While the conclusion of the 2025 season for the Buccaneers has largely brought dread and an extreme focus on the coaching staff, the 50th football campaign in Tampa history did yield some bright spots.
Generally speaking, the 2025 NFL Draft class churned out a lot more positive nuggets than negative ones for the Bucs, and we should hopefully see them build on a team core that’s still plenty talented. Let’s review the rookies.
First Round: WR Emeka Egbuka
What felt like a luxury pick at the time in April quickly became a master
stroke from GM Jason Licht come in September, when the team found itself without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, AND Jalen McMillan due to injury. The then 22-year-old, the 19th overall pick in the draft, unexpectedly ascended into the role of WR1, which he handled better than anyone could’ve expected.
He won Offensive Rookie of Month for September after a torrid start that featured 18 catches for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first four games — a start rivaled in history only by Ja’Marr Chase, Calvin Ridley, and Roy Williams.
He wasn’t without struggles, as he experienced a midseason slump when opposing defenses started keying in on him. He also seemed to struggle with confidence, recording 9 drops per Pro Football Reference. And while part of this has to do with Baker Mayfield’s regression and the offense’s overall stagnation down the stretch, Egbuka posted a poor overall catch rate of just 49.6% (63 catches on 127 targets).
So overall, quite bit of good with some bad, but certainly acceptable given everything that was happening around him. Tampa should feel good about the future moving forward with Egbuka and McMillan.
Grade: B+
Second Round: CB Benjamin Morrison
The Bucs attacked their putrid secondary issues from 2024 with gusto, making the first of back-to-back cornerback picks at 53rd overall with Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison.
Morrison put up plenty of excellent tape with the Fighting Irish, but he did have some injury history going into the league, which even prevented him from participating in most of the pre-draft process before a last-minute private workout for the Bucs.
Unfortunately, the injury bug didn’t just nip Morrison in 2025 — it nearly devoured him. Playing in just 10 games (3 starts), Morrison ended up on the injury report with hamstring issues at least 4 different times between training camp and the final week of the season. Add in occasionally rotating with Jamel Dean, and it never felt like Morrison could ever establish a proper rhythm on the field.
As such, Morrison struggled to the tune of 3 touchdowns and a 112.2 passer rating allowed on just 38 targets (22 catches), and he missed 6 tackles as well. It sure seemed like his struggles affected him beyond the injuries, as Todd Bowles admitted he was a healthy scratch for the second Atlanta Falcons game.
The 21-year-old showed some enticing flashes too, so it wasn’t a complete disaster, but he’ll definitely be hoping for a much smoother campaign in 2026.
Grade: D
Third Round: CB Jacob Parrish
The chaser of Tampa’s double dip, Parrish proved to be the team’s best rookie and easily a top 5 player on the entire defense.
The electric 21-year-old athlete out of Kansas State easily seized the starting nickel role out of training camp and never looked back. Adding into that, Parrish logged a good number of snaps at outside corner as well due to injuries to Jamel Dean, Zyon McCollum, and Benjamin Morrison.
Not only that, but Parrish stayed durable himself by leading all NFL rookies in coverage snaps (474) — 345 in the slot, 81 outside, and 48 in other alignments. He allowed just 2 touchdowns and an 89.9 passer rating on 77 targets (55 receptions) while logging 2 interceptions, 7 passes defensed, 2 sacks, and a fumble recovery. A top-25 rated corner by Pro Football Focus in overall grade (69.3), Parrish proved exceptional in run defense too with a missed tackle rate of only 9.5% (76 total tackles) while recording 7 tackles for loss (easily the best among rookie corners).
Given his fast learning curve and exceptional physical tools, Parrish is primed to be Tampa’s next best nickel corner.
Grade: A+
Fourth Round: EDGE David Walker
Walker crushed the competition at FCS Central Arkansas for several years that the NFL needed to take notice. His 31 sacks and 63 tackles for loss in 38 career games there were eye-popping, and despite his unconventional, sawed-off frame (just 6-foot-1 with 31 7/8” arms), the Bucs deemed his sheer explosiveness and pass rushing talent were worth gambling on with their first pick of Day 3.
Unfortunately, we never got to see Walker in action as he tore his ACL in training camp before ever taking a single snap. As someone who presumably would’ve seen some good run as the team’s fourth pass rusher, his absence definitely put a damper on the team’s pass-rushing plan.
With any luck, his redshirt rookie year will lead to a more promising future in 2026 when he hopefully makes his real debut.
Grade: N/A
Fifth Round: DL Elijah Roberts
The FBS leader in quarterback pressures in his final two seasons at SMU, Roberts produced plenty for the Mustangs but faced questions about his role at the next level — too stiff to play on the edge, possibly not physical enough to be a base end.
The Bucs took the tweener gamble in the fifth round, and it honestly worked out as well as anyone could’ve hoped. After former first-rounder Calijah Kancey suffered yet another serious injury after only 2 weeks, Roberts essentially stepped into a starter role through the rest of the year (17 games, 9 starts), playing nearly 50% of the team’s defensive snaps (507).
On 312 designated pass rushing snaps, Roberts tallied a pressure rate of 7.3%, which ranked 7th among all rookie defensive linemen (edge rushers/outside linebackers excluded). His pressures (23) and hurries (19) both ranked second behind only Mason Graham, who went top 5 overall to the Browns. Not too bad, huh?
For a fifth-round pick, the Bucs found a rotational mainstay at minimum and a possible rock-solid starter outside the top 100 picks. He’s got more developing to do, as you’d like to see those hurries and pressures translated into more than just 2 sacks, but the early returns have been very good nonetheless.
Grade: A
Seventh Round: WR Tez Johnson
While he’s a massive size outlier, the diminutive product out of Oregon carried the swagger and confidence of someone who knew his on-field talent would earn him a role on an NFL roster.
Johnson (5-foot-10, 165 pounds) proved correct, as he took advantage of those aforementioned receiver injuries to create some impact plays for the Bucs’ offense. Playing 47% of snaps on offense (16 games, 8 starts), Johnson logged 28 catches for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns.
He still managed to remain active and make a couple splash plays even after the Bucs had their full assortment of weapons back, which bodes well for his involvement moving forward. He’ll never be a primary, high-volume target, and there were a few too many mental errors in Year 1 that need to be cleaned up, but his electrifying open-field movement ability and contrasting skill set compared to his teammates make him a valuable WR5.
You could do a lot worse for a dart-throw 7th rounder.
Grade: B
Overall, if you’re averaging out the whole class based on those grades, you’re looking at an cumulative grade of…
A-
What say you, Bucs Nation? Do you find that grade (and the accompanying player evaluations) fair? Discuss in the comments below!
