Recently, talented ESPN writer Ben Solak took on the gargantuan task of identifying the best player ever selected in each NFL Draft slot, from pick number one to pick number 262. He wrote that it took him about a month. That's easy to believe.

For those who are interested in both the draft and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this is a very entertaining read, loaded with nuggets regarding the Buccaneers, both in terms of who is on the list and who isn't. Let's take a look at the list and answer some of your hypothetical questions about Solak's choices.

Did any players selected by the Buccaneers make the list?

Yes! There is a good amount of Buccaneer representation on Solak's list, and they start pretty early in the article as he begins at pick number one and counts down. It makes sense that the earliest picks would present some of the most difficult choices; for instance, Solak had 14 Hall of Famers to choose from at pick number one. He went with Peyton Manning.

Where the Bucs come in, you won't be surprised to learn, is with their historic 1995 draft. The Buccaneers nabbed Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp at pick number 12 that year, then followed up with Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks at number 28. That proved to be one of only three times in NFL Draft history that a team has taken two future Hall of Famers in the same round. Both Sapp and Brooks also won their draft slots in Solak's analysis.

As Solak noted, Sapp is currently the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who was chosen 12th overall, so this probably wasn't too difficult of a pick. His praise of Brooks was effusive and he didn't mention any other candidates, so this one was probably pretty easy too. A quick look through the list of other players picked 28th overall turns up Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green as the likely top challenger to Brooks.

But we're not done yet. At pick number 58 we find linebacker Lavonte David, who is about to head into his 14th season as a Buccaneer. This is one of the rare occurrences in which David isn't criminally underrated, which is nice to see. Solak describes him as "an era-defining player."

Just eight slots later we come across another Buccaneer who is in the Hall of Fame, cornerback Rondé Barber. He gets the nod at pick number 66 and no other candidates are mentioned. This was probably the safest bet for a Buccaneer to make the list, as Hall of Famers are not nearly as common a find in the third round.

A little further down, we run into a pair of curious choices very close to each other. Solak's selection at number 169 is cornerback Al Harris, who was taken by the Buccaneers in the sixth round in 1997. At pick number 176, the choice is safety Mike Prior, nabbed by the Bucs in the seventh round in 1985. The thing is, those two barely played for the Buccaneers at all! Harris spent his rookie season on injured reserve and then was cut by Tampa Bay before the 1998 season, but he went on to have a long and excellent career, mostly with Philadelphia and Green Bay. Prior played in 16 games with no starts in his rookie campaign and was cut the next year, but he then played 12 more seasons for the Colts and Packers.

The last Buccaneer draft pick to make the list is linebacker Elijah Alexander, taken at number 254 in 1992. That was a 10th-round choice back in the days of 28 teams and 12-round drafts. Alexander also only played one season in Tampa before being cut the next year, but he went on to play 123 games with 76 starts for the Broncos, Colts and Raiders.

Is there any part of this list I, as a Bucs fan, might want to skip?

Yeah, you might want to scroll quickly past the pick at number 183. That's where the Raiders got running back Bo Jackson in 1987, which was a heck of a seventh-round value. Of course, there's a reason a player as talented as Jackson was available that late in the draft, and it involves the Buccaneers.

The Raiders were essentially taking a flyer on Jackson playing football because at the time he was playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals. In the spring of 1986, a pre-draft visit to Tampa on Owner Hugh Culverhouse's private plane had unexpectedly cost the Auburn star the remainder of his college baseball eligibility. Angry at that turn of events, Jackson told the Buccaneers not to take him with the first-overall pick because he wouldn't play for them. The Bucs picked him anyway and he was true to his word, turning to baseball instead.

What other Buccaneer representation might I find on this list?

There are a lot, actually.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis won the day at pick number 14, edging out quarterback Jim Kelly. Revis was drafted by the Jets in 2007 but he did play one season in Tampa in 2013. The Bucs had acquired him in a trade for the 13th-overall pick that year.

More recently, tight end Rob Gronkowski played two seasons (2020-21) in Tampa with his buddy Tom Brady and helped the Bucs win their second Super Bowl. He takes the cake at number 42, where the Patriots landed him in 2010. And yes, Brady obviously was the choice at number 199, where he was the most famous sixth-round pick of all time by the Patriots in 2000. All Brady did in his three seasons in Tampa was throw 108 regular-season touchdown passes and win his seventh Super Bowl ring.

Hardy Nickerson was Solak's choice at number 122, and in this case the player is best known as a Buccaneer. Pittsburgh drafted him in 1987 and he spent six seasons with the Steelers but he was the first big signing by Tampa Bay under the league's new free agency system in 1993. Nickerson quickly became the heart and soul of the Buccaneers defense and made five Pro Bowls while playing seven seasons in Tampa.

