The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have given edge rusher Chris Braswell plenty of chances. He’s played in all 34 regular-season games since he was selected in the 2nd round of the 2024 NFL draft and done so in a time when his team has never been more desperately looking for players who do exactly what he’s supposed to do.
The result for Braswell has been an anemic 2.5 sacks over his 1st 2 seasons and few examples of any ability to get to the quarterback regularly.
That’s why the Buccaneers’ mock drafts headed into the 2026 NFL draft have been so loaded with edge rushers — including with Tampa Bay’s 1st round pick at No. 15 overall — and Braswell, 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds, is rightly being looked at as a bust.
“The roster is full of homegrown players, but with far less success,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote. “Chris Braswell was a miss at pass rusher and Yaya Diaby is only a strong rotational player, leaving the Bucs without a ringer of a pass rusher. They didn’t get involved on Maxx Crosby or Trey Hendrickson but now suddenly need a splashy sack artist at No. 15.”
In no universe has Braswell even seemed like a complementary sack artist, which means his days in a Buccaneers uniform might be numbered.
Bucs Scouts: No Clue How to Evaluate Pass Rushers
It’s been 5 years since the Buccaneers have had anything resembling a dominant pass rusher, and that fault lies largely on their scouting department and general manager Jason Licht.
While the Buccaneers have consistently shown the ability to draft players on offense, their ability to pick when it comes to defensive players has been consistently off on almost every level, and nowhere more pronounced than up front.
In 2025, the Buccaneers tried to add an edge rusher in the 5th round with David Walker, who tore his ACL and didn’t even play his rookie year.
Diaby, a 3rd round pick in 2023, has been pretty average the last 3 seasons, but has at least shown he could be a secondary option at edge rusher.
Moving back even further on the timeline, the Buccaneers haven’t drafted an edge rusher or defensive end with more than 20 career sacks since 2011 1st round pick (No. 20 overall) Adrian Clayborn, who had the majority of his 40.5 career sacks after signing as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
Bucs Seem Destined to Draft Defense in 1st Round
The Buccaneers seem destined to draft a defensive player in the 1st round in 2026, although the position where that pick will land remains a mystery.
While edge rusher seems like a clear-cut need, for a coaching staff trying to save their jobs, the time it takes for a player there to become dominant doesn’t seem like something they can wait for, and they might be better served to draft an outside cover cornerback.
The Ringer’s Todd McShay does think the Buccaneers go with an edge rusher — pointing them toward Miami’s Ahkeem Mesidor in his latest mock draft.
Mesider, 6-foot-3 and 259 pounds, was 3rd in the nation with 12.5 sacks in 2025 to go with 17.5 TFL and 6 forced fumbles.
Bucs’ 2nd Round Pick Called Massive ‘Miss’ by NFL Insider