The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprised a lot of NFL draft analysts last season when they took Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka with the 19th overall pick. It had nothing to do with the quality of the player or the value of the pick, but rather the perception that wideout was pretty far down the list of the most pressing roster needs for the 2025 Buccaneers.

General Manager Jason Licht and company tabbed Egbuka in the first round because they believed he was the best player available to help the team both immediately and for the foreseeable future. As it turned out, they also did end up hitting addressing a roster deficiency. With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan – the team's top three receivers from the year before – all missing significant time due to injury in 2025, Egbuka kept the passing attack afloat during a 6-2 start, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year buzz.

The point is, roster "needs" in the NFL can seem obvious in February and look completely different in August. What did seem clear a year ago was that the depth chart needed help at edge rusher and cornerback, and Licht's crew did in fact address those needs aggressively. For edge rusher, the team signed Haason Reddick in free agency and used a draft pick on what they perceived as a fourth-round steal in David Walker. For cornerback, a pair of Day Two draft picks brought in Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish and Kindle Vildor was added in free agency.

Walker was lost to a season-ending knee injury midway through what had been a very impressive training camp, while Reddick also missed a big chunk of time in the middle of the season to a pair of leg ailments. That meant those efforts, due to unfortunate and impossible to predict circumstances, didn't really solve the issue. Morrison and Parrish, however, were both starters by season's end and Parrish in particular played a huge role on defense, both in the slot and on the outside when injuries inevitably hit the position. The Bucs' depth and youthful profile at cornerback look a lot better now than they did a year ago.

Now we are in the early stages of another offseason and, as always, there are areas of the depth chart that appear to need attention. Will that look different six months from now? Perhaps, but we can only go on the information we have available now. That's what Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabriel Kahaian and I will be doing this week as we continue our offseason Roundtable article series. Between now and the start of the new league year in March we are addressing a total of eight topics that both review the season that recently ended and look ahead at what is in store in 2026. Here's the whole schedule, with links to the ones we've already completed:

• Monday, January 12: What was your most pleasant surprise regarding the Buccaneers' 2025 season?
• Monday, January 19: Who was the Buccaneers 2025 MVP (non-quarterback division)?
• Monday, January 26: What was the Bucs’ single most exciting play of the 2025 season?
• Monday, February 2: Who is your most intriguing under-the-radar player on the 2026 roster?
• Monday, February 9: What is the most pressing roster need the Bucs' need to address in the offseason?
• Monday, February 16: If the Buccaneers were to make a big free agency splurge, who would you want?
• Monday, February 23: What position would you like to see Tampa Bay target in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft?
• Monday, March 2: Give us one specific statistical prediction for the Bucs' 2026 season?

So now we've arrived at a key question for the 2026 offseason: Where are the most pressing positional needs on the Bucs' roster as the team tries to get back to the top of the NFC South? What will be the focus as free agency begins in March and the draft arrives in April? The three of us are choosing not to duplicate any answers, so the order in which we make our predictions can matter, and for that reason we're rotating the order of selection from week to week. This week, Gabe rotates to the pole position, I am second and Bri will cap the debate off. Take it away, Gabe.

Gabriel Kahaian: Outside Linebacker

I have been blessed with the first pick this go-round and I won't waste anyone's time. The Buccaneers most pressing roster need is finding an impact player on the edge. I could give you a bunch of stats that prove my point, but I feel like most fans would agree just based on their lived experience. It is clear the Bucs would love to generate more sacks in 2026 and pinpointing a high-potential outside linebacker will be a priority this offseason.

I know the above may sound a bit harsh and, in reality, the Buccaneers' woes have not been as exaggerated as it seems. The Bucs sit squarely in the middle of the league in total sacks over the past two seasons with 83.0. Additionally, the Bucs were given the seventh-best pass rush grade via PFF in 2025, generating 332 pressures (also seventh in the league).

These numbers are quite impressive considering the injury woes the team has endured. Calijah Kancey was placed on injured reserve last September, missing the majority of the 2025 season. As Scott noted in the opening of the story, injuries to both Reddick and Walker were significant given the optimism surrounding those two players. The organization has invested heavily into adding fire power to the defensive line and has found some success. Yaya Diaby enjoyed another productive campaign in his third season and the Bucs once again produced a top-10 rush defense.

