College Coaches Think Kenyon Sadiq Is Good For The Bucs
April 3rd, 2026
Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq.
Joe enjoys college football writers Brett McMurphy and Andy Staples. Both were ex-Tampa Tribune dudes and are very, very good at what they did and do.
Another guy Joe enjoys is Bruce Feldman.
The long-time college football writer has an insane list of sources. Feldman is smart. He goes to college football coaches’ conventions and gets close with young coaches working at big-time programs.
Those guys often become head coaches themselves or head to the NFL.
Feldman, of The Athletic, is old school in that he does his schlock draft the right way: He does one. He trusts his sources, instincts and conviction.
Feldman admitted on his podcast this week he didn’t text or call many NFL general managers or coaches. Instead, he looked at team needs and then he spoke with college coordinators, sometimes ex-NFL guys, and had them compare prospects and say who gave them the most trouble.
In Feldman’s lone schlock draft, he, like many others, has the Bucs picking Oregon freak tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
Signing Al-Quadin Muhammad takes away some urgency from needing an edge here and linebacker can come a bit later. Sadiq is a rare athlete who was a matchup nightmare in college. At 6-3, 241 (he was 255 entering last season), he has exceptional burst and explosiveness. It showed up in a big way at the combine, when he ran a 4.39 40 with a 1.54 10-yard split to go with a 43 1/2-inch vertical and 11-1 broad jump. Sadiq will be a weapon in the screen game as well as a deep threat, although he had only one catch of more than 30 yards last season. He’s also shown to be a capable blocker. The one negative with him has been inconsistent hands. One Big Ten coach compared him to Vernon Davis.
“Physically, he’s freaky, man — he’s everything you want,” said a Big Ten DB coach who faced Oregon. “He’s agile. He’s twitchy. I think he fits more in the NFL than in college. They’ll split him out and flex him and let him do his thing. I’d have thought they would’ve forced the ball to him, but they didn’t. He routed-up our safety and it would’ve been a touchdown easily, but the ball didn’t come his way.”
“He’s such a freak,” said a DB coach whose team faced Oregon late in the season. “He did it all. His in-line blocking was pretty solid. On the perimeter, he was really good. He could stretch us vertical. He was a problem for our linebackers and some of our safeties. He has a big catch radius. He runs routes like a wide receiver. You turn on that tape and he’s blowing by people. He’s catching streaks up the hash and running by people who are 8 yards off of him, which is pretty dang impressive for a tight end. We had a game plan for him because he definitely has a skill set that can take a game over.”
Feldman’s comment about the Bucs having less urgency for their pass rush may be more accurate than it appears. Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht keeps banging the drum that second-year edge rusher David Walker is all that even though he hasn’t finished a padded practice. And yes, Licht did sign a double-digit sack guy in Al-Quadin Muhammad (AQM).
Maybe Licht is playing Moneyball and figures if he can get 7 to 12 sacks from AQM, and maybe 6 from Walker and 4 from Anthony Nelson, that’s strong sack production from the right outside linebacker — if they are not otherwise too busy covering receivers 20 yards downfield.
If the Bucs stay put at No. 15, drafting an inside linebacker is reaching. Sonny Styles is highly unlikely to be on the board at No. 15.
But Sadiq, who could turn the Bucs offense lethal, is in range of No. 15. The defense? The Bucs probably need four or five players to become good.
Joe has no issues with Sadiq coming to Tampa Bay.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:11 am
yeah lets add a TE…
baker will have all the time in the world to find him behind Klein, MJ and Haggard lol
Kadyn Proctor or Olaivavega Ioane
GO BUCS!!!!
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:17 am
If he is there at #15, just take him. All of the A+ EDGE and ILB prospects will be long gone. Akheem Mesidor has serious medical questions and we do not need another Kancey.
We do not currently have a MOVE TE on the roster and Sadiq would give us that. You can line him up Inline, split him out wide, ir stick him in the slot.
