Jason Licht And His Drafting Track Record
April 30th, 2025
Strong eye for talent.
Here’s a stat that doesn’t get a lot of run. Until yesterday.
Tuesday morning, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht hopped on the “Schein on Sports” show hosted by popular national sports radio and TV personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM Radio’s “Mad Dog Radio” channel.
There, Schein offered a nugget on how successful Licht and his staff have been on the draft:
On opening day last year, of the 22 Bucs starters, 20 were drafted by Tampa Bay with 18 drafted by Licht. (Lavonte David and Will Gholston were already on board when Licht arrived.)
Joe was impressed.
Schein thought that stat was phenomenal. With mostly those same starters again, the Bucs are looking for a fifth-straight NFC South title and a sixth-straight trip to the playoffs.
So Schein wanted to get Licht’s reaction to nailing so many draft picks over the years. Licht gave credit to Team Glazer as well as his personnel staff.
“It means I’m working at a great place with great owners that allow me and my staff and Todd [Bowles] to set the culture and to bring in, like you said — you said it all. We’re all on the same page, and [Team Glazer lets] us do our work without looking over our shoulder.
“We’re just very proud of the culture that we have here, and the players. We’re at a point where [the players] police the players, police the team, and it’s such a mature, very close, bonded group.”
Then, Licht said something rather profound.
He’s been working in personnel departments in the NFL since 1998. Some coaches he’s worked with are like a Who’s Who of coaching: Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, Bruce Arians, yet Licht said the Bucs are the best organization top to bottom he’s ever been affiliated with.
“I’ve never been around something like this before,” Licht said of everyone from his staff and Bowles’ staff down to the grounds crew are all working on the same page. “Hopefully, that translates into winning the Super Bowl at some point.”
Another Super Bowl before the window closes sure would be nice.
Ira Kaufman Recaps Day 3 Of The Draft, Grades The Bucs’ Haul, Talks Shilo Sanders, Deeper Meaning And Debates The Top-3 Most Critical Bucs, And More
April 30th, 2025 at 7:15 am
Callin the kettle black huh….well good thing he did everything he could in this draft to raise the likelihood of this phrase , right…”hopefully that translates into winning the Super Bowl at some point”.
Not disingenuous at all, neah…
April 30th, 2025 at 7:16 am
*raise the 2025 likelihood of this phrase
April 30th, 2025 at 7:17 am
Can’t win a super bowl without a great ground crew. But an Army relies on it’s belly being fed, so put the Lombordi in the dining hall.
April 30th, 2025 at 7:21 am
Can’t believe house a handful of years ago a lot of us wanted him gone, now we would throw money at him
We really are a top-notch organization
From no state income tax, family atmosphere, legit shot every year, sweet uniforms, and a GM who keeps you around
Tampa is definitely a Top destination
April 30th, 2025 at 7:27 am
If Licht keeps drafting like he has the past 3 (4 now?) years – the Super Bowl window doesn’t close.
Yes – we will be losing 2 HOFers – LD54 after this year and ME13 in a 2-3 years….
But when you have a franchise QB AND average 4+ quality starters coming out of each draft for multiple years in a row – that keeps the SB window wide open for the foreseeable future…..
April 30th, 2025 at 8:31 am
He is one of the top 5 GM’s in the league.
April 30th, 2025 at 9:22 am
Ancient, take it easy on the meds.
April 30th, 2025 at 9:38 am
We have been lucky to play on the nfc south the past few years you have to admit ? Hell we made the playoffs with a losing record.
Not getting an edge or good corners have kept us from advancing
With that I think our draft was solid
Also, Everyone talks about 13 being 31 now
What about 54 being 35?
April 30th, 2025 at 9:56 am
Beat Detroit, Philly, San Diego and Washington last year. They were all in playoffs.Stop with the NFC South crap. The Buccaneers can play with anyone.
April 30th, 2025 at 10:21 am
Buddha
THANKS! It’s the freakin NFL…on any given Sunday! As someone, perhaps Geno or Pickgrin pointed out Brady/Belichiks run of SB went through what was then the HORRIBLE AFC EAST. Recall that Todd Bowles has been the ONLY coach to win ten games for the Jets in the past decade!
Speaking of which…Jason says, “and Todd [Bowles] to set the culture” “everyone from his staff and Bowles’ staff down to the grounds crew are all working on the same page”
Jason’s worked with are like a “Who’s Who of coaching: Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, Bruce Arians”
So for all the Bowles, or should I be clever and type Bowels..bashers a question.
Do you really think you know more than a guy who has worked with those legends? Really?
Do you really believe Todd would still be HC without Jason’s approval?
There must be something fishy. All these posters seem to know more than a guy with all of that experience!
April 30th, 2025 at 10:27 am
Aww…did I run across another undereducated one…shucks.
April 30th, 2025 at 10:28 am
We are building a DYNASTY.
There is no window for the Bucs.
We will be okay after Evans and David retire.
But.
It would be so great to win another Super Bowl for Evans and David.
And hopefully they each play 3 more years and set many NFL records!
April 30th, 2025 at 10:29 am
ME13 and LVD will be voted into Canton. Fact. Y’know, I am the only one left living of my Buc Buddies. Man, were we diehards and loyal. My krewe wouldn’t believe how excellent this entire team is now. Add in climate change and hurricanes and Tampa Bay still plays the game. Hey Joes, does Licht still jump into the pool after a Bucs win? Or is he getting too old? 😂
April 30th, 2025 at 10:55 am
I would love to see JL Draft rankings! I know the jury is still out for 2024 & 2025…
Would be interesting to see!
April 30th, 2025 at 11:01 am
How many superbowls does it take to become a dynasty?
4…?
April 30th, 2025 at 11:11 am
I went ahead and ranked them IMHO.
Ranking:
2014 – HOF lock & best Offensive player in franchise history = best
2018
2019
2024 – Could move up the charts
2020
2017
2015
2023
2022
2021
2016 – By far the worst!!! F-
*2025 revisit next year
April 30th, 2025 at 11:21 am
Ancient Says
“Aww…did I run across another undereducated one…shucks.”
Yup. That’s us: The uneducated masses.
Say…how many rings does your team have? Zero?
April 30th, 2025 at 11:22 am
In this century even?
April 30th, 2025 at 11:37 am
Joe Says: “Another Super Bowl before the window closes sure would be nice.”
——————————————————————————————
What would be even nicer is if the window DOESN’T close. If Licht and his staff keep killing it in the draft year after year they could keep that window open for many years like the Patriots did during the years Brady won six rings.
Amen, a “window” is hard to define but usually revolves around a quarterback. The Bucs should have theirs for several years.–Joe