The 2024 NFL Draft is April 25-27 in Detroit. Right here is the first-round order, per Tankathon.
The Bucs stunned almost everybody outdoors of Tampa Bay by holding on to NFC South bragging rights final season. Most predicted the crew would decline after quarterback Tom Brady’s retirement, however the Bucs improved in 2023 below Baker Mayfield, a 2024 free agent. They completed the season 9-8 and superior to the divisional spherical of the playoffs, the place they misplaced to the Lions.
For Tampa to construct on its shocking run, listed below are three gamers it ought to goal in subsequent month’s draft.
2023 document: 9-8 | First-round choose: No. 26 | Workforce wants: OL, LB, CB
Potential first-round draft picks: Jackson Powers-Johnson, OL, Oregon; Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB, Missouri; Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
Tampa Bay’s offensive line has been among the many league’s worst for the previous couple of seasons, however this 12 months’s robust class of linemen offers the Bucs choices to enhance the unit, even with them selecting close to the tip of Spherical 1. NFL Media analyst Charles Davis named Powers-Johnson as his choose for the Bucs within the first spherical of his most up-to-date mock draft.
Per Professional Soccer Focus, Powers-Johnson had the second-best run-block grade amongst 281 inside offensive linemen with a minimum of 296 run-block snaps. Final season, the Bucs ranked final in speeding for the second consecutive 12 months. Their operating backs averaged a paltry 3.4 yards per try.
Powers-Johnson would additionally give the Bucs quarterback in 2024, whether or not that is Mayfield or anyone else, a clear pocket to throw out of. PFF information reveals Powers-Johnson by some means solely allowed one stress in 512 pass-rush alternatives final season.
One among his greatest highlights got here towards Stanford, when he had the 12 months’s most excellent “John Wick” impersonation, taking out two Cardinal defenders, lineman Anthony Franklin (No. 94) at first of the play and linebacker Tristan Sinclair (No. 8) to finish it.
