Pressuring the Quarterback
Many are predicting the Buccaneers whether focus on the defensive side of the ball with the 15th overall pick in the draft, whether an outside linebacker or an inside linebacker. The Bucs finished 18th in the NFL in sacks in 2025 with 37 and the last time Tampa Bay had a defender reach double digits in the category was Shaquil Barrett in 2021 (10.0). Last season, the unit struggled to consistently generate pressure on the quarterback down the stretch and finding players to collapse the pocket will be a focal point in 2026. When asked about what the team's brass is emphasizing, General Manager Jason Licht named the front seven on pro Football Talk's Draft Show.
"You have to pressure the quarterback in order to have success, so whether that is a D-tackle or outside linebacker in our case, even inside linebacker," said Licht. "I would say our front seven will be something that we need to focus on."
Player Interview Process
Annually, the four-day event allows NFL personnel and scouting departments the opportunity to evaluate college football's top eligible draft players up close through various medical, mental and physical tests. There were 319 players invited to the 2026 combine and the class took part in on-field drills, interviews and medical examinations. The comprehensive evaluation process provides NFL teams with input as they finalize their boards and build for the future. There is no rubric or exact science to reveal whether a player will have success in the NFL but information gathered adds pieces to the puzzle, fostering educated and tactical decisions.
"Going in, it is really getting to know the player through the interview process and that is big for me," said Head Coach Todd Bowles via the Rich Eisen Show. "You can watch the tape but you do not know the person and you do not know the player and you do not know the work ethic. You do not know what makes them tick. So going in, that is very important for me … You get a feel and it makes you want to dive into it more once the Combine is over. It is a start and you get to see body type because you do not see them in pads and you get to see them in person and you get to see them face-to-face and I think that is huge."
Impression of Emeka Egbuka
The Buccaneers selected Ohio State's Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, sending shockwaves through the NFL landscape. Most outlets anticipated the Bucs would select a defensive player at 19 but the club took the best player available on their board and one that checked every box and then some. Egbuka not only had the leadership and character prerequisites, but the skillset to match. The polished receiver and savvy route-runner has a litany of skills, including ball-tracking ability, prowess at manipulating coverage with tempo and subtle nuances mid-route, along with quickness in and out of breaks. He exceeded lofty expectations in-person at the 2025 combine and the Bucs made the move.
"Emeka was great and obviously he comes from a great program and they had talked about him all year," described Bowles. "I felt like I knew him coming in already when he came on the 30 visit. Everything about him and everybody you talked to from the weight room to the equipment people to the coaches, to the friends, to the teammates, he was top of the line and you couldn't mess with this guy. He had no flaws and no enemies and I thought that that was very rare and he carries himself that way and he just came in and he was as advertised."
