NFC South · 2027 Draft Class
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2027 NFL Draft Needs and Projected Picks
What the Buccaneers are working with in the 2027 draft: the needs we have researched for this cycle, the capital the projected order gives them, and which prospects are projected into their range.
Where the Buccaneers stand
The 2027 draft has not been held, so there are no picks to report and nothing here is a result. This page is the pre-draft picture: what this roster is missing, what the projected order hands them, and who is likely to be there when they are on the clock.
As the projected order stands, the Buccaneers hold 7 selections in 2027: 1 on Day 1, 2 across Day 2 and 4 on Day 3, with 3 inside the top 100. Every one of those slots is their own: this front office has not yet moved a 2027 pick in either direction.
Projected draft capital
| Round | Overall | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Own pick |
| 2 | 48 | Own pick |
| 3 | 80 | Own pick |
| 4 | 112 | Own pick |
| 5 | 144 | Own pick |
| 6 | 176 | Own pick |
| 7 | 208 | Own pick |
Projected order. The 2027 draft order is set by the 2026 regular season and is not known until January.
Roster needs entering the 2027 cycle
Our needs assessment for the Buccaneers, ordered by priority. These are not decorative: the number beside each one is the multiplier the simulator applies to a prospect at that position when this team is on the clock, so a defensive tackle prospect is genuinely harder for this team to pass on than his board rank alone implies.
Team needs were researched for this class from current rosters. They predate free agency and will be revised after March 2027.
Position rankings for their top needs: Defensive Tackle, Cornerback, Quarterback.
Who is projected into their range
Prospects currently projected inside the 15 picks either side of No. 16, where the Buccaneers pick first. Restricted to positions on their needs list, ordered by how heavily that need is weighted, and capped at 3 per position so one need does not fill the table.
| Board rank | Prospect | Pos | School | Projected range | Need |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | David Stone | DT | Oklahoma | 8-18 | need 1 |
| 32 | A'Mauri Washington | DT | Oregon | 11-35 | need 1 |
| 22 | William Echoles | DT | Ole Miss | 15-36 | need 1 |
| 2 | Leonard Moore | CB | Notre Dame | 1-10 | need 2 |
| 17 | Ellis Robinson IV | CB | Georgia | 10-19 | need 2 |
| 26 | Zabien Brown | CB | Alabama | 13-29 | need 2 |
| 7 | Arch Manning | QB | Texas | 1-9 | need 3 |
| 6 | Dante Moore | QB | Oregon | 1-8 | need 3 |
Rows are selected on the consensus projection. The range beside each one is where public mocks disagree: a prospect listed 20-45 is one whose projections genuinely span that much, and a wide range on a lightly-covered player reflects thin coverage rather than real volatility. Ranges are taken from published mock drafts where we have them and modelled from board position where we do not.
How this front office drafts
Bowles' defensive system demands elite pass-rush and sticky cornerbacks to execute his multiple-coverage blitz packages. Licht is an analytically-savvy GM who has consistently found value across the board. The offense needs continued investment in the trenches.
Inside the simulator, this regime leans toward the best player available, at roughly 55 to 45 against need, and is more likely to trade back and collect picks than to move up (30 against 20). Its clearest positional preferences are edge rusher, cornerback, offensive tackle, which the engine applies on top of the needs list above. It also weights testing numbers more heavily than most, so athletic outliers rise on its board.
Jason Licht has built two championship-caliber rosters in Tampa Bay with disciplined drafting and aggressive free agency. Todd Bowles is a defensive mastermind whose blitz packages have confused offenses for years, requiring CB talent that can hold coverage while exotic fronts arrive. Licht has excellent instincts for value picks in rounds 2-4.
What this page is not
It is not a mock draft, and it is not a prediction of what the Buccaneers will do. Two of its three inputs will change before the draft is held: the order is set by a season that has not been played, and the needs list predates free agency, which reliably removes two or three items from every team's list and occasionally adds one. The board itself will move most of all.
We publish it anyway because the order-independent part is real and useful now. A front office's needs, its draft capital and the shape of the class it is drafting from are knowable months before the order is, and they are what actually drive a mock draft. Known gaps in the 2027 data: New York Jets general manager is unconfirmed.
More on the Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise hub carries the current front office and every draft class we cover. The 2027 consensus big board is the full board these projections sit against.
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