Sharp Football Analysis: Bucs Draft Grade C+ (Should Include An Asterisk)
May 1st, 2024
Edge rusher Chris Braswell, the Bucs’ second-round pick.
Now Joe has an idea why folks on social media are down on Chris Braswell.
Somewhere, someone started a narrative that Braswell, the Bucs’ second-round pick last weekend, only started two games. That’s true — in 2022.
But because free stats for games started are nearly impossible to find on college players, folks see a stat and spread it. Such was the case for Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis.
In his rundown on NFL teams’ drafts, McCrystal said he isn’t high on Braswell because of this inaccurate intel claiming Braswell was not a starter. Joe found credible evidence Braswell was a starter was in 2023.
(You’d think college people, so worried about college players’ images, would at least make stats easy to obtain free so folks don’t slam a player due to misleading information.)
McCrystal’s inaccurate intel on Braswell has him dragging down the Bucs’ team draft grade as a result.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft Grade: C+
Instant impact: Graham Barton, OLBest value: Barton
Riskiest pick: Chris Braswell, EDGE
The Bucs will likely put Graham Barton at center, though he has the traits to play anywhere on the offensive line. Second-round pick Chris Braswell should make an impact as a pass-rusher, but even at Alabama he wasn’t a three-down player and made just two career starts. There’s a chance Barton is the only starter to emerge from this class.
Joe has no qualms with Braswell. Now that the clock is ticking on Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Joe would not be shocked if Braswell is starting no later than next year.
Tackle stats for Braswell — yes, those are easily available — show he had more tackles than YaYa Diaby and JTS had in their last years at Louisville and Washington, respectively. And Braswell did this in the SEC, not the ACC or (RIP) PAC-12.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:17 am
It’s true Joe. I plucked from stats from various sources right after he was drafted, with some being accurate, some misleading and some wrong. For 2023, 8 sacks is a great number, at Alabama (playing opposite miles Turner), in the SEC. Also that pick 6 and blocked FG TD was pretty rad too.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:47 am
Who give a ship what the talking heads think? They don’t follow the team. They also picked them to go 2-15 last season.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:48 am
I mean even if he only started 2 games, the Packers picked Van Ness who didn’t start a single game in college and he started coming on strong at the end of the year. Local radio has huge expectations for that kid and he was a first rounder. I’m not worried, even tho our track record is horrendous, Braswepp has the attitude to play.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:55 am
Braswell*. And looking back, at my terrible sentence. I’m comparing Braswell to Van Ness, that the criticism of the two is lack of starts and Van Ness is expected to be really good, so optimistically, Braswell should be as well.
May 1st, 2024 at 2:03 am
Aaaand there’s a chance that’s it’s not just Barton who makes an impact. Who gives a fat shît what our grade is less than a week after the draft?! Can we at least wait till preseason to judge whether this draft is a C+ or an A+? This is not Joe’s fault, as plugged in as they are I understand it’s hard to not want to know what everyone else feels about our draft. Hell I want to know too, but the fact is we are just going to have to be patient and wait till these dudes make the team then flash before our very eyes.
May 1st, 2024 at 2:24 am
Good point. Draft grades immediately after the round are just as good as mock drafts. Don’t mean anything. Until after 3 years.
May 1st, 2024 at 5:40 am
I’d be more interested with what Warren had to say than this guy.
May 1st, 2024 at 6:30 am
“”Who give a ship what the talking heads think? They don’t follow the team. They also picked them to go 2-15 last season.””
Exactly. These “analysts” are a dime a dozen.
May 1st, 2024 at 6:31 am
Almost any edge rusher slash OLB slash DE drafted in the last 20 years is a crap shoot akin to the “Franchise” QB. How many of them have been labeled can’t miss pre draft only to be sitting on their couch eating Doritos in less than five years?
That is why coaches say to draft one every year even if you have one. The Bucs have never drafted one that was a real All Pro keeper.
Chidi Ahanotu (6th round) got 10 in his fifth season but never got close to that after. Markus Jones (1st round with Reagan Upshaw) in his fifth season got 13 then nothing. Nelson is our most consistant (drafted) pass rusher since being drafted in the 4th round in 2019.
Go Bucs!
May 1st, 2024 at 6:31 am
smh… I really don’t get these draft grades, for any of these teams. I guess there’s a formula? Where a player is projected to be drafted based on “expert” analysis, then points are added to a grade based on where the player actually gets drafted, i.e. did the team reach? or did the player fall in the draft. Then I’m assuming how said player fits into the need of the team also comes into play? Drafting 4 straight quality WRs even if it’s where they were projected to be drafted would lead to a poor grade, I’d assume. Point is, none of these guys really know. Curious how the look-back is on these grades, and how close they are to what they projected.
My first question regarding McCrystal’s analysis that only 1 starter from this draft class, is that to start the season, or for the whole season? Everything I’ve see from the tape of the players we drafted, pedigree, the schools they came from, I see (3) starters emerging from this draft class, I don’t see how it can happen any other way unless players really take a huge step forward such Trey Palmer. Aside from Barton, I think Tykee and McMillan will be starting by years end. Bucky might not be a starter, but he will upend Edmonds for plenty of carries.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I most excited about Liam Coen, we really can’t underestimate how Canales was figuring things out as he went, never calling a player at ANY level of his career until his first season as O coordinator for us. I think that was absolutely huge, I think the talent we had certainly made him look better than his scheme was. Coen is bringing a whole bag of tricks from McVay’s playbook, and between the guys we already have combined with the guys we just drafted, this season will be interesting to see Coen utilize all our weapons with what we hope is an improved Oline.
