By now, the Bucs’ biggest roster needs entering the 2026 NFL Draft are crystal clear.
The fact that Tampa Bay must address outside linebacker and inside linebacker is not a revelation.
What could be surprising, though, is whether the team deviates from expectations and addresses another position of need in the first round or with a Day 2 pick. When it comes time for teams to be on the clock, expect the unexpected.
That is why it is worth staying on guard and analyzing the two biggest areas of the team currently being overlooked.
The Bucs Need Another Cornerback And Could Draft One Earlier Than Expected
Pewter Report’s Matt Matera and I took the liberty of going over the Bucs defense’s strengths and weaknesses on Thursday’s Pewter Report Podcast. Believe it or not, there are some positives to note on Tampa Bay’s defense, especially with a strong safety duo and a disruptive interior defensive line.
With it being quite likely the team acquires another inside linebacker and outside linebacker capable of starting in the draft, that only leaves one position in a weaker spot compared to the rest.
Cornerback.
While every other defensive position has seen new players come in and is deeper because of it, the cornerback cupboard is bare outside of Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison. The upside is there between McCollum and Morrison, but the production?
Not so much.
Bucs CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
McCollum is currently the No. 1 corner on the team and was paid to be such right before last season. Yet, after struggling and ending the year injured, he is not exactly heading into this season with much positive momentum.
While several younger players have proven themselves more on that side of the football (Yaya Diaby, Tykee Smith, and even Jacob Parrish), he heads into his age-27 season yet to establish himself as a sure-fire, long-term piece. The front office has bet on him to be one based on the upward trajectory he has shown since being a fifth-round pick in 2022.
Still, in 60 games (42 starts), McCollum has three career interceptions. As much as he has progressed from where he was, the reality is that the results have yet to come. Counting on him to become a ball hawking, shutdown player is a gamble the Bucs have — quite literally — backed themselves into a corner into.
For Morrison, the thought was his developmental track would have gone a lot smoother than it did last season.
Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison and Patriots WR Kyle Williams – Photo by: IMAGN Images
Drafted in the second round in 2025, he did not exactly hit the ground running. Injuries and playing behind McCollum and veteran Jamel Dean led to scarce playing time, and his struggles were magnified when Dean was pulled off the field to give the rookie some run.
Based on not seeing much from him, it has understandably been hard to peg him as a full-time starter. There are more questions than answers, and for a defense that will rely heavily on the secondary, it is a tall task to hand him the role and not add any competition.
That is where the 2026 NFL Draft could get interesting.
There has been a lot of debate about the value of the players that could be around the Bucs range at No. 15. Cornerback is a position where the talent gap could be too great to pass up. Rather than reach for someone, a top cornerback prospect could fall right into Tampa Bay’s lap.
Mansoor Delane is one such player. Already regarded as the best player at his position, he lit up stopwatches at LSU’s pro day.
If the medicals check out for Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy, he could also be in consideration in that range. His teammate, Colton Hood, is currently projected to be a late first-round, early Day 2 player. Other corners such as Clemson’s Avieon Terrell, Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds, San Diego State’s Chris Johnson are other top players in this class, while the Bucs formally met with Arizona’s Treydan Stukes at the NFL Combine.
California CB Hezekiah Masses – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Darren Yamashita
While not a lot of dots have connected the team to these players, it is worth knowing these names, as well as guys like Duke’s Chandler Rivers and California’s Hezekiah Masses, who was recently in our fourth Bucs mock draft.
Admittedly, taking a cornerback in the first round could prove to be too rich for general manager Jason Licht.
Ever since the failed Vernon Hargreaves III experiment, Licht’s sweet spot for drafting players at the position has been in the second (M.J. Stewart, Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Morrison) and third rounds (Jamel Dean, Parrish). The depth chart as it stands features just Josh Hayes penciled in after McCollum and Morrison, which means something has to change.
Do not be surprised if it does.
Beefing Up The Bucs Interior Offensive Line Would Make It Overpowered
On the opposite end of spectrum, the Bucs offensive line is viewed as arguably the offense’s biggest strength.
Why then, would the team consider adding to it?
Not only does drafting offensive linemen make Jason Licht smile ear to ear, but games are won and lost in the trenches.
That was felt last season, when the interior offensive line was dealt two crushing blows with left guard Ben Bredeson and right guard Cody Mauch missing time. The whole front was beaten and battered, but it is in the middle where the most question marks remain.
Bucs LG Ben Bredeson and Cardinals DT Calais Campbell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
With left tackle Tristan Wirfs and right tackle Luke Goedeke as the bookends, having a strong pocket will only benefit quarterback Baker Mayfield and the run game that much more next season.
Bredeson and Mauch will be back, but the former is upgradeable and the latter is coming off a knee injury that kept him out most of 2025 and is entering a contract year. For an offensive line at full strength, Bredeson is the weakest link.
That is partially a testament to the strength elsewhere, but he is more average than good, ranking just 63rd of 77 offensive guards in 2024 and 64th of 81 guards in 2025, per Pro Football Focus.
While not a huge liability, just how fortified would the trenches be with someone like Penn State’s Olaivavega “Vega” Ioane at left guard?
Penn State G Olaivavega Ioane – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Mark J. Rebilas
Viewed as the Quenton Nelson of this class, Ioane is someone with a ton of upside as a plug-and-play, decade-long starter. Those kinds of players do not grow on trees, and it would lock in the front five with a key piece. No one is replacing Mauch this year, but if he gets back on track, he could hit free agency next offseason too rich for a franchise that is soon set to pay Mayfield an amount that puts him among the top players at his position. Finding at least one answer along the interior for the next few seasons is a not a need that should be discarded.
One should not forget just how quickly it could all fall apart, with Tampa Bay shifting and adding players along the entire offensive line since Tom Brady’s retirement.
If not Ioane, perhaps Licht go with his trademark recipe of drafting a tackle and kicking them inside. He could make that tried-and-true strategy work with just about anyone, from top prospects like Utah’s Spencer Fano or Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor to Day 2 guys such as Iowa’s Gennings Dunker or Texas A&M’s Trey Zuhn III, to name a few.
The Bucs will eventually address cornerback and the interior offensive line, but it should not be overlooked just how they could do it.
It could happen as soon as the first round, and it would not be crazy if a star player is there for the taking. That is why it is a draft class, and not just a draft pick that is brought in. With the strengths of the draft being outside linebacker and inside linebacker, adding to another area of weakness with a more premium selection makes sense and adds another layer to Tampa Bay’s game plan come draft day.