Larry Foote, the choice at number 128, never played for the Buccaneers but he has been on their coaching staff for seven years, currently holding the title of run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach. Pittsburgh drafted him in 2002.

The Pittsburgh-Tampa connections continue at pick number 195, where the Steelers got wide receiver Antonio Brown in 2010. Brown was on the Buccaneers' 2002 Super Bowl team and even scored a touchdown in the big game, helping Tampa Bay defeat Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs. The less we say about Brown's abrupt departure from the team, the better.

Seattle guard J.R. Sweezy provided great return for the 225th pick in 2012 and he gets the nod there from Solak. Sweezy played one season in Tampa, in 2017, making 14 starts. Two picks later, quarterback Brad Johnson comes in at number 227, which was actually a ninth-round pick at the time, which is where Minnesota got him. Johnson, affectionately known as "The Bull," played four seasons in Tampa (2001-04) and was the starter for the franchise's first Super Bowl-winning team. He made the Pro Bowl in that 2002 championship season.

Yet another late-round quarterback to make the list is Ryan Fitzpatrick, taken at number 250 by the Rams in 2005. Fitzpatrick played for nine NFL teams and the Bucs made the list, as he had a two-year stop in Tampa from 2017-18. And finally, kicker Ryan Succop comes in at number 256, which was in fact the last pick of the 2009 draft, which is when the Chiefs' selected him. Succop played the last three of his 14 NFL seasons in Tampa, and they were a good three years that included a 93.6% field goal success rate and a Super Bowl ring against his former team in 2020.

Were any Buccaneers snubbed from the list?

No. It's hard to claim any omission from this list is a snub when you can only take a single player at each draft slot. Gerald McCoy was a fine player after he was taken third overall in 2010, for instance, but neither he nor anybody else was ever going to take that one from the incomparable Barry Sanders. (That's the fate of Simeon Rice, as well.)

However, there was one Buccaneer in particular who got very unlucky to fall into a surprisingly deep group of players in a later slot. The Buccaneers drafted safety John Lynch with the 82nd pick in 1993 and he ended up in the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately for him, the 49ers also selected quarterback Joe Montana in 1979, and that's a mountain too tall to climb. John Stallworth also came in at this slot with the Steelers in 1974. He's enshrined in Canton, too.

I wonder if fullback Mike Alstott got any consideration at pick number 35, but Solak's selection was guard Joel Bitonio and he is a seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro. Hard to argue with that. I think I could make a mild argument for center Tony Mayberry, who made three Pro Bowls, at number 108. But long-time Saints guard Jahri Evans is a worthy choice there and Solak even mentions quarterback David Garrard and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery at that same spot, so I doubt Mayberry got much consideration.

I thought there was a chance cornerback Donnie Abraham could win the number 71 slot, but Solak went with former Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray.

If Solak were to redo this list 10 years from now, might we find any more Bucs on the list?

It's possible. I'd like to say that wide receiver Chris Godwin could make a run at former Washington defensive end Charles Mann at number 84 if Godwin can tack on another five years or so of high-level production.

I'd like to say that Tristan Wirfs could make a run at number 13 since he probably has a whole lot of seasons in front of him and he's already the first player in NFL history to win first-team Associated Press All-Pro honors at both left and right tackle. But do you know who else was drafted 13th overall? Aaron Donald. Wirfs could end up in the Hall of Fame but Donald is considered one of the very best defensive players of all time and it would be hard for anybody to unseat him.

The same is true for safety Antoine Winfield Jr., another one of the Buccaneers current stars. Tampa Bay got great value when it nabbed the future first-team All-Pro at number 45 in 2020, but he's chasing superstar running back Derrick Henry for that spot. Given that Solak pointed out that he chose Henry over one player already in the Hall of Fame, Raiders tight end Dave Casper, Winfield could also make it to Canton and still not get the nod at the 45 spot.

Mike Evans is going to end up in the Hall of Fame, almost certainly, but he has a steep uphill battle to make the list given where he was chosen, at number seven overall. Solak went with running back Adrian Peterson, considered one of the best ever at his position, but also noted that Champ Bailey and Josh Allen were taken at that slot.

Players picked later in the draft probably have a better shot in the long run. Cornerback Zyon McCollum hasn't made any Pro Bowls or All-Pro lists yet, but he's established himself as a pretty good young player and he was taken 157th overall. Solak's choice was former Broncos guard Keith Bishop, who did make two Pro Bowls while starting 87 career games. I don't think it makes sense to speculate on any players younger than that, and if you are making any way-too-early projections on Bucky Irving after one great season, just be aware that he shares a draft slot (number 125) with Hall of Fame center Mike Webster.