What's NFL Draft night without a little drama? Originally slated to pick seventh overall, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded down to the 12th spot, swapping first-round picks with the Buffalo Bills and picking up two second-round picks (53rd and 56th overall).
Long linked to Haines City native and former Florida State standout Derwin James at number seven, the Bucs instead bypassed the safety and selected Washington DT Vita Vea.
The 2017 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Vea is considered an outstanding run-stopper and will pair with Pro Bowl DT Gerald McCoy for an imposing interior of the defensive line.
General Manager Jason Licht's draft success has been debated. He gets high grades for selecting Mike Evans 7th overall in 2014, then went with the consensus #1 pick in 2015 by selecting Jameis Winston. The jury is still out on his most recent first-round picks. 2016 first-round CB Vernon Hargreaves (Wharton/Florida) lost his starting job in 2017 and O.J. Howard showed flashes of brilliance with typical rookie inconsistency last season.
The Bucs now have three second-round picks (38th, 53rd and 56th) on Friday, but do not have a third-round pick after sending it to the New York Giants to acquire DE Jason Pierre-Paul.
It was a historic night when it came to quarterbacks being selected. For the first time in the modern era, four quarterbacks were taken in the first ten picks of the draft.
Top 12 Picks of the 2018 NFL Draft
- Browns - Baker Mayfield, QB (Oklahoma)
- Giants - Saquon Barkley, RB (Penn State)
- Jets - Sam Darnold, QB (USC)
- Browns - Denzel Ward, CB (Ohio State)
- Broncos - Bradley Chubb, DE (NC State)
- Colts - Quenton Nelson, G (Notre Dame)
- Bills - Josh Allen, QB (Wyoming)
- Bears - Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia)
- 49ers - Mike McGlinchey, OT (Notre Dame)
- Cardinals - Josh Rosen, QB (UCLA)
- Dolphins - Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB (Alabama)
- Bucs - Vita Vea, DT (Washington)