B
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Grand theft in Round 3, Pick 13: the Buccaneers steal Stowers and grade out a B.
by TDBUCS ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
You build a draft on nights like this. Eli Stowers had no business being available in the Round 3 slot, and the Buccaneers did the only sane thing and turned in the card. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
They will need Altmyer to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. Spending an early pick on linebacker with edge rusher open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. A modest surplus at the table, banked quietly.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 21 they get a green-dot type in the middle, outstanding value to boot. Need was not the driver here.
They bypassed pressing needs at edge rusher to take Josiah Trotter, a linebacker that was not the priority.
Eli Stowers in pick 77 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dontay Corleone at the 82nd overall pick is money in the bank, a interior defensive lineman taken below his worth. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Value with a capital V on Mike Washington Jr. in pick No. 91, a genuine coup. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Keylan Rutledge. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
De'Zhaun Stribling is a better player than the 126th pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
By-the-book stuff, Zxavian Harris at Round 5, Pick 15 squarely in line with his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They let Charles Demmings come to them and pounced at slot 161. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Value said wait; Keyshaun Elliott in Round 6, Pick 14 says they were not listening. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
A quiet steal in pick 196: Ephesians Prysock for less than the market said. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Luke Altmyer this early at the 220th pick. A need, and now a little less of one.
Zavion Thomas at No. 229 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.