March 5, 2025 • 9 mins
Senior Writer/Editor Scott Smith and Team Reporter Casey Phillips discuss potential players of interest for the Buccaneers ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. This week, they highlighted NFL prospects Missouri WR Luther Burden III, Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka, and Texas CB Jahdae Barron.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into another edition of Road to the Draft. Casey
Phillips here a senior writer and editor Scott Smith, and
we have a cool one to talk to you about
today because last time we did a whole lot of defense,
which is understandable, so what a lot of people are
mocking us makes sense. But there was a little nugget
at the combine, which is what we always love about
the combine. You get to hear from coaches, GMS, people
pick up little things, and of course we're just taking
(00:21):
any little thing right now to try to mean something.
There's one little nugget that affected what you decided to
talk about today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, first I had seen some receivers getting mocked to
the Buccaneers and all these mock drafts, and I think
that will come and go based on what happens with
Chris Godwin. But at the combine, head coach Todd Boles
was asked what player positions he was most interested in
watching their drills.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
And first you start out with what you'd.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Expect at rusher's linebackers, cornerbacks, and then he said and
wide receivers, And.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I thought that was interesting, stuck that in there.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
The Yeah, so I think it's a position that the
Buccaneers could consider a need, maybe even in the first rounds.
I thought we'd look at some of the guys that
I've seen mock to the Buccaneers, a couple guys that
have been falling in that range in the draft, because
it's a pretty good draft for receivers, but it's still
they're kind of jockeying back and forth. Right, So anyway,
I thought you'd be pretty excited about this choice.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I'm very excited about this first choice. Uh my, my
lovely Miszoo team. He always shouts out his Northwestern people,
and I felt like I needed I needed.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Some Yeah, well I picked it. It wasn't you didn't tell
me to. But I do wonder of the outfit choice today.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I didn't, not intentional, but subliminally I just am always supporting.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
That's Miszoo ra Yes. Okay, So here's Luther Burden. Uh.
This is a dangerous slot receiver.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He's like six oh two oh six, He breaks tackles,
he's great working his way through traffic.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Uh. He's got good speed, as we saw at.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
The combine, and he really helped a stock by running
a four to four to two at the combine or No.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
A four to three nine at the combine.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Uh, one of the fastest receivers there, and he was
perfect in that gauntlet Jill, you know, the one where
they have to catch a bunch of different passes in
a row.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yep. So let's take a look at some of his
plays from this past year. Uh. This poor guy as
a freshman. Sorry didn't tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So he's he's here on the line. He's not exactly
getting pressed, but he's up up close on him. You'll
see burden get the good release on him.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
He doesn't have a ton of separation here. The guy's
doing a pretty decent job. But you see here he's
starting to use his hands in just the right moment.
He's finding the football. He's gonna locate the football, adjust
to it, jump and high point it here.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
All right.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So here's our guy again with the burden. He's here
in the slot where he is all the time. Missouri
did this a lot last year. They just get him
the ball really quickly and let him do what he does.
Now and wherever he lands in the NFL is probably
gonna get a lot wider array of assignments because he's
a really talented player, and you want to take care
of you know, you want to take advantage of his
big playability. But here they're just gonna get him the
ball real quick and let him weave his way through traffic.
(02:38):
See he does a simple run out and stop and
then look at all these guys he makes miss and
then right about here you'll see him break a tackle,
get some like ten more yards and then you know,
kind of cut between those two guys. So great open
field moves, ability to break tackles and turns a little
six yard pass into like a thirty yard game. All right,
here we got a third play for Luther Burton. He's
(02:58):
right here again in the slot. Now, casey, can our
guy get deep? Can he get deep and get behind
the defense?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
If answer yes?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Again, nice feet, you know at the release and he
gets a separation, and then look at this, let's roll
that back just the team a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Is this a one handed catch? I'm saying that's one
hand right, pretty catch?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
And then of course that guys didn't stop to catch.
