List of Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks explained

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1976 with the Seattle Seahawks.

Every April, each NFL franchise adds new players to its roster through a collegiate draft at the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", more commonly known as the NFL Draft.^[1] Teams are ranked in reverse order based on the previous season's record, with the team with the worst record having the first selection. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous season's Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion is the last team to select and the Super Bowl runner up selects right before them. This order is subject to teams trading away selections to other teams for different selections, players, cash or a combination thereof. Thus, it is common for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have multiple or no draft picks the first round due to trades.^[2]

The Buccaneers have had the first overall pick on six occasions. Twice in 1978 and 1984, they traded it away. Three eventual Hall of Famers were selected by the Buccaneers.^[3] The Buccaneers' first selection as an NFL team was Lee Roy Selmon, a defensive lineman from Oklahoma. The team's most-recent first-round selection was Graham Barton, a center from Duke University.^[3]

Key

^

Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
*	Selected number one overall
†	Indicates the player was selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
—	The Buccaneers did not draft a player in the first round that year.
Year	Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft.
Pick	Indicates the number of the pick within the first round
Position	Indicates the position of the player in the NFL
College	The player's college football team

Player selections

Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks

Year	Pick	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1976	1	*^	DE	Oklahoma
1977	1	*	RB	USC
1978	17		QB	Grambling
1979	— No pick
1980	22		G	Wisconsin
1981	7	†	LB	Pittsburgh
1982	18		G	Penn State
1983	— No pick
1984	— No pick
1985	8		DE	Washington
1986	1	†*	RB	Auburn
	25		DB	SMU
1987	1	*	QB	Miami (FL)
1988	4		OT	Wisconsin
1989	6		LB	Nebraska
1990	4		LB	Alabama
1991	7		OT	Tennessee
1992	— No pick
1993	6		DE	Alabama
1994	6		QB	Fresno State
1995	12	^	DT	Miami (FL)
	28	^	LB	Florida State
1996	12		DE	California
1996	22		DT	North Carolina
1997	12	†	RB	Florida State
	16		WR	Florida
1998	— No pick
1999	15		DT	LSU
2000	— No pick
2001	14		OT	Florida
2002	— No pick
2003
2004	15		WR	LSU
2005	5		RB	Auburn
2006	23	†	G	Oklahoma
2007	4		DE	Clemson
2008	20	†	CB	Kansas
2009	17		QB	Kansas State
2010	3	†	DT	Oklahoma
2011	20		DE	Iowa
2012	7		S	Alabama
	31	†	RB	Boise State
2013	— No pick
2014	7	†	WR	Texas A&M
2015	1	†*	QB	Florida State
2016	11		CB	Florida
2017	19		TE	Alabama
2018	12	†	DT	Washington
2019	5	†	LB	LSU
2020	13	†	OT	Iowa
2021	32		OLB	Washington
2022	— No pick
2023	19		DT	Pittsburgh
2024	26		C	Duke

Footnotes

• The Buccaneers traded their first overall pick to the Houston Oilers for Jimmie Giles, this pick and a second-round pick in this draft and the Oilers third and fifth-round picks in the 1979 draft.^[4]
• The Buccaneers traded the 4th overall selection to Chicago for Wally Chambers.^[5]
• The Buccaneers traded their first-round pick to the Chicago Bears for their 1982 second-round pick.
• The Buccaneers traded their first-round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals in 1983 for Jack Thompson.^[6]
• Jackson refused to play for the Buccaneers, and instead played baseball for the Kansas City Royals. In 1987, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders and played both professional sports to an All-Pro level.^[7]
• The Buccaneers traded away their second overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts for Chris Chandler.^[8]
• The Buccaneers traded their seventh overall pick to the Eagles for this pick and two second-round picks.^[9]
• The Buccaneers acquired this pick from the Dallas Cowboys for two second-round picks.^[10]
• The additional first-round pick was acquired from the Indianapolis Colts for Craig Erickson.^[11]

