The general consensus of the Bucs’ 2025 draft class has been met with favorable reviews. The team found their present and future at wide receiver, put a ton of stock into the defensive side at corner and the defensive line and also may have drafted their next starting kick returner. Almost any draft grade one would see on the internet is giving that Bucs anywhere from an A to B. At worst it’s a solid class.
If there was one nitpick of this group, though, is that the Bucs did not address inside linebacker, which still feels a bit thin. In fairness to Tampa Bay, only four inside linebackers were drafted in within the top 100. This wasn’t a top level linebacker class and the Bucs didn’t reach to draft a linebacker just for the sake of drafting one.
The Bucs had a high grade on UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger, but he was drafted at No. 33 overall by Cleveland at the start of Day 2 of the draft. Tampa Bay was not as high on Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell, who had shoulder surgery in March, as many draft pundits had speculated. Campbell was often mocked to the Bucs, but he did not have an early-round grade.
Instead of drafting a linebacker in the first round, the Bucs elected to select Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who they thought was the best player available on the draft board at No. 19. At the end of the day, teams want their first-rounders to work out at any position. Drafting for need over best player available is not always a sound draft strategy.
Bucs Brass Discuss Not Taking An ILB
Bucs assistant general manager Rob McCartney explained some of the team’s thought process following the draft.
“We went through the process with all of those guys,” McCartney said. “We had some guys in play [on Day 3], they just happened to go in a spot where we couldn’t get to them. We’re obviously really happy with the guys we got, but we feel good about Lavonte [David], ‘Voss’ (SirVocea Dennis), Anthony Walker [Jr.], we’ve got Deion Jones flashing things late in the season last year.”
Bucs assistant general manager Rob McCartney – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The reasoning for Tampa Bay makes sense, but it also still leaves in a spot where there’s not a big margin for error with this linebacker group. Lavonte David is back for a 14th season at age 35. It’s very exciting that the future Bucs Ring of Honor member returns for another year, and he is still playing at a relatively high level overall, but he has taken a step back in pass coverage. That’s just the nature of an older player that plays nearly every snap per game on defense.
SirVocea Dennis enters his third year in Tampa Bay penciled in as the starter at middle linebacker, but there are going to be concerns about his health and ability to be available for an entire season. He missed four games as a rookie two seasons ago where he had limited playing time to begin with. Last season in a platoon role with K.J. Britt he missed the final 13 games after having season-ending shoulder surgery. Expecting Dennis to get through a full 17-game season in 2025 might be farfetched given his track record.
The Bucs did sign Anthony Walker Jr. in free agency, who is solid as a pass coverage linebacker. He will back up Dennis. Tampa Bay essentially swapped K.J. Britt for Walker, as Britt went to the Dolphins this offseason and that’s where Walker played last year.
Also a late signing last year was Deion Jones, who gets a full year in this defense after spending the second half of the season on the Bucs practice squad. He’ll help out in pass coverage too as David’s backup, but how much of an impact he’ll have is yet to be determined.
Bucs Don’t Have Long-Term Answers At ILB
Underlying in all of this is the fact that all of the inside linebackers with the exception of SirVocea Dennis are on one-year contracts. That was part of the frustration with not taking a linebacker this year. Outside of Dennis, the Bucs don’t have anyone else under contract in 2026 that will be familiar with the defense after next season – certainly no one that is around for the long haul. Lavonte David likely could retire and Dennis will be in the last year of his rookie deal. We’ll see how the 2025 season plays out with reserves like Anthony Walker Jr. and Deion Jones.
Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis and Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs – Photo by: USA Today
If the Bucs were to win it all this season, this is a down-the-road issue that won’t matter all too much since the team just won another Super Bowl. In the meantime, Tampa Bay isn’t ruling out adding another player at the position before the season begins.
“We think we’ve got a pretty good group in there,” McCartney said. “We’ll try to supplement it after the draft here with some good players – mostly guys that can probably help us on special teams in year one and see where it goes from there.”