you’d say should have been drafted 1st overall instead of him. ”
His first pass as a Buc was a pick 6, his last pass as a Buc was a pick 6.
And a first overall pick as a QB should at the very least garner a 2nd contract.
Jameis proved his bust status even more after leaving Tampa.
BucDawg 1, StickinUp4Centers -5.
April 3rd, 2025 at 4:41 pm
@Stan, if we traded down to late first and got him, that would be great too…he’s in my notes.
April 3rd, 2025 at 5:24 pm
“a little extra focus on defense.”
No sh!t Sherlock…..
Way to give away our entire draft strategy there Jason…. LOL Kay sucked it out of you…. (you wish!)
The top 4 offense with no starters needed vs the bottom 4 defense (in numerous pass related categories) was no clue whatsoever to the rest of the league that the Bucs are going BPA on Defense with most or all high picks….
April 3rd, 2025 at 5:30 pm
All I gotta say on this matter is one lawn chair db gone. And one lawn chair db to go!
April 3rd, 2025 at 6:19 pm
Best mock throught 4 rounds –
1 Kenneth Grant – DT
2 Shavon Revel Jr – CB
3 Jeffrey Bassa – LB
4 Fadil Diggs – EDGE
April 3rd, 2025 at 6:38 pm
JL has something up his sleeve again with all the restructures. I’d like a corner early in the draft because that market is going up fast. Lock in a guy for 4 to 5 years on the cheap. After that in no particular order DL. 2 at least. 2 ILB and a safety. Then we get to see whatever Jason is cooking up for a surprise
April 3rd, 2025 at 7:14 pm
Safety will be the 1st pick
April 3rd, 2025 at 7:23 pm
Stanglassman … ‘I would not be upset if the Bucs picked Kenneth Grant DT Michigan if he fell to #19.’
That’d be a dream come true, but the odds of it happening are really slim. Walter Football seems convinced that Grant (all 6’4″ & 331 lbs of him) will go in the top half of Rnd 1.
However, Texas’ Alfred Collins (6’6″ & 332 lbs) might be available at #19. Collins is strong, physical, and very tough as a run defender who gets good push into the pocket. Wouldn’t break my heart to use our #19 pick to draft him.
My next in line is Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams (6’3″ & 334 lbs), but not in Rnd 1 (he’s a late Rnd 1 or Rnd 2 prospect). Walter Football says that he was impressive at his Combine workout.
There MIGHT be 1 or 2 others deeper down in the draft who could help our pass rush when they rotate in for Vita Vea, but that’s for the Bucs’ scouts to figure out. The bigger & more beastly the better INO.
April 3rd, 2025 at 7:35 pm
This is chess not checkers. We are drafting a WR
April 3rd, 2025 at 7:57 pm
Nah,
I got to go with Stick in Up on that one. Concerning Winston, Licht didn’t have better options at the time. PERIOD and end of story.
And Buc Dawg, though your on record clearly as not appreciating what Mayfield brings to the table, Licht got him for A SONG…. And then signed him for what equals peanuts. Baker certainly isn’t perfect and we didn’t draft him initially, I kinda feel like we did draft him in a way. At least for me, Baker won me over. And I was Not in his camp to start with and that’s for sure. And to be fair, we STILL don’t know what we have in Trask and I for one would like to see him in legitimate action. Can’t judge the draft pick fairly because as far as I’m concerned Trask was WHIPPING Mayfield in the FAKE competition. It’s been made clear that Trask never had a chance because our not so illustrious head coach never intended to give Trask what he won…
But.. with that said….., I do like Bakers style and Pure Football Heart. He did win me over but that doesn’t mean that Trask is no good. In the end, Trask was ABSOLUTELY WINNING THE CONTEST! Trask got screwed over by Bowles and Mayfield made the best of his opportunity and he NEVER gave Trask a chance to show what he’s got under the hood. Now that Mayfield has a contract, maybe Trask will get his chance to put up or shut up…
April 3rd, 2025 at 8:12 pm
If the middle DL beast from Michigan is still there at 15, do you go get him?
Licht probably doesn’t do that unless it costs something marginal, which it wouldn’t.
April 3rd, 2025 at 9:00 pm
Wow, someone needs their meds.
April 3rd, 2025 at 9:28 pm
@defense rules
Perfecto
April 3rd, 2025 at 9:28 pm
You base the above on? Were you present throughout training camp? Who made this clear? Just curious.
April 3rd, 2025 at 9:54 pm
@DR, dont forget Deone Walker
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:05 pm
At pick 19, maybe trade back a few, get an extra pick and go defense line, tackle and edge rusher… have a nasty, fresh rotation.
