The Bucs have long been searching for their answer at the edge rusher positions. Going back over the years, the likes of Noah Spence, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Logan Hall have not been the hits that general manager Jason Licht thought they would be.
That’s not to say they haven’t found some diamonds like Yaya Diaby. But they remain without that one dominant presence to be a game-changer. Licht was asked about that search at his pre-draft press conference and if the process has changed for how he looks for edge rushers.
Licht explained, “…You’ve got to be careful not to just feel like it’s a must and force yourself to like more players than you normally would and push players up the board just to take an edge rusher to get that short-term good feeling of we drafted him and later on, you feel like maybe we shouldn’t have drafted him. I don’t know how much has changed. We’ve put a lot of energy into it, though. I feel like we’ve gone back and studied a lot of rushers that didn’t make it or didn’t work out to kind of see what we can do better, where we can focus our attention on a little bit more.”
Licht has always been transparent about his draft process, making a point to highlight the lesson Lavonte David taught him. But heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, the edge rushers of the class have a lot more promise than groups of previous years. For Licht, this is a pivotal draft class, and hitting on an edge rusher would provide a much-needed boost to both the team and his standing.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Bucs GM explains ‘a lot of energy’ goes into their draft process
Reporting by Andrew Harbaugh, Buccaneers Wire / Bucs Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
