Ten NFL draft prospects who could follow their coaches to the Buccaneers

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

There’s a strong dose of not just college football but SEC football in the Buccaneers’ new offensive coaching staff, starting with new coordinator Liam Coen spending the 2021 and 2023 seasons in the same role at Kentucky.

New Bucs receivers coach Bryan McClendon will be making his NFL coaching debut in Tampa after a strong run in college working directly with the likes of Deebo Samuel, Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley. And even new assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci worked mostly in college, including this past season at Kentucky with Coen.

Add it all together, and the Bucs suddenly have direct ties to an intriguing number of draft prospects at positions they could use help at. It’s familiarity that can go a long way in player evaluation. Here are 10 names to remember, especially in the later rounds of the draft:

(1) Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia

McClendon worked closely with the Bulldogs star the past two years, and we won’t know how much the Bucs need receiver help until Pro Bowler Mike Evans’ situation is resolved. McConkey is smaller at 6 feet, 185 pounds, but his speed should translate well to the NFL. While he played only nine games in 2023 — he totaled 30 catches for 478 yards and two touchdowns — McConkey was a key part of Georgia’s national championship team in 2022, catching 58 passes for 762 yards and seven scores. In a deep draft class of receivers, McConkey is seen as a late second-round pick, potentially still available when the Bucs pick at 57.

(2) Ray Davis, RB, Kentucky

Davis bounced from Temple to Vanderbilt to Kentucky, so he was only with Coen for one season, but it was an impressive one. Davis rushed for 990 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, and caught another 25 passes for 266 yards and five scores. He’s listed at 5-10, 216, and seen as a versatile back who can do a bit of everything out of the backfield. This isn’t a strong draft class for running backs, but he could be an early third-day pick, perhaps in the fourth round.

(3) Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon

McClendon was the pass game coordinator and receivers coach at Oregon in 2020-21, so he overlapped with Franklin his true freshman year, when the latter caught 18 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including a 30-yard touchdown in their bowl game against Oklahoma. Franklin has good size at 6-3, 185 and had a strong 2023 season — 81 catches for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns, arguably the best ever for a Ducks receiver. Like McConkey, he’s seen as a second-round pick, but his size might make him more of a match for the Bucs if Evans signs elsewhere.

(4) Devin Leary, QB, Kentucky

Will the Bucs need a quarterback in 2024? It’s reasonable to think Baker Mayfield will be back, as well as backups Kyle Trask and John Wolford, but if they wanted to use a late-round pick on a passer, Leary would make sense. He succeeded Will Levis last year and threw for 2,746 yards with 25 touchdowns against 12 interceptions while working directly with Coen. Those numbers aren’t eye-popping, but he also had a four-year run at North Carolina State with some good production — in 2021, he had 35 touchdowns against only five interceptions. As a developmental QB who knows what Coen wants, he could have value as a seventh-round pick or undrafted rookie.

(5) Daijun Edwards and (6) Kendall Milton, RBs, Georgia

Remember that Todd Bowles’ son, Troy, is a linebacker at Georgia, so Bowles knows their players better than he does any other college program. The Bulldogs have two promising running backs in this draft class, both likely to be Day 3 picks. Edwards is the smaller of the two at 5-10, 201, but he posted 881 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, along with 20 catches. Milton is a bigger back at 6-1, 220 pounds, and rushed for 790 yards and 14 touchdowns this past season. The Bucs might upgrade their running back depth with a veteran in free agency, but a late-round rookie would also make sense.

More names to watch

There are lots of receivers on this list: (7) Georgia’s Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint is 6-2, 195 pounds and likely a third-day draft pick. He had 34 catches for 535 yards and four touchdowns for the Bulldogs in 2023, working closely with McClendon.

Kentucky has four offensive players invited to the combine, so we’ll mention a couple more: (8) Tayvion Robinson is a small, shifty receiver at 5-11, 194 pounds. He had 41 catches for 552 yards and four scores last year. He also has a punt-return touchdown in his career from his time at Virginia Tech.

With Picucci helping on the offensive line, the Bucs could look at (9) Jeremy Flax, who has good size at 6-6, 356 pounds and started 11 games at right tackle. He might be an undrafted free agent candidate.

McClendon was at South Carolina in 2019, so he overlapped one year there with (10) Xavier Legette — a bigger receiver at 6-3, 227 pounds. He had a modest freshman year with McClendon, catching nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, but he broke out this past year, tallying 71 catches for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns for the Gamecocks. Like McConkey and Franklin, Legette is probably a second-round pick, perhaps there when the Bucs are on the clock.

Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.