Zac loves to run 12 personnel(2 TE) sets, so this is ideal.He is a generational talent and will start day one and would be a Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
I just hope he gets by the Ravens…!
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:20 am
Gives me the OJ Howard vibe for some reason…lets stick to rebuilding the D
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:33 am
isnt Culp 6’3 240 and ran a 4.4?
we have Otton, Durham, Ko and Culp
we need IOL in the worst way…and not just a “player” a STARTER!!
GO BUCS!!!!
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:48 am
They are not drafting a TE in the first round.
This nonstop talk about him going to the Buccaneers is ridiculous.
If it is not edge or ILB then it’s time for LICHT to go when BOWLES goes at the end of this year.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:50 am
Who wouldnt want an ILB at 15 if they end up being a 10 year starter? You think the Lions regret taking Jack Campbell? Trust the board and take the best player available regardless of position unless we trade out of the pick which is highly unlikely unless someone wants to jump in front of the Jets to take Ty Simpson.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:56 am
Just do it.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:59 am
Defense, please.
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:00 am
Sadiq is a beast. Not a one trick pony either – he can block (& as important likes to do it). Kid has eye-popping production from HS too. <- for all the naysayers that think only one year of production. Led all of CF TE with 8 TD catches in 2025 without being focal point of offense.
Related side note: The more I’ve researched, our draft position really is not that bad. We will have terrific options throughout fairly deep pool this year. Just need to stay focused on CB DL Edge OG (in ABC order). Sadiq is the only TE I would consider early (read: only <5).
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:00 am
Unhealthy infatuation, TEs aren’t even all that important in this offense and this guys is no Jimmy Graham
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:15 am
It’s seems like the Bucs should have had enough of drafting these (Combine Warriors)
They were bragging about how .much Zyon McCollum combine results
The same about OJ Howard, Yaya Diaby
I believe in productivity at every level
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:32 am
Sadiq will not impact the league for 3 years( if at all). Keep this receipt and we can talk next year. @Tampa2ATL ⬆️talking about how good he was in….. high School. lol. Good grief! Combine freak? Absolutely. So was Zach Kuntz in the 2023 draft at TE. Look him up. Never heard of him? Yeah… that’s my point. Culp ran a 4.4 and weighed more. He is all we need to stretch the field. Grizz just had no clue how to use him. . 8 TDs in his last year at Oregon? Durham had 8 in his last year at Purdue, in less games, on a worse team. If we waste the 15 pick on Sadiq, Jason should be walked out the door. Defense and IOL.
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:45 am
it’s good denver isn’t picking before us because payton would grab him quick fast
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:47 am
Baker has trouble hitting the WRs and TEs we have on the team so how is adding this guy going to help? Just another player to get over or under thrown. At least give Baker some OL help for the eventual injuries that will happen on the line…if theyre hellbent on going offense.
But with this coaching staff it really won’t matter who is drafted, they won’t get the most out of them.
April 3rd, 2026 at 10:59 am
David says:
“If its not edge or Ilber…”
Please tell me which edge or Ilber you think JL MUST draft at 15???
Reaching for need is never a good strategy.
Passing on the drafts best OL, CB, TE, just to address need and grab the 4th or 5th best edge or 3rd or 4th best LBer, isn’t smart.
So please tell us which edge or LBer JL should draft so he doesn’t get fired.
April 3rd, 2026 at 11:12 am
Do some research. Sadiq is more than a combine warrior.
A bust from the past is just that – a bust then.
This is now – think Brock Bowers on Sadiq.
And he will catch passes from Baker just fine. To think otherwise is personnel agenda getting in the way of facts.
April 3rd, 2026 at 11:15 am
Not opposed to this as our pick. But we heard last year how with Walker, Reddick, Braswell, YaYa, we were set at edge. Now we’re being told we’re good again, because we signed Muhammad, and second year man Walker is back? Not buying we fixed our edge problem.