The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t exactly been the model of success in the past decade. While that should change with Tom Brady in town, the fact of the matter is that the Buccaneers just couldn’t get anything going in the 2010s, and their draft busts are a big reason for the lack of success. The NFL Draft is an inexact science, and misses are inevitable. However, these are the absolute worst of the worst from the past decade.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Biggest Draft Busts of the Past Decade
6. Da’Quan Bowers, 51st Overall
Da’Quan Bowers was supposedly a steal when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the 51st overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Bowers would’ve been off the board much earlier had he not been coming off a knee injury. The Buccaneers took a risk on the talented edge defender out of Clemson, and it didn’t pay off. Bowers tore his Achilles in 2012, got arrested for bringing an unloaded gun into an airport and 2013, and received a two-game suspension in 2014. Ultimately, the second-round pick recorded just seven sacks throughout his five-year career in Tampa.
5. Arrelious Benn, 39th Overall
Arrelious Benn wasn’t a terrible player, but he certainly wasn’t worth the 39th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. As a rookie, the Illinois product recorded 25 receptions for 395 yards and two touchdowns on a surprising 10-6 Buccaneers squad. One year later, he recorded a solid-but-not-spectacular 30 receptions for 441 yards and three touchdowns.
Unfortunately, his career soon derailed. The former second-rounder recorded just four receptions for 26 yards in eight games. The Buccaneers traded Benn to the Eagles in 2013, but he never suited up for Philadelphia. After battling injuries for multiple years, Benn made a brief cameo with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016 and 2017. He hasn’t appeared in a game since hitting the injured reserve in November of 2017.
4. Noah Spence, 39th Overall
Unlike most of the players on this list, Noah Spence started his career on a good note. As a rookie, Spence appeared in all 16 games while recording 5.5 sacks, 22 tackles, 12 quarterback hits, and three forced fumbles. He turned it on down the stretch, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors for the month of November. Unfortunately, he couldn’t build on his promising rookie season, as he recorded just one sack in the following two seasons with Tampa Bay. Spence spent the 2019 season with the Washington Redskins but recorded just one sack in seven games as a reserve player.
3. Brian Price, 35th Overall
After taking Gerald McCoy with their first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay doubled down on defensive linemen with Brian Price. While McCoy went on to have a fantastic career with Tampa Bay, Price had a short, forgettable stay. He played sparingly in just five games as a rookie before hitting the injured reserve with only three tackles. He put up better numbers in 2011, recording three sacks and 24 tackles. His biggest highlight of the season, however, came when he was banished from the sideline after a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. After getting into a fight with Mark Barron in the following offseason, the Buccaneers traded him away for a seventh-round pick.
2. Vernon Hargreaves, 11th Overall
For years, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one of the worst secondaries in football. That was supposed to change with the selection of Vernon Hargreaves out of Florida. Selected with the 11th overall pick, Hargreaves turned into one of the worst cornerbacks in the league. He struggled to stay with anyone in coverage and was the face of a secondary that annually led the league in pass yardage allowed. The Buccaneers finally gave up on him midway through the 2019 season. After releasing him, Hargreaves spent the rest of 2019 as a backup on the Houston Texans.
1. Roberto Aguayo, 59th Overall
What can be said about the Roberto Aguayo selection that has not already been said? First off, you shouldn’t draft a kicker in the second round. However, if you’re going to do that, you should at least make sure they can kick at an NFL level. Aguayo actually had a solid leg and was widely considered the best kicker in the draft. However, something changed when he entered the NFL. Maybe he just couldn’t handle the pressure, but he only hit 71% of his field goal attempts and missed two extra points during his rookie season. He never earned the chance to redeem himself, as he lost his job to Nick Folk in 2016. Aguayo hasn’t kicked in a regular season game since his rookie season and remains one of the Buccaneers biggest draft busts in recent memory.
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