May 1st, 2024 at 6:40 am
These clowns giving grades with lazy stats and probably viewing seconds of film mean nothing, nada, squat!
Let the players play and let their performance lead to a grade!
May 1st, 2024 at 6:43 am
Lee Roy was drafted at DT BTW
Nothing since Lee Roy either way.
Go Bucs!
May 1st, 2024 at 6:48 am
BTW before you go there…Lee Roy was drafted at DT.
Either way nothing since Selmon.
Go Bucs!
May 1st, 2024 at 6:49 am
Before you go there…Selmon was drafted at DT.
Either way nothing since Selmon.
Go Bucs!
May 1st, 2024 at 6:51 am
I rest my case on draft grades before any of them play. Here is Bucs 2021 draft grade.
Day 1 grade: A
Day 2 grade: B
Day 3 grade: A
Analysis: Tryon’s versatility fits quite well in the Buccaneers’ scheme, as he can play the five-technique or stand up as a powerful rush linebacker. The team really needed to get younger there, with Ndamukong Suh, William Gholston, and Jason Pierre-Paul all potentially free agents after the season. Trask could be a Nick Foles-type starter down the line, but was probably picked one round earlier than his skill set called for. Hainsey brings versatility and toughness to a Tampa line in need of depth.
I was afraid teams would overlook Darden because of his size (5-8, 174), but he was a draft crush for me because of his juice and toughness after the catch. Britt is a leader with great football IQ, and he will serve as a nice backup to the Bucs’ veterans. GM Jason Licht finished off the draft with solid selections in versatile defensive back Wilcox and high-motor linebacker/special teamer Stuard.
May 1st, 2024 at 7:06 am
I went to his site and looked at his grades…not impressed… he better not quit his McDonald’s job
May 1st, 2024 at 7:06 am
Braswell has all the intangibles that the Bucs look for…remember, they hard-passed on JPS after his Top 30 visit? Why? Because he’s not like Tristen in how he goes about business. Braswell is. Barton is.
May 1st, 2024 at 7:17 am
My hope and my dream is he out-performs the famous Chop Robinson, the man who is famous for no reason
May 1st, 2024 at 7:21 am
Noise noise noise, the empty can rattles the most.. ” F ” them crap talking is what they do best, you can get a functional drunk to just rattle off BS. Haters need to just pack-up, shut -up, and leave the Bucs out of their mouths.
May 1st, 2024 at 8:13 am
All this grade does is make the guy seem like an idiot. Everyone else gave us somewhere between an A and a B. This is the only one that low that I could find. I’d say on average most sports media outlets gave us a B+ and considering how low we picked, that’s not too shabby. So, go with the average… but calling this particular guy out is fun because he definitely didn’t do a lot of research.
May 1st, 2024 at 9:06 am
Well, there is a clip of an interview that NFL Network often uses of Ron Wolf, the man who drafted Lee Roy Selmon, saying what a rare pass rusher he was and how it was a no-brainer to draft him over a quarterback even though quarterback is much more important position and why he did so.
Joe believes that’s credible enough.
May 1st, 2024 at 9:14 am
Uh this is the same guy/outfit that gave the Falcons a B-.
May 1st, 2024 at 9:26 am
I don’t even get holding the snap counts against him. If anything it means he lead the SEC in pressures while not even playing a full slate of snaps, so he was extremely efficient and productive. Reminds me of Shaq Barret in his Denver days. He had amazing efficiency in limited snaps then we got to see him dominate when fully unleashed as a starter.
Per PFF,
Braswell had 309 pass rush snaps & 208 rush defense snaps
Turner had 292 pass rush snaps & 264 rush defense snaps
They each had exact same number of ‘hurries’. For whatever reason they have Braswell with more sacks at 13 in 2023. Not sure if they are counting sacks differently lol.
Either way this guy excites me.
May 1st, 2024 at 9:59 am
Don’t care about draft grades for at least 3 years. So right now look at 2020 and 2021 drafts to see how they turned out. 2022, 2023 and 2024 are still too early to tell. The grades for this year’s draft are nothing more than click bait.
May 1st, 2024 at 10:42 am
What’s the grade based upon?
Filling Holes/Needs – A
Pro Bowlers/Game Changers – D
The Bucs didn’t draft an Evans or Wirfs. They stayed away from Boom-Bust picks. They drafted guys that were solid at positions they needed.
At the end of the Draft the Bucs were a better team. They stayed ahead of the NFCS.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:00 pm
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: A
Versatile OL Graham Barton (26) fills a major need and edge Chris Braswell (57) is a productive player. WR Jalen McMillan (92) is steady and RB Buck Irving (125) could be a steal.
May 1st, 2024 at 5:13 pm
@Joe
Lee Roy Selmon played DE in a 3-4 front making him Hall or Kancey’s position not edge like JTS or Braswell