Draft CB and LB mid, see if an athletic TE falls in the 4th
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:55 pm
Obvious,
Kind of a lot in your soliloquy. Trask, you, and the rest of us might have found out what he has to offer if he looked this year for an opportunity to start somewhere. It seems like a lot of teams are looking for a starting QB. Not sure why he didn’t look. Kind of glad he elected to stay in Tampa. Time to give the BS about him winning some competition to rest. Unless Trask is a likely Top 5 QB like Mayfield is, just leave it alone.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:25 pm
Defense Rules you know what we can do if we get a few more big nasty interior linemen? Kancey can move right out on either edge and be a pin back your ears edge rusher!! That would make Joe giddy Kancey crashing down from the edge. They calling them hybrids. Big safeties playing linebacker too. Reddick was a linebacker in his first few years at Arizona. Campbell fits that hybrid role, so does Emmanwori. We need a few more of those guys too.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:35 pm
Might the Bucs be setting up to improve the defense through a trade? Licht and friends just made $30 M in cap space through restructures of a am and AWJ
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:36 pm
BM and AWJ
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:37 pm
Dean and #19 to Cincy for Hendrickson and their #49
A guy can dream
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:46 pm
Well, I was right there reading along with everybody else. You’re welcome to go back and read what was written concerning that farce. It’s documented with Multiple web sites as to the Day to Day competition.
Pick your poison. Whichever blog you want. It IS what it IS….. Trying to rewrite history is a waste of time. FAR TOO MANY are quite AWARE of what EVERY blog was claiming day over day. That’s all they do guys. Like I said, you’re welcome to stroll down memory lane if you need the CLARITY…
Like I said however, Mayfield won me over REGARDLESS of those FACTS. I like him right where he is.
But to claim that Mayfield was winning the fake contest is not only “Fake News”, it’s also petty.
In the end, Bowles chose Mayfield regardless of that mocked up competitions result as was his right to do. SIMPLE AS THAT!
Look, I make no bones about how I feel about Bowles coaching capabilities or not, but that doesn’t mean I believe he’s totally without credit. He seems pretty good at picking OC’s for instance. I believe he also made the Right Call between the two QB’s
Because in the end (I can’t be totally sure of this) I believe Mayfield made a better leader of the men and I Absolutely love his passion for the game. That’s just how I feel about it…
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:53 pm
They said this Barron, CB from Texas, has played all positions in the defensive backfield. We could easily move Izien out to corner in a pinch. McCollum could play anywhere and so could Winfield. Winfield can’t play corner? He’s a great football player! Of course he could. Great athletes, these hybrid types.
April 4th, 2025 at 12:02 am
Kenton, you’re got a great idea there. I absolutely believe he be a 10 Plus sacker EVERY YEAR.
With his skill set…… Common man! And I also agree with DR on a D lineman as the way to go with our first pick. I believe it’s a two or three birds knocked down with One shot. And It could absolutely Solve our edge needs.
Good call
April 4th, 2025 at 12:37 am
Obvious, thanks, but I’m not saying move Kancey to the edge and leave him there. It’s just that he’s the type player who can do that. He’s got some hybrid qualities whereas those really large guy are best off at defensive tackle nose guard only. Kancey can play any of those positions.
April 4th, 2025 at 1:12 am
Bowles has been moving DLinemen around forever, but only certain players have that type of versatility. And when you do that, I think the center of the DLine needs to be ‘anchored’. That’s what Vea gives us, and what another beastly DT/NT with his skillset & power would give us.
I can imagine what’d happen on obvious pass plays if we had Vea in the center of the DLine, with Kancey on 1 side and Hall on the other, plus Diaby as one OLB & Reddick as the other. There’s some decent pass rush capability there.
Then on obvious run plays, substitute in our new beastly DT/NT for Vea, bring in Gaines on 1 side and whoever we keep as our other DE on the other plus rotate Braswell & Nelson and everyone stays fresh, constantly. If they go hurry-up and we can’t sub, we’d still have excellent capability on the field.
April 4th, 2025 at 1:18 am
Did I say leave him there? I don’t recall that. I seriously doubt that’s what would happen. That’s just not the idea… Who said anything about leaving anybody anywhere?
As I am saying, with the addition of a serious D lineman, options really open up on the edges and I feel good about Kancey’s chances off the edge.
For instance they like to use Vea on the edge from time to time ( with a pretty decent success rate) but they don’t leave him there.. He doesn’t have the stamina. Not so sure Kancey has that type of stamina either. But with his skill set including an expansive tool box of moves, speed, and ability to get low and bend…. Yeah, I believe he’d do A Lot of damage!
Interesting
April 4th, 2025 at 5:15 am
Deone Walker if there in the 3rd….in a managed trade down pick up, near the top of it…
Jason?
April 4th, 2025 at 11:07 am
Let the Trask won the competition BS end already he had a shot at leaving, people said Vegas was interested cause of Brady but NOOOOO not even a conversation. The Bucskept him cause now they can work the guy from Tulaneanother season in the play book. Trask Isa good soldier who can hand the ball to the running backs & move the chains until heaven forbid Bakerisback.
April 4th, 2025 at 1:06 pm
“Might the Bucs be setting up to improve the defense through a trade? Licht and friends just made $30 M in cap space through restructures of a am and AWJ”
I think the money will go to Signing Otten, McCollum and Goedeke to long term contracts.
April 4th, 2025 at 2:39 pm
Could be that too baby