Miami edge Akheem Mesidor.
Look, Joe doesn’t think anyone in the Tampa Bay area has been harping longer or louder than Joe how the Bucs need an edge rush in the worst way.
But at No. 15?
In less than a month, the 2026 NFL Draft will be here. And Joe is trying his best to limit references to schlock drafts because they trigger Joe so.
(You want to talk about “clickbait,” the only reason folks do more schlock drafts than change their socks is because people click. If folks wanted to use these things sensibly, have just one mock draft per spring, just like the best mockers did like Joel Buchsbaum and Mike Mayock. Stick to your guns! If you have to change your schlock drafts weekly, that tells Joe you are not confident in your research or sources and you have faulty intel and are trying to cover your arse.)
Over at BSPN, Field Yates has his 30th of 85 schlock drafts and in this one, he has the Bucs drafting edge rusher Akheem Mesidor out of Miami.
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
An improved pass rush is a must for Tampa Bay after it tied for 18th in total sacks last season (37) and lost defensive end Logan Hall in free agency. The relentless Mesidor would help achieve that goal, coming off a College Football Playoff run where he had 5.5 sacks in four games.
Mesidor was primarily a defensive tackle at West Virginia before reshaping his body and skill set to play largely from the edge at Miami. He has an impressive get-off and nuance as a rusher. While he turns 25 before the draft, most view him as a top-15 player off ability alone.
Yes, Joe knows Mesidor had excellent coaching at Miami as Hall of Fame edge rusher Jason Taylor was the Hurricanes’ defensive end coach for years.
But guess what? Chris Braswell had an excellent defensive coach in college, too, perhaps the greatest defensive mind in all of football, Nick Saban.
Armed with this superior schooling at Alabama, how’d Braswell turn out in Tampa? Saban said Braswell would be fine if he just rushed the quarterback. Whoops.
“This Joe” might just cry if the Bucs burn a No. 15 pick on an edge rusher. Does anyone really believe he will be developed in the Todd Bowles defense?
Hey, if you want to draft any other position at No. 15 and then, in the second round, draft an edge rusher, good. Yeah, the same development questions still linger, but at least you are not lighting a No. 15 pick on fire.