March 20, 2025 • 7 mins
Team Reporter Casey Phillips & Senior Writer/Editor Scott Smith discuss the potential prospects of interest leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. This week they discussed some valuable Day Two selections who would be a great fit for the Bucs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into another edition of Road to the Draft, coming
to you from the Bucks Studio, presented by Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Casey Phillips here with Scott Smith.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
And you know, we've done a lot of things that
are kind of that day one, round one pick, that's
what everyone gets the most excited about.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
But as we've seen, those.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Other rounds, especially two, three, four, very important to the
role of the team. And so tell us a little
bit about the theme of what we're going to discuss today.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's a long road to the Draft. We're taking a
little bit of a detour here, right. It's like we're
on a highway, a major highway, and we're getting to
a big city and you can take that business route
around it. So we're going to do that and kind
of cut through the second day of the draft when
you have rounds two and three, because, like you said,
we spend so much time in these mock drafts and
draft discussions talking about what's going to happen in the
first round, and that is exciting, but so many good
players come to you in Day two every single year.
(00:43):
Look at Luke Ghetti, Key, Cody Mout, Chris Godwin. The
list goes on and on, right yep.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Two two.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, so we're going to assume that the Buccaneers got
either an edge rusher or a cornerback in the first round. Now,
what are some other things they might focus on on
Day two, which is rounds two and three.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, so I know right here our first person to
talk about Jalen Noel wide receiver. Tell me why you
think this is a position that potentially is a Day
two target.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Well, I think everybody would agree that as soon as
the Buccaneers thankfully re signed Chris Godwin, awesome result, that
receiver's probably off the board in the first round. Because
with the emergence of Jalen McMillan last year, Mike and
Chris being back, if you take a guy in the
first round is you're gonna use the first round pick
on what's at best your fourth option at receiver. So
that doesn't seem likely, but it's always good if you
(01:27):
can to build depth at that position on Day two
or three. And you know, as fabulous as they are
the top two receivers of team history, Mike and Chris
won't be here forever. So it always helps to build
up guys, and especially if it's a guy that maybe
gives you something a little bit different than what you
don't already have. Now, I think this is a guy
that maybe the Buccaneers could get potentially in the third round.
I think they probably still stick to defense in the
second round, but possibly in the third round. So let's
(01:49):
take a We'll look at his clip here real quick. Now,
this isn't it's he's right here here. This isn't a
really this doesn't show off all his great traits. It's
it's kind of a simple play, but he makes a
really nice play at the end of it. To see
him here just basically creates a little separation right here,
and he's running a kind of post between these two safeties.
But it makes that catch.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's even more outrageous.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It's even more impressive from this angle right here. I mean,
I don't see how he makes his catch, so you
see a lot of concentration there being able to fight
for the ball. So that's impressive. But probably Jalen Nole
is more of a speedser I mean, you look here,
he's a smaller guy. We already have a lot of
size with Mike and Chris, and even Jalen's not that small.
(02:27):
Four he ran a four point three nine forty yard
dash at the combine. So he's fast. So just think
about It's like, remember we had Scotty Miller and you
put him on the outside and you run some gos.
I mean that wasn't he had a nice role in
the Super Bowl season.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, that was very important in Green Bay. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And so this guy runs really good, really sharp routes,
makes sharp cuts, can create separation. He is willing to
go over the middle. At the combine. He had a
ninety one relative athletic score, which was third among all receivers.
And the other thing you got to keep in mind
is that this guy is actually a good kick and
punk return, especially pun returns. He ever fifteen point three
(03:02):
yards per punp return with Iowa State and really showed
good vision. And that's that'd be kind of a nice
thing to have. So if you drafted this guy and
you couldn't find a role for him right away on offense,
it still could be a very useful draft pick.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
All right, I like it. So what is our next
person and position that we're going to be.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Let's take a look cat into.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
All right, so safety, tell me why you think this
could be a day to target.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Then, well, the Buccaneers didn't pick up there the second
year option on Jordan Whitehead, so you still have Anton Winfield.