He's gonna be able to get him out of bounds
of the ten.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Right, seems like it wrong? Wow, broke that tackle takes
into the Endzo for a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So there's your guy losing my unbiased opinion.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Okay, now I want to look at another receiver. You
won't be as excited because this is Ohio State guy.
This is a Mecca Abuka of Ohio State. He's been
compared to another Ohio State guy, Jackson Smith and the Jigbat.
And think of all the great wide receivers that have
come out of Ohio State in the last five or
six years, like Marvin Harrison and Garrett Wilson and Chris Alave.
He holds the all time record for receptions for Ohio State.
(03:54):
I mean, this is just a professional receiver who does
everything right. He wins with timing and tempo. He's precise
on his routes, and you're gonna see here he can
get deep on you, so you're running down the seam
and then he's gonna split the two safeties here and
be just beat his man off the line and get
separation and perfect throat touchdown. We're gonna see another angle
from this too. Kind of gives you the idea of
his speed, and then you get to see a lot
(04:15):
of up close dancing right here with the camera and then,
So that's nice too.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I always think that should fa celebration of building.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
There's another one you should Okay, here's another thing you
can do with this guy because he also works out
of the slot a lot like Luther Burton.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Uh, he does.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
He has played some on the outside as well, and
they think he has the verse utility to do both.
But you can do a lot of these things like
we do with Chris Godwin, where you know, you put
him in motion.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
He just give him my hand off here and then
you'll see right here.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I think this play was designed to go a little
bit farther out, but he sees the gap and reacts
really quickly and uh, without losing your speed, cuts up
field right here, and then you just see his open
field moves. Well, so that's him. That's another thing you
can do with him there. Okay, one more play for
a mecha a buka here caseing. He's easy to find
in this one. He's right here in the middle of line.
(04:59):
I like what he does on this route. He's gonna
end up one on one with this guy, and he
really uses his leverage. I think he has a guy
believing that he's this guy is believing he see how
he's kind of leaning this way, and it looks like
he's probably trying to run around this way. That's what
he's defending against Number twenty eight there. But then this
cut back the other way, he does so fluidly and
(05:19):
without losing speed that he creates a look at all,
this separation.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Instant separation.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So it's a real nice route, and I really like
the way he set it up with that kind of
inside lean and then there you go.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Nice. All right. I got one more player to show
you today, Casey.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And you might think it's maybe a wide receiver on
this team, but it's actually a defensive back.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
You want to take a defensive backup shot.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah, so I showed you the case of the corners is
what I'm starting to call you.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
There's a reason why I picked this player and put
him in amongst the receivers, and that's because in my
second mock draft, which was posted late last week, this.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Is who we ended up with.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
The cornerback Jade Baron of Texas who really had a
fantastic season and then knocked it out of the park
at the combine. So this is a guy who they
had asked him to play. He was a slock corner,
a big nickel for them for a couple of seasons.
He's even played some safety and this year they said
we're going to kick you out to the outside and
make you play on the outside, and he was right
there too. He's probably seen more as a big nickel guy.
(06:17):
His comp for a player on NFL dot Com is
Tike Smith.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Well, that's interesting, yes, So do I get.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
To circle since he's over? Yeah, I got in a
circle yet, that's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Him right there, just barely on the screen. Good job,
that's very tight.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Oval you got there, so you're going to see here
I guess kind of just how well he reads this play.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
He's considered a very smart guy.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
In fact, he knocked his interviews out of the park
apparently at the combine, and that can make a difference
the interviews with the media, and then reportedly he just
came off as really knowledgeable.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
He's played a lot of positions, so he really knows.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
The defense very well. Knows a lot of positions, so
that's good to have coming in. You'll see the quarterback
here is going to fake this, and he's also faking
a pass to him who ostensibly he would be covering,
but he doesn't fall for it at all, and that's
important here.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
He just disappears off the screen. And then this is this.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
This receiver does beat the two guys that were covering him,
but Jade Baron came all the way from his side.
