The Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought the whole band back together after their Super Bowl title season in 2020, but not only that, they managed to get even better and deeper in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Buccaneers added depth at key positions early and often in the 2021 Draft, taking pass rusher Joe Tryon, quarterback Kyle Trask, and offensive tackle Robert Hainsey.
After the first two days of the draft, the Bucs took some shots on day three, including in the fourth round on North Texas wide receiver Jaelon Darden.
Darden, listed at just under 5-foot-8, 174 pounds, ranks in the bottom five percentile at the wide receiver position in terms of his size, but he is an explosive playmaker especially out of the slot.
We all know how much Tom Brady loves a good slot receiver.
Bucs WR Jaelon Darden slot stats since 2019 | among all CFB players:
— PFF (@PFF) May 4, 2021
🔺131 catches (1st)
🔺26 REC TDs (1st)
4th-round 💎 joining the Super Bowl Champions pic.twitter.com/4IaSJ1uEAM
We also know that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could use some help in the return game. Jaydon Mickens led the Bucs last year with 99 punt return yards, and although the Bucs defense is going to try to force more turnovers than punts, there’s no doubt that having an explosive player like Jaelon Darden back there when teams do have to punt on Tampa Bay is going to make this squad even more complete.
Bruce Arians talked during the 2021 NFL Draft about how he and Tom Brady are in constant communication and that Brady was really excited about the Jaelon Darden pick.
Arians even compared Darden to Emmanuel Sanders coming out of SMU when Arians worked with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time.
Although the Buccaneers have a firmly established top three at the position in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown, there’s no question about the fact that opportunities will be there for Darden to take some snaps perhaps from Scotty Miller and over the course of a 17-game season, the Bucs will want him to get some reps in case he’s needed throughout the postseason.
One thing that Darden really brings to the table is the ability to maximize every touch. He caught nearly 150 passes over the last two seasons for North Texas, and 31 of them went for touchdowns. Perhaps most impressively, as the focal point of the offense, his yards per catch average went from 9.7 in 2019 to 16.1 in 2020.
With the way Brady raises all boats and has been so good with getting slot receivers involved through the years, you’ve got to love Darden’s upside even in his rookie season with such a veteran-laden roster.