Best Bucs Draft ever- 1995? Not so fast…check out what we got from ’96!

It’s misleading of course, because when you think of draft, you consider the players that YOU draft yourself. So the Bucs trip to pick up new talent in 1995 is mostly remembered as the best because of the coup in the first round that netted Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks. Well taking a closer look at the 1996 NFL draft, we see Tampa Bay getting some good defensive line help in Reagan Upshaw and Marcus Jones, and we know we got a solid starter in the secondary in Donnie Abraham. But what most people forget, is we also got the Number 1 and Number 3 players taken in the 1996 NFL first round too! Keyshawn Johnson was the first player taken in the 1996 draft, and we traded our 2000 first round draft pick for him. Then we also got (one year later) the 3rd player taken in the 1996 draft, DE Simeon Rice too! It’s no wonder the Bucs became perennial playoff participants! Oh and for the 2002 SuperBowl run, we got the  9th player taken in the 1996 Draft, TE Ricky Dudley too! 1st, 3rd, 9th, 12th and 22nd players taken in the 1996 NFL Draft ended up on Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl team! The second round just landed some running back named Alstott.