Read the play and you know, made the hero play
there in a nice little return.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And I mean Tom Bowles has talked about how much
he wants ballhawks, that that's one of the biggest things
he's looking for. So for you to pick a play
that he gets an interception, that's a great deal.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great point.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're going to see another one here in just a second.
But this is his fourth three nine speed. He ran
four thty nine at the combine. So this is a
guy who I've been seeing a lot in mock drafts,
like in the second half of the first round. But
he's rising and at this point I think he's challenging
Will Johnson and a couple of the other guys for
possibly the first cornerback off the board. Now, if that happened,
he probably doesn't get to the Buccaneers. So hopefully he's
(07:46):
if we're interested, Yeah, I mean, this is my opinion.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Who knows what Jason like and his crew.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Then right, here's another play you're gonna like because he
manages to get another interception.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
He had five last year and leim past his defense.
That's quite good, that's not bad.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And the college season five interceptions is a lot. Here
he is right here, Shade Baron, Let's let it roll.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
They run that little.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Game where you have the two receivers and he cuts
inside so it creates easy separation. It's really hard for
Shadday barn to do anything about that, but he gets
so quickly and it's good because the ball goes through
his hands. Real quick reaction, right, yeah, I mean you
said it. We need our defensive backs to catch the
ball more off, right, doesn't Todd Bowles say that a lot? Well,
this is a really nice and instant reaction here to
(08:26):
find that.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Football in tracking on it, not just his eyes aren't
just on the defender, keeping the eyes on the ball.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And then one more here he is right here, And
I like this because you know you need your corners
to mirror quick breaks in routes, right, and he shows
a really good ability to do that here, just quickly thing,
But look how quick he breaks on that breaks it up,
all right, Well.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That's gonna do it for us on another edition of
Road to the Draft. We're gonna keep on trucking with
these every week with new updates, and of course, once
free agency happens, that is definitely going to change a
lot of potential things. So that's going to be exciting
after that starts. So we'll you next time on Road
to the Draft.
Welcome into another edition of Road to the Draft. Casey
Phillips here a senior writer and editor Scott Smith, and
we have a cool one to talk to you about
today because last time we did a whole lot of defense,
which is understandable, so what a lot of people are
mocking us makes sense. But there was a little nugget
at the combine, which is what we always love about
the combine. You get to hear from coaches, GMS, people
pick up little things, and of course we're just taking
(00:21):
any little thing right now to try to mean something.
There's one little nugget that affected what you decided to
talk about today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, first I had seen some receivers getting mocked to
the Buccaneers and all these mock drafts, and I think
that will come and go based on what happens with
Chris Godwin. But at the combine, head coach Todd Boles
was asked what player positions he was most interested in
watching their drills.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
And first you start out with what you'd.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Expect at rusher's linebackers, cornerbacks, and then he said and
wide receivers, And.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I thought that was interesting, stuck that in there.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
The Yeah, so I think it's a position that the
Buccaneers could consider a need, maybe even in the first rounds.
I thought we'd look at some of the guys that
I've seen mock to the Buccaneers, a couple guys that
have been falling in that range in the draft, because
it's a pretty good draft for receivers, but it's still
they're kind of jockeying back and forth. Right, So anyway,
I thought you'd be pretty excited about this choice.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I'm very excited about this first choice. Uh my, my
lovely Miszoo team. He always shouts out his Northwestern people,
and I felt like I needed I needed.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Some Yeah, well I picked it. It wasn't you didn't tell
me to. But I do wonder of the outfit choice today.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I didn't, not intentional, but subliminally I just am always supporting.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
That's Miszoo ra Yes. Okay, So here's Luther Burden. Uh.
