Who Is A Wild Card For The Bucs At No. 15?

In a Thursday column on PewterReport.com, two Pewter Reporters will debate a topic with different viewpoints. Which Pewter Reporter wins the debate? You get to decide in the comments section below.

This week’s topic: Who Is A Wild Card For The Bucs At No. 15?

Point: Penn State Guard Vega Ioane Might Be Too Good To Pass Up At No. 15

By Scott Reynolds

The whole goal of drafting a player in the first round – aside from avoiding a bust – is to draft a star, not just a starter. The goal should be to identify a player that has special traits and Pro Bowl ability. That’s easier said than done, of course. Offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs is Tampa Bay’s most recent first-round pick to make the Pro Bowl, and there have only been 11 first-round picks out of 32 from the 2020 draft that have become Pro Bowl selections.

While the Bucs have plenty of needs on the defensive side of the ball this year, including outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive tackle, in addition to needing another cornerback and safety for depth, general manager Jason Licht needs to stick to the “best player available” selection formula because drafting for need can cause teams to overlook and not take better players – players with Pro Bowl ability. Licht and the Bucs stuck to that premise last year in selecting Emeka Egbuka, who nearly became a 1,000-yard receiver as a rookie and wound up leading the team in catches (63), yards (938) and touchdowns (six).

Penn State G Olaivavega Ioane – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Mark J. Rebilas

With this in mind, if Penn State guard Olaivavega “Vega” Ioane, whom I wrote about in Monday’s Bucs Mailbag, is somehow still available at No. 14 when the Bucs are on the clock he has to be strongly considered by Licht and Co. At 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, Ioane is a massive man with a dense frame that makes him look like a slightly smaller version of Wirfs. Ioane plays with considerable strength and aggression and is an absolute mauler in the run game.

While his run blocking clips on highlight reels show his complete annihilation of opponents, Ioane earned an impressive 87 pass protection grade per Pro Football Focus, compared to his 78 run blocking grade. Ioane didn’t allow a sack in the past two seasons for the Nittany Lions and only one QB hit over that span. In fact, he allowed just four total pressures in 2025. Imagine him lining up next to Wirfs and forming an impenetrable wall on the left side of the line for the next few seasons in front of Baker Mayfield.

Ioane could immediately supplant Ben Bredeson, who would have immense value as an experienced swing interior lineman capable of playing guard or center the way Robert Hainsey did for years in Tampa Bay. With right guard Cody Mauch coming off knee surgery and entering a contract year, drafting Ioane makes a lot of sense as an insurance policy there too – just in case Mauch falters as he comes back from his injury. If Mauch isn’t re-signed in 2027, Bredeson and Ioane would be the starters and the offensive line doesn’t miss a beat.

The Bucs really struggled at the guard position last year with Mauch missing the final 15 games of the season and Bredeson missing a handful of games too due to injuries. Football is a game won in the trenches, and nobody builds an offensive line the way Licht does in Tampa Bay. The Bucs need to find a guard in this year’s draft class, and even if that player comes in the first round, the team still has six more picks to address its needs on defense. Ioane is a future Pro Bowler who simply can’t be passed up if he slides down to No. 15.

Counterpoint: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq Is A Rare Talent Who Uniquely Fits Bucs Offense

By Adam Slivon

Yes, I get it.

The Bucs re-signed Cade Otton to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency. Behind Otton are two capable backup tight ends in Payne Durham and Devin Culp. Given what has transpired in free agency for Tampa Bay so far, drafting Kenyon Sadiq at No. 15 might cause a revolt by the fan base. To that I would say pump the brakes and hear me out. In an offense without Mike Evans, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will need to get creative with the weapons he has. Could you imagine how dynamic things could get adding a player like Sadiq?

Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Troy Wayrynen

First off, Sadiq is a unicorn when it comes to tight end prospects. With a 43.5-inch vertical, 4.39 40-yard time, paired with a chiseled 6-foot-3, 241-pound frame, he is not an ordinary prospect for the position. He has a unique ability to stretch the field, as he had five touchdowns targeted 20 or more yards downfield last season, the most of any tight end in college football. Across his time with the Ducks, he lined up in the slot on 53.4% of pass snaps, inline on 30.5%, and out wide on 12.8%. Considering that Robinson ran 12 personnel 38.2% of the time with the Falcons in 2025 (second-most in the NFL), and it makes a lot of sense from a game-planning standpoint.

While Scott Reynolds aptly outlined how Vega Ioane would fortify the trenches in a big way at left guard, adding a weapon to help put points on the board is too hard to pass up. To that end, take what head coach Todd Bowles had to say last year at the NFL Annual Meeting.

“Being a defensive coach, I’ve learned that you win by scoring points,” Bowles said then. “I don’t ever want to bypass a very good offensive player. I can figure things out enough on defense to keep us competitive. I would like to have some defensive players if that presented itself, but by no means will I bypass a very good offensive player just to satisfy my needs on defense.”

After saying that and taking Emeka Egbuka, could the Bucs go with the same strategy in 2026?

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Having someone like Sadiq as a vertical weapon would really open things up for an offense that needs it. There is no true X wide receiver on the roster, and while a tight end would not completely fix those problems, it would allow Robinson to scheme up creative ways to utilize the receivers and tight ends to put them in positions to succeed. It will be an offense relying on quick game and getting Baker Mayfield into a rhythm.

Sadiq would be someone Mayfield would get comfortable throwing the ball to in intermediate areas of the field, especially the red zone. With Tampa Bay’s offensive success in 2024 a product of drawing from a Rams influence, utilizing multiple tight ends has become a bread-and-butter part of Los Angeles’ scheme, even with having Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. When it comes to blocking, Sadiq is willing and able, and do not forget that Otton remains and he has made significant strides in that part of his game.

While the Bucs will likely address the defense at No. 15, one could also make the argument that the value proposition just might not be there. If Jason Licht was hesitant to pull the trigger and draft an inside linebacker in recent years, why would he do so in an extremely deep class at that position? When it comes to outside linebacker, there are similarly a lot of good options, but does one really stick out beyond the top names?

This is a draft where Tampa Bay needs stars, not just starters. Fans might have some scary flashbacks to drafting O.J. Howard in 2017, but Kenyon Sadiq is a different player in a different time. Should the board fall in a way where the Bucs get wild, Sadiq should be considered.