Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Top five NFL Draft picks playing in Super Bowl

Earlier this week, I named the top five Kansas City Chiefs draft picks playing in the Super Bowl, and now it is time to name the top players drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to play in this game. While Kansas City brought in most of its star players through the NFL Draft, the Buccaneers might be able to contribute more of their success in the draft to them playing in this year’s Super Bowl. Overall, 15 of the Buccaneers starters were brought in through the draft.

This list names the top picks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made that will be playing in the Super Bowl this weekend. The list was made by looking at both the contribution the player has made to the team and where they were drafted at. Several key players barely missed the cut including Antoine Winfield Jr., Vita Vea and Jordan Whitehead.

5. Jamel Dean, 3rd round, 2019 NFL Draft

Tampa Bay cornerback Jamal Dean is quickly establishing himself as one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. This season, Dean was graded out as the second-best player on the Tampa Bay defense by Pro Football Focus. Also according to Pro Football Focus, he was the third-highest graded second-year defender, just behind former first-round picks Jeffery Simmons and Quinnen Williams. Dean also had an outstanding rookie season as he set an NFL rookie record with 17 pass deflections.

The main reason Dean fell to the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, was due to injury concerns. He tore his meniscus in both his junior and senior year of high school, which caused him to be medically disqualified by Ohio State who he originally signed with coming out of high school. There were also some questions about his ball skills as he only had two interceptions in college.

Look for Dean to team up with rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and third-year safety Jordan Whitehead to form one of the better secondaries in Tampa Bay for years to come.