This is a dangerous slot receiver.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He's like six oh two oh six, He breaks tackles,
he's great working his way through traffic.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Uh. He's got good speed, as we saw at.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
The combine, and he really helped a stock by running
a four to four to two at the combine or No.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
A four to three nine at the combine.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Uh, one of the fastest receivers there, and he was
perfect in that gauntlet Jill, you know, the one where
they have to catch a bunch of different passes in
a row.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yep. So let's take a look at some of his
plays from this past year. Uh. This poor guy as
a freshman. Sorry didn't tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So he's he's here on the line. He's not exactly
getting pressed, but he's up up close on him. You'll
see burden get the good release on him.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
He doesn't have a ton of separation here. The guy's
doing a pretty decent job. But you see here he's
starting to use his hands in just the right moment.
He's finding the football. He's gonna locate the football, adjust
to it, jump and high point it here.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
All right.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So here's our guy again with the burden. He's here
in the slot where he is all the time. Missouri
did this a lot last year. They just get him
the ball really quickly and let him do what he does.
Now and wherever he lands in the NFL is probably
gonna get a lot wider array of assignments because he's
a really talented player, and you want to take care
of you know, you want to take advantage of his
big playability. But here they're just gonna get him the
ball real quick and let him weave his way through traffic.
(02:38):
See he does a simple run out and stop and
then look at all these guys he makes miss and
then right about here you'll see him break a tackle,
get some like ten more yards and then you know,
kind of cut between those two guys. So great open
field moves, ability to break tackles and turns a little
six yard pass into like a thirty yard game. All right,
here we got a third play for Luther Burton. He's
(02:58):
right here again in the slot. Now, casey, can our
guy get deep? Can he get deep and get behind
the defense?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
If answer yes?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Again, nice feet, you know at the release and he
gets a separation, and then look at this, let's roll
that back just the team a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Is this a one handed catch? I'm saying that's one
hand right, pretty catch?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
And then of course that guys didn't stop to catch.
He's gonna be able to get him out of bounds
of the ten.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Right, seems like it wrong? Wow, broke that tackle takes
into the Endzo for a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So there's your guy losing my unbiased opinion.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Okay, now I want to look at another receiver. You
won't be as excited because this is Ohio State guy.
This is a Mecca Abuka of Ohio State. He's been
compared to another Ohio State guy, Jackson Smith and the Jigbat.
And think of all the great wide receivers that have
come out of Ohio State in the last five or
six years, like Marvin Harrison and Garrett Wilson and Chris Alave.
He holds the all time record for receptions for Ohio State.
(03:54):
I mean, this is just a professional receiver who does
everything right. He wins with timing and tempo. He's precise
on his routes, and you're gonna see here he can
get deep on you, so you're running down the seam
and then he's gonna split the two safeties here and
be just beat his man off the line and get
separation and perfect throat touchdown. We're gonna see another angle
from this too. Kind of gives you the idea of
his speed, and then you get to see a lot
(04:15):
of up close dancing right here with the camera and then,
So that's nice too.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I always think that should fa celebration of building.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
There's another one you should Okay, here's another thing you
can do with this guy because he also works out
of the slot a lot like Luther Burton.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Uh, he does.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
He has played some on the outside as well, and
they think he has the verse utility to do both.
But you can do a lot of these things like
we do with Chris Godwin, where you know, you put
him in motion.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
He just give him my hand off here and then
you'll see right here.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I think this play was designed to go a little
bit farther out, but he sees the gap and reacts
really quickly and uh, without losing your speed, cuts up
field right here, and then you just see his open
field moves. Well, so that's him. That's another thing you
can do with him there. Okay, one more play for
a mecha a buka here caseing. He's easy to find
in this one. He's right here in the middle of line.