You do have guys like Tyke Smith and Christian Izzian
who may be able to play that other safety spot,
but you might want different roles from them. So you
might be looking for another potential starter at safety, and
that's a guy you probably this guy, you'd probably have
to use your second round pick on him, like the
(03:41):
Bucks did with Anton Winfield. So let's take a look
at his play real quick. Here he is here and
you're gonna see him here. He's gonna make a real
nice play. And I guess what is run support really,
but it's impressively the way he gets off a block
and and gets to the guy he's going to be
(04:02):
an end or on from this side, so he kind
of gets around the trash there, really gets the running
back quickly. He's he's very good at yes, he diagnoses
plays quickly and then gets there. You know, sea ball,
get the ball really quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Sounds like what Todd Bowles wants exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So we're talking about Xavier Watts of Notre Dame. Here,
good size six two o four, didn't run the forty
yard dash of the combine. But he's an athletic player
as well. He's really high motor, very intense player at
all times, as you saw in that play, just like
he was full go right there.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
He's very good in coverage on the back end, which
is important. So there's some differing scouting views on how
good he isn't run support, or whether he's a sure
tackler or not, but he's a he's a very instinctive,
uh coverage guy on the deep end. He had thirteen
interceptions over the last two years in college. That's that's
a huge number in college fotball when.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Think about many games they're playing.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
That's wild six two years ago, seven last year. Thirteen
interceptions in two years. So he's a ballhawk. What is
what has Todd Balls said several times already this.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Offseason, ballhawk?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
If he got six or seven interceptions in a year
even in NFL, wise, that'd be great, that'd be great.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So that's a great tig.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And that was in I don't know how many games
Nor Dame played, but it wasn't seventeen, right, right, So okay,
let's take a look at one.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
More player, all right, So our next guy, Carson Schwessinger
to just try and say it with more confidences time, like,
I know what I'm doing linebacker. Tell me why linebacker
could be a Day two target.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Well, you know, obviously kJ Britt left in free agency,
but Levante David came back. That's awesome. There's still a
little uncertainty on the other spot off ball linebacker though.
Savasse Dennis is expected to have a role, but it
might not be a full time role but could be
passing downs. And in addition, you know, Levante is going
into his four seasons, So if you could bring in
a guy that has a potential to start this year,
(05:48):
but even if he doesn't, could start down the road.
I think Carson here is mostly projected to go in
the second round. So you know, the Buccaneers are commonly
thought of as somebody that might be looking for a
linebacker in the first round. But if Alabama's G Hot
Campbell doesn't make it to pick nineteen, there's probably not
another guy that would go in the first round. But
there's several that would go on Day two, and he's
one of them. You'll want to take a look at
(06:08):
his play. Yeah, Okay, this is him right here, he's
actually gonna drop out of the screen for a second.
But he really moves well both horizontally and vertically, which
is important especially when you're playing cover two that the
middle linebacker has to be able to get deep quickly
and he has to diagnose quickly what the play is.
So here he is, you're gonna see him drop out,
(06:31):
but quarterback looks around a little bit, comes back to side,
and he closes quickly and then most importantly gets the
ball out of which again that's what we've been talking about,
wanting to create more turnovers. Right and you see him
here from the same angle. You'll see how quickly he
moves from one as the quarterback's changing his reads, how
he changed directions like three times. But was there on
time when the actual past was made.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, that's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And of course this is a position that has undergone
a lot of change now because of kJ britt leaving,
and there's so much uncertainty, and it is a very
important position and.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Likes to do.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And Carson here was a walk on. Originally, he was
like a zero star recruit. He was a walk on,
didn't really start his first three seasons So last year
was his first season, which is the only thing the
scouts are a little leary about because he just doesn't
have a ton of experience. But they also say it's
incredible how well he played given that he didn't have
that much experience. And then he was a first team
consensus All American led the fbs and solo tackles, really
(07:22):
filled up a sheet with forced fumbles, had a couple interceptions,
pass the defense really kind of did it all. He's
fantastic in coverage. As you see, He's really instinctive. That's
basically what all the scouting reports say about him when
they're talking both about coverage and coming up quickly and
finding his way through blockers to get to the running back.