• The Buccaneers originally traded their 8th overall pick to the Jets to move up two picks. They then traded that pick to the Seattle Seahawks for this pick and a third-round pick.^[12]
• This pick was acquired from the San Diego Chargers in return for a second-round pick the previous year.^[13]
• The Buccaneers traded their first-round pick to Raiders for two second-round picks.^[14]
• The Buccaneers gained an additional first-round pick from the San Diego Chargers as a result of a draft-day deal in 1998.^[15]
• The Buccaneers traded their first-pick and one they acquired from the Chargers in 1998, to the New York Jets for Keyshawn Johnson.^[16]
• The Buccaneers had the 21st overall selection but made a draft-day deal with the Buffalo Bills to move up seven picks.^[17]
• The Buccaneers traded linebacker Hugh Green to the Miami Dolphins for the first (#25 overall pick) and second-round picks.^[18]
• The Buccaneers traded their 2002 and 2003 first-round picks to the Oakland Raiders as part of a trade for Jon Gruden.^[19]

References

General

• Web site: databaseFootball.com . databaseFootball.com – Tampa Bay Buccaneers . 2007-04-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070410161838/http://www.databasefootball.com/draft/draftteam.htm?tm=TAM&lg=nfl . 2007-04-10 .
• Web site: National Football League official Web site. Draft History – Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 2007-04-27.

Specific

Notes and References

1. News: Branch . John . The 2000 Liars Club/ Draft makes Broncos coach cloak intentions . findarticles.com . . 2000-04-09 . 2008-05-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071023194213/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20000409/ai_n9969057 . 2007-10-23 .
2. Web site: NFL Draft Basics:Determining Order of Selection. Alder. James. About.com. May 24, 2008. January 10, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070110030031/http://football.about.com/od/miscinformation/a/detdraftorder.htm. dead.
3. Web site: National Football League official Web site. Draft History – Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 2007-04-27.
4. Web site: Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Draft History: The 1970s. 2008-07-11. 2008-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20080724013458/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1970s.jsp. dead.
5. Web site: ProQuest Archiver (Originally from the Philadelphia Inquirer). BUCS GET QB THOMPSON FROM BENGALS ($2.95 fee required to view the full-text). 1983-06-03. 2008-07-24.
6. Web site: NewsBank (Originally from the Los Angeles Times). Morning Briefing (Pay-Per-View). 1979-05-14. 2008-07-24. 2011-05-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20110525021557/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/652503402.html?dids=652503402:652503402&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=May+14,+1979&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Morning+Briefing&pqatl=google. dead.
7. Sports Illustrated. say it aint so buccaneers. 2008-07-16.
8. Web site: Pompei . Dan . find articles.com (originally from The Sporting News) . In Tampa Bay, patience has replaced panic of the past . 1999-08-23 . 2008-07-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060214041130/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_34_223/ai_55806010 . 2006-02-14 .
9. Web site: Philadelphia Eagles.com. Eagles Trade History 1995-Present. 2008-07-24. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080820012651/http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/TradeHistorysince95.asp. 2008-08-20.
10. Web site: W. Smith. Timothy. New York Times. PRO FOOTBALL; The Draft Stresses Runners, Secondary. 1995-04-24. 2008-07-11.
11. News: The Washington Post. Erickson Goes To the Colts . https://web.archive.org/web/20121020151419/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-836125.html. dead. 2012-10-20. 1995-04-27. 2008-07-11.
12. Web site: W. Smith. Timothy. New York Times. Tampa Bay Hopes Dunn Is Its Big Little Man. 1997-04-20. 2008-07-07.
13. Web site: Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Draft History: 1997. 2008-07-07.
14. Web site: Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Draft History: 1998. 2008-07-07.
15. Web site: Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Draft History: 2000. 2008-07-07.
16. Web site: Battista. Judy. New York Times. PRO FOOTBALL; Johnson Gets His Raise and a New Team. 2000-04-13. 2008-07-07.
17. Web site: Mills. Rodger. St. Petersburg Times. Ahanotu's release almost led to no Walker. 2001-04-24. 2008-07-07.
18. Web site: 2007 Media Guide: Trades. Miami Dolphins. 30 (602). 2008-07-26. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090320010329/http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/mediaguide/Pgs_573_632.pdf. 2009-03-20.
19. Web site: Myers. Gary. Daily News. BUCS' SHIP RIDES ON GRUDEN. 2002-04-07. 2008-07-07.