The Bucs are on the precipice of their 2025 rookie mini-camp that is taking place in Friday and Saturday. Many fans have been wanting to see what numbers each player from the draft class is going to be wearing in red and pewter and have been patiently waiting.
The team granted these curiosities on Thursday afternoon when they posted on their social media about the numbers by all six drafted player. Not one player from this year’s draft class is wearing the number they had while playing for their respective schools.
Bucs Rookie Jersey Numbers Revealed
First round pick wide receiver Emeka Egbuka will wear number nine. He previously wore two at Ohio State, but that was occupied by backup quarterback Kyle Trask, who’s been in the league for five seasons. Egbuka takes the number after another former first round pick, outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, wore it for the last four seasons. The Bucs did not pick up his fifth year option and he signed with the Browns this offseason.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, WR Emeka Egbuka and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Second round pick Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame takes number 21. It was known as soon as he was drafted that he wouldn’t be able to wear the number 20 that he wore for the Fighting Irish because that is the number of Bucs Ring of Honor Member and Hall of Famer, Ronde Barber. Several defensive backs have worn 21 in Tampa Bay, with the most recent coming last season with Keenan Isaac followed by Mike Edwards on his second stint in Tampa Bay. The most notable defensive back to wear 21 is Donnie Abraham as he wore it for 92 games.
Fellow cornerback Jacob Parrish, Tampa Bay’s third round pick has number 25. He wore 10 at Kansas State, and that’s occupied by receiver Trey Palmer at the moment. While veteran corner Troy Hill wore it for two games last season, the number 25 has been taken by running backs in recent years. That includes Giovani Bernard, LeSean McCoy and Peyton Barber. Two well known Bucs defensive backs have worn 25 in the team’s history – Brian Kelly and Aqib Talib.
Outside linebacker and fourth round pick David Walker takes 51, having previously been worn by inside linebacker J.J. Russell. He wore eight at Central Arkansas, the number that inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis has. This predominantly has been an inside linebacker number with names such as Barrett Ruud, Kendell Beckwith and Kevin Minter wearing it.
Defensive lineman Elijah Roberts, the Bucs’ fifth rounder, gets jersey number 95. Appearing on the Pewter Report Podcast last week, Roberts said he didn’t have a special connection to a number and would be fine with whatever number was given to him by the team as long as it wasn’t in the 70s. Mission accomplished for him. Last season defensive tackle Deadrin Senat had the number and played in 12 games. There’s not a big history with this number. Chris Hovan wore it for five seasons. The number five that Roberts wore at SMU is availble, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
Bucs OLB Elijah Roberts – Photo by: USA Today
Rounding out the group is seventh round pick Tez Johnson, who puts number 83. He wore 15 at Oregon for the Ducks, and that of course now taken by last year’s third round pick, wide receiver Jalen McMillan.
Here is the full list of Bucs rookie uniform numbers.
What Numbers Will Veteran Players Be Wearing?
There haven’t been any announcements about what numbers some of the veteran players that the Bucs signed in free agency will wear. But using context clues, we might be able to figure some out. Haason Reddick was the biggest new free agent signing this offseason by Tampa Bay. In his career Reddick has only worn 43 and seven, with seven being what he’s worn the last three years. That number is taken by Bucky Irving while Chris Braswell has 43, so maybe he wants to stay with a closer single digit number.
Bucs OLB Haason Reddick – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
With Roberts wearing 95 and the team having five open after letting go of Jake Camarda last season, it could be Reddick’s to have. Plus, the social media account NFL Jersey Numbers posted earlier last month that Reddick would wear five, though those reports havaen’t been confirmed by others.
Inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. has worn 50, five and six in his career. Those numbers are all occupied along with zero through 10. If wants a traditional linebacker number between 50 and 59, he has the option of 52, 53, 56 and 59. Should he want a number in the 40s, he can go 42, 46 or 49. Other free agents Riley Dixon, Charlie Heck, Kindle Vildor and Damien Jennings will have a couple of options to choose from, too.
We’ll see what other Bucs undrafted free agent have for numbers at Bucs rookie mini-camp starting on Friday. Pewter Report will be live at the facility to recap all of the events that went on during it.