After investing in the defensive side of the trenches with their first fifth-round pick, they switched back to offense with their second fifth-rounder by selecting Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth.
Schrauth should come in and immediately compete for a primary backup spot among the interior line, which suffered from a litany of injuries and poor play last season. With other young options that have failed to develop, like Elijah Klein and Luke Haggard, the Bucs will hope Schrauth can offer better upside.
Billy Schrauth Career Stats
The youngest of 8 children, Schrauth played offensive line since the fourth grade and never looked back. He dominated for St. Mary Springs Academy in Campbellsport, Wis., earning multi-time all-state honors and becoming a 4-star recruit — the No. 2 overall recruit in Wisconsin and No. 7 interior OL recruit nationally.
Wanting to stay in the Midwest not far from home, Schrauth chose Notre Dame over Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Unfortunately, injuries nagged Schrauth from the get-go, as he received foot surgery after high school and redshirted his freshman year because of it. He missed several games due to an ankle injury his sophomore year, which required tightrope surgery. In his final season, he sprained his MCL and missed the final five games of his career.
Overall, he played 32 games (22 starts) in South Bend, with 12 of those starts coming at right guard and the other 10 at left. Despite the injury, Schrauth became a second-team All-American in 2025 and earned team captain honors.
Athletic Testing
Schrauth did not participate in athletic testing during the pre-draft process as he nursed his MCL injury but did participate in position drills.
Schrauth did record measurements, however. He stands nearly 6-foot-5 at a robust 310 pounds, and he has very good length for an interior lineman with 33 1/8” arms and 10 1/8” hands. While he did not test, Schrauth demonstrated good, but not great, athleticism on tape for Notre Dame’s multi-dimensional blocking scheme.
He got to highlight his powerful upper half and sturdy anchor with regularity, which he suggests he’s more than capable of making the pro jump without much difficulty.
What Type of Player Is Billy Schrauth?
Schrauth had meaningful developmental time stripped away from him due to several lower body injuries, but he still improved year over year and showed strong technique and consistency while doing so.
Schrauth’s biggest strength his how smoothly he moves throughout a rep, looking very natural in his movement and mirror while adjusting to defensive line movement. He carries himself like someone who takes pride in his blend of intelligence and aggressiveness. He can quickly process stunts and games and communicate with his teammates, and his angles out in space will allow the offense to get him out and space and trust that he won’t frequently overrun defenders. And then when it’s time to finish, he will bury his opponent into the ground.
The 22-year-old can bear down when he needs to against power rushers, jolting them with quick hands and a sound anchor while keeping himself balanced.
He needs to keep his aggression tempered, as it will cause occasional missteps and oversets against talented pass rushers. However, OL coaches will usually see this as a champagne problem to have since it’s hard to teach a physical finisher mindset, and it should be pretty easy to coach the less desirable aspects out of Schrauth.
The main issue will always relate to his health, so hopefully careful conditioning and management will keep him on the field more often than not.
Conclusion
Schrauth was a steal in the fifth round — a Day 2 value talent-wise who’s been held back only by injuries.
You can never predict future health, and the Bucs’ recent struggles with injuries will give lots of fans a rightful case of anxiety, but the bet has a chance to pay off huge in the form of a high-quality backup or even a future starter at left guard.
Given it’s only a Day 3 pick we’re talking about here, the risk-reward ratio is pretty favorable.
What do you think, Bucs Nation? Discuss in the comments below.