(04:59):
I like what he does on this route. He's gonna
end up one on one with this guy, and he
really uses his leverage. I think he has a guy
believing that he's this guy is believing he see how
he's kind of leaning this way, and it looks like
he's probably trying to run around this way. That's what
he's defending against Number twenty eight there. But then this
cut back the other way, he does so fluidly and
(05:19):
without losing speed that he creates a look at all,
this separation.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Instant separation.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So it's a real nice route, and I really like
the way he set it up with that kind of
inside lean and then there you go.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Nice. All right. I got one more player to show
you today, Casey.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And you might think it's maybe a wide receiver on
this team, but it's actually a defensive back.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
You want to take a defensive backup shot.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah, so I showed you the case of the corners is
what I'm starting to call you.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
There's a reason why I picked this player and put
him in amongst the receivers, and that's because in my
second mock draft, which was posted late last week, this.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Is who we ended up with.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
The cornerback Jade Baron of Texas who really had a
fantastic season and then knocked it out of the park
at the combine. So this is a guy who they
had asked him to play. He was a slock corner,
a big nickel for them for a couple of seasons.
He's even played some safety and this year they said
we're going to kick you out to the outside and
make you play on the outside, and he was right
there too. He's probably seen more as a big nickel guy.
(06:17):
His comp for a player on NFL dot Com is
Tike Smith.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Well, that's interesting, yes, So do I get.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
To circle since he's over? Yeah, I got in a
circle yet, that's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Him right there, just barely on the screen. Good job,
that's very tight.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Oval you got there, so you're going to see here
I guess kind of just how well he reads this play.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
He's considered a very smart guy.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
In fact, he knocked his interviews out of the park
apparently at the combine, and that can make a difference
the interviews with the media, and then reportedly he just
came off as really knowledgeable.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
He's played a lot of positions, so he really knows.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
The defense very well. Knows a lot of positions, so
that's good to have coming in. You'll see the quarterback
here is going to fake this, and he's also faking
a pass to him who ostensibly he would be covering,
but he doesn't fall for it at all, and that's
important here.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
He just disappears off the screen. And then this is this.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
This receiver does beat the two guys that were covering him,
but Jade Baron came all the way from his side.
Read the play and you know, made the hero play
there in a nice little return.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And I mean Tom Bowles has talked about how much
he wants ballhawks, that that's one of the biggest things
he's looking for. So for you to pick a play
that he gets an interception, that's a great deal.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great point.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're going to see another one here in just a second.
But this is his fourth three nine speed. He ran
four thty nine at the combine. So this is a
guy who I've been seeing a lot in mock drafts,
like in the second half of the first round. But
he's rising and at this point I think he's challenging
Will Johnson and a couple of the other guys for
possibly the first cornerback off the board. Now, if that happened,
he probably doesn't get to the Buccaneers. So hopefully he's
(07:46):
if we're interested, Yeah, I mean, this is my opinion.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Who knows what Jason like and his crew.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Then right, here's another play you're gonna like because he
manages to get another interception.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
He had five last year and leim past his defense.
That's quite good, that's not bad.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And the college season five interceptions is a lot. Here
he is right here, Shade Baron, Let's let it roll.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
They run that little.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Game where you have the two receivers and he cuts
inside so it creates easy separation. It's really hard for
Shadday barn to do anything about that, but he gets
so quickly and it's good because the ball goes through
his hands. Real quick reaction, right, yeah, I mean you
said it. We need our defensive backs to catch the
ball more off, right, doesn't Todd Bowles say that a lot? Well,
this is a really nice and instant reaction here to
(08:26):
find that.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Football in tracking on it, not just his eyes aren't
just on the defender, keeping the eyes on the ball.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And then one more here he is right here, And
I like this because you know you need your corners
to mirror quick breaks in routes, right, and he shows
a really good ability to do that here, just quickly thing,
But look how quick he breaks on that breaks it up,
all right, Well.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That's gonna do it for us on another edition of
Road to the Draft. We're gonna keep on trucking with
these every week with new updates, and of course, once
free agency happens, that is definitely going to change a
lot of potential things. So that's going to be exciting
after that starts. So we'll you next time on Road
to the Draft.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.