There are seven new players on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2020 roster, thanks to last weekend's draft, and some more to be officially added through undrafted free agency soon. But there are only four days of Daily Bucs Trivia left!
If you've been joining us in our journey through Bucs history in the month of April, you know that I'm posting a new trivia quiz every workday at 10:00 a.m. ET. Then at 4:00 p.m. ET, I return to add the answer, and share it on Twitter. That's what I've done today to start the last week of the month, and unsurprisingly it's another question about the draft.
One of the curious things about the Buccaneers' 2020 draft was that two of the first four players they selected both came from the University of Minnesota. Second-round safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. and fifth-round wide receiver Tyler Johnson were both standouts for the highest-ranked Golden Gophers team in 57 years.
It might seem a little strange to end up with two draftees from the same school, but it's really not that uncommon. In fact, the Buccaneers went to the same collegiate well twice in their very first draft of 1976…and not with just one school but three. After taking future Hall-of-Famer Lee Roy Selmon with the first-overall pick the Bucs then added his brother and fellow Oklahoma Sooner Dewey Selmon in Round Two. Tampa Bay also made two selections each in 1976 from Texas A&M and Utah State – yes, Utah State – though it helped that the draft was 17 rounds long that year.
In fact, this year wasn't even the first time the Buccaneers selected two players from the University of Minnesota in the same draft. Even though they had drafted only three Gophers before this past weekend, two of them were classmates in 1984, when the Bucs landed tight end Jay Carroll in the seventh round and placekicker Jim Gallery in the 10th.
In both cases of doubling up on Gophers, the Bucs drafted other players in between those two selections. And none of the three college pairs in 1976 were consecutive picks, either. The two Selmon brothers came off the board in consecutive rounds but the Bucs took Florida running back Jimmy DuBose earlier in the second round, between those two.
Winfield and Johnson are the 19th pair of college teammates to land in the same Buccaneers' draft class. However, only three of those pairs were consecutive picks by Tampa Bay. And there we have today's question:
Bucs Daily Trivia Question, April 27:
On three occasions over 45 NFL Drafts, the Buccaneers have drafted a pair of players from the same college with back-to-back picks. How many of them can you name?
To be clear, we are talking consecutive picks made by Tampa Bay, not consecutive picks in the draft. And to reiterate, just because players are taken in consecutive rounds does not necessarily mean they were back-to-back picks for the Buccaneers.
Clear? Cool. Come back at 4:00 p.m. ET for the answers!
Answers: As noted, there have been three instances of the Buccaneers using consecutive picks in the draft on players from the same school. Those instances are:
1. In 1977, the Buccaneers used the first-overall pick in the draft on USC running back Ricky Bell. Tampa Bay's next pick, in the second round, was another Trojan, linebacker David Lewis.
2. In 2010, Tampa Bay made Virginia Tech punter Brent Bowden their sixth round pick. Not long after, the Bucs used the first of three seventh-rounders on Virginia Tech safety Cody Grimm.
3. In 2012, the Buccaneers double-dipped on Virginia Tech products, nabbing linebacker Najee Goode in the fifth round and safety Keith Tandy with their next pick in the sixth round.