The key, as obvious as it may seem, is turning pressures into sacks, something that escaped the Bucs during their 50th season. In the second half of 2025, Tampa Bay averaged just 1.33 sacks a game, a key stat considering how the team finished the year. Everybody in the building would love to see that number increase and it starts with adding talent to the room. Tampa Bay could explore free agency and target one of the marquee edge rushers set to hit the open market, such as Trey Hendrickson or Khalil Mack. The Buccaneers could also opt to swing for the fences with a splash trade and secure a proven star. However, given how much Jason Licht values his draft capital along with possible critical contract extensions looming this offseason and beyond, the most logical path to finding another outside linebacker appears to be the 2026 NFL Draft.

Luckily, there appears to be no shortage of viable first-round options for the Bucs to explore. I would be surprised if Miami's Rueben Bain Jr. or Texas Tech's David Bailey is still available at pick 15. Even so, Tampa Bay would remain in prime position to land another top-tier edge prospect such as Texas A&M's Cashius Howell, Auburn's Keldric Faulk or Clemson's T.J. Parker. Personally, I am enamored with Howell. His sack production and athleticism give him a chance to be plug-and-play on Day One. Be sure to keep an eye out for our first Buccaneers.com Mock Draft coming later this week! I am curious to see Scott's assessment of the first round.

All that being said, the Bucs would clearly benefit from adding another outside linebacker to further fortify the pass rush.

Scott Smith: Off-Ball Linebacker

The math is clear here. The Buccaneers had four inside linebackers on the roster when the 2025 season ended and two of them, Lavonte David and Deion Jones, are pending unrestricted free agents. By his own proclamation, David has said he will finish his career as a Buccaneer, but he has not yet decided if that will include a 15th season. Jones, a decade into his NFL career, has only played 120 defensive snaps across 19 games since arriving in Tampa late in 2024. Anthony Walker was only on the roster for the last three weeks of the 2025 season and played one defensive snap. You can count Nick Jackson as a fifth; he spent most of his rookie season after being signed as an undrafted free agent on the practice squad and was on the field for 18 defensive snaps. SirVocea Dennis is headed into the final year of his rookie contract.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the talents of any player who have recently suited up for the Buccaneers at off-ball linebacker; David, in particular, is one of the greatest players in franchise history. The team as currently constituted simply does not have enough human beings to fill up the 2026 depth chart at that position. That makes it an obvious roster need as free agency and the draft approach. And this goes beyond 2026, actually; the Buccaneers need some long-term solutions at inside linebacker for the inevitable post-Lavonte David era.

I could see this being a position the team addresses in both free agency and the draft, and one concern that may inform those efforts is pass coverage in the middle of the field. After so many years of having a star in that regard in David and Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, the Bucs, I believe, would love to find another linebacker of that ilk. Or a couple of them.

Fortunately, this appears to be a good year for the Buccaneers to be seeking an overhaul at the position. Seven of the top 53 players on the Pro Football Focus ranking of potential 2026 free agents are off-ball linebackers, including Devin Bush, Devin Lloyd, Nakobe Dean and Leo Chanel, all in the top 12. The draft has such potential first-round selections as the Ohio State duo of Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles plus Georgia's C.J. Allen. Beyond that, there are enough talented prospects to make it a popular position for teams to seek potential starters on Day Two of the draft and even into the early stages of Day Three.

Brianna Dix: Offensive Line Depth

In 2025, the Bucs dealt with a multitude of injuries along the offensive line, spurring nine different starting combinations down the stretch of the 2025 slate. Starting right guard Cody Mauch suffered a season-ending knee injury on Monday Night Football in Week Two against the Texans and Tampa Bay put left guard Ben Bredeson on IR after he sustained a knee injury in the club's loss to the Saints in Week 14. The lineup combination that the Bucs used the most frequently became Tristan Wirfs at left tackle, Michael Jordan at left guard, Graham Barton at center, Dan Feeney at right guard and Luke Goedeke at right tackle. Neither Feeney nor Jordan were on the roster in June but both ended up filling a significant role up front.

Depth is essential as last season for Tampa Bay can attest. Charlie Heck received some snaps, as did undrafted free agent Ben Chukwuma following the injury to Wirfs. Of course, bolstering the two aforementioned spots on the defense are key but the offensive line dictates the offense and flow of the game. The unit struggled in both pass protection at run blocking last year at times with a lack of continuity and boosting the unit in the offseason to strengthen the interior is critical. That will open up the aerial attack downfield and play-action opportunities.