So he's just a very instinctive player both against the
(07:43):
pass in the run. I think he could fit really
well in a Todd Bowles defense.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
All right, well, let's go do it for us on
this edition of Road to the Draft. Make sure you
stay with us as we continue to look at more potential.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Prospects we go through mock drafts.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
We've still got a long way to go before the draft,
many more people to talk about, so we'll see you
then
Welcome into another edition of Road to the Draft, coming
to you from the Bucks Studio, presented by Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Casey Phillips here with Scott Smith.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
And you know, we've done a lot of things that
are kind of that day one, round one pick, that's
what everyone gets the most excited about.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
But as we've seen, those.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Other rounds, especially two, three, four, very important to the
role of the team. And so tell us a little
bit about the theme of what we're going to discuss today.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's a long road to the Draft. We're taking a
little bit of a detour here, right. It's like we're
on a highway, a major highway, and we're getting to
a big city and you can take that business route
around it. So we're going to do that and kind
of cut through the second day of the draft when
you have rounds two and three, because, like you said,
we spend so much time in these mock drafts and
draft discussions talking about what's going to happen in the
first round, and that is exciting, but so many good
players come to you in Day two every single year.
(00:43):
Look at Luke Ghetti, Key, Cody Mout, Chris Godwin. The
list goes on and on, right yep.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Two two.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, so we're going to assume that the Buccaneers got
either an edge rusher or a cornerback in the first round. Now,
what are some other things they might focus on on
Day two, which is rounds two and three.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Okay, so I know right here our first person to
talk about Jalen Noel wide receiver. Tell me why you
think this is a position that potentially is a Day
two target.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Well, I think everybody would agree that as soon as
the Buccaneers thankfully re signed Chris Godwin, awesome result, that
receiver's probably off the board in the first round. Because
with the emergence of Jalen McMillan last year, Mike and
Chris being back, if you take a guy in the
first round is you're gonna use the first round pick
on what's at best your fourth option at receiver. So
that doesn't seem likely, but it's always good if you
(01:27):
can to build depth at that position on Day two
or three. And you know, as fabulous as they are
the top two receivers of team history, Mike and Chris
won't be here forever. So it always helps to build
up guys, and especially if it's a guy that maybe
gives you something a little bit different than what you
don't already have. Now, I think this is a guy
that maybe the Buccaneers could get potentially in the third round.
I think they probably still stick to defense in the
second round, but possibly in the third round. So let's
(01:49):
take a We'll look at his clip here real quick. Now,
this isn't it's he's right here here. This isn't a
really this doesn't show off all his great traits. It's
it's kind of a simple play, but he makes a
really nice play at the end of it. To see
him here just basically creates a little separation right here,
and he's running a kind of post between these two safeties.
But it makes that catch.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's even more outrageous.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
It's even more impressive from this angle right here. I mean,
I don't see how he makes his catch, so you
see a lot of concentration there being able to fight
for the ball. So that's impressive. But probably Jalen Nole
is more of a speedser I mean, you look here,
he's a smaller guy. We already have a lot of
size with Mike and Chris, and even Jalen's not that small.
(02:27):
Four he ran a four point three nine forty yard
dash at the combine. So he's fast. So just think
about It's like, remember we had Scotty Miller and you
put him on the outside and you run some gos.
I mean that wasn't he had a nice role in
the Super Bowl season.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, that was very important in Green Bay. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And so this guy runs really good, really sharp routes,
makes sharp cuts, can create separation. He is willing to
go over the middle. At the combine. He had a
ninety one relative athletic score, which was third among all receivers.
And the other thing you got to keep in mind
is that this guy is actually a good kick and
punk return, especially pun returns. He ever fifteen point three
(03:02):
yards per punp return with Iowa State and really showed
good vision. And that's that'd be kind of a nice
thing to have. So if you drafted this guy and
you couldn't find a role for him right away on offense,
it still could be a very useful draft pick.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
All right, I like it. So what is our next
person and position that we're going to be.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Let's take a look cat into.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
All right, so safety, tell me why you think this
could be a day to target.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Then, well, the Buccaneers didn't pick up there the second
year option on Jordan Whitehead, so you still have Anton Winfield.
You do have guys like Tyke Smith and Christian Izzian
who may be able to play that other safety spot,
but you might want different roles from them. So you
might be looking for another potential starter at safety, and
that's a guy you probably this guy, you'd probably have
to use your second round pick on him, like the
(03:41):
Bucks did with Anton Winfield. So let's take a look
at his play real quick. Here he is here and
you're gonna see him here. He's gonna make a real
nice play. And I guess what is run support really,
but it's impressively the way he gets off a block
and and gets to the guy he's going to be
(04:02):
an end or on from this side, so he kind
of gets around the trash there, really gets the running
back quickly. He's he's very good at yes, he diagnoses
plays quickly and then gets there. You know, sea ball,
get the ball really quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Sounds like what Todd Bowles wants exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
So we're talking about Xavier Watts of Notre Dame. Here,
good size six two o four, didn't run the forty
yard dash of the combine. But he's an athletic player
as well. He's really high motor, very intense player at
all times, as you saw in that play, just like
he was full go right there.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
He's very good in coverage on the back end, which
is important. So there's some differing scouting views on how
good he isn't run support, or whether he's a sure
tackler or not, but he's a he's a very instinctive,
uh coverage guy on the deep end. He had thirteen
interceptions over the last two years in college. That's that's
a huge number in college fotball when.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Think about many games they're playing.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
That's wild six two years ago, seven last year. Thirteen
interceptions in two years. So he's a ballhawk. What is
what has Todd Balls said several times already this.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Offseason, ballhawk?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
If he got six or seven interceptions in a year
even in NFL, wise, that'd be great, that'd be great.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So that's a great tig.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And that was in I don't know how many games
Nor Dame played, but it wasn't seventeen, right, right, So okay,
let's take a look at one.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
More player, all right, So our next guy, Carson Schwessinger
to just try and say it with more confidences time, like,
I know what I'm doing linebacker. Tell me why linebacker
could be a Day two target.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Well, you know, obviously kJ Britt left in free agency,
but Levante David came back. That's awesome. There's still a
little uncertainty on the other spot off ball linebacker though.
Savasse Dennis is expected to have a role, but it
might not be a full time role but could be
passing downs. And in addition, you know, Levante is going
into his four seasons, So if you could bring in
a guy that has a potential to start this year,
(05:48):
but even if he doesn't, could start down the road.
I think Carson here is mostly projected to go in
the second round. So you know, the Buccaneers are commonly
thought of as somebody that might be looking for a
linebacker in the first round. But if Alabama's G Hot
Campbell doesn't make it to pick nineteen, there's probably not
another guy that would go in the first round. But
there's several that would go on Day two, and he's
one of them. You'll want to take a look at
(06:08):
his play. Yeah, Okay, this is him right here, he's
actually gonna drop out of the screen for a second.
But he really moves well both horizontally and vertically, which
is important especially when you're playing cover two that the
middle linebacker has to be able to get deep quickly
and he has to diagnose quickly what the play is.
So here he is, you're gonna see him drop out,
(06:31):
but quarterback looks around a little bit, comes back to side,
and he closes quickly and then most importantly gets the
ball out of which again that's what we've been talking about,
wanting to create more turnovers. Right and you see him
here from the same angle. You'll see how quickly he
moves from one as the quarterback's changing his reads, how
he changed directions like three times. But was there on
time when the actual past was made.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, that's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And of course this is a position that has undergone
a lot of change now because of kJ britt leaving,
and there's so much uncertainty, and it is a very
important position and.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Likes to do.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And Carson here was a walk on. Originally, he was
like a zero star recruit. He was a walk on,
didn't really start his first three seasons So last year
was his first season, which is the only thing the
scouts are a little leary about because he just doesn't
have a ton of experience. But they also say it's
incredible how well he played given that he didn't have
that much experience. And then he was a first team
consensus All American led the fbs and solo tackles, really
(07:22):
filled up a sheet with forced fumbles, had a couple interceptions,
pass the defense really kind of did it all. He's
fantastic in coverage. As you see, He's really instinctive. That's
basically what all the scouting reports say about him when
they're talking both about coverage and coming up quickly and
finding his way through blockers to get to the running back.
So he's just a very instinctive player both against the
(07:43):
pass in the run. I think he could fit really
well in a Todd Bowles defense.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
All right, well, let's go do it for us on
this edition of Road to the Draft. Make sure you
stay with us as we continue to look at more potential.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Prospects we go through mock drafts.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
We've still got a long way to go before the draft,
many more people to talk about, so we'll see you
then
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