NFL Draft: Buccaneers Top 10 in Getting Value with Picks Since 2012

In an ESPN analysis of draft pick value, the Bucs are among the best.

David Harrison | Apr 23, 2022

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has taken a lot of flack for his draft misses while getting little appreciation for his hits.

Despite the fact almost the entire Buccaneers starting roster are on the team because of picks, trades, or contracts spearheaded by Licht and the Bucs front office, there are still those who believe the general manager's impact on the team is little to none.

Buccaneers general manager, Jason Licht

Buccaneers wide receivers Chris Godwin (No. 12) and Mike Evans (No. 13)

Kwon Alexander, Buccaneers — Douglas DeFelice | 2018 Sep 24

Former Buccaneers linebacker, Kwon Alexander

ESPN would disagree, ranking Tampa Bay in the Top 10 of teams who have gotten the most value out of their NFL Draft picks, using a metric they call the Career Approximate Value Over Expected. CAVOE for short.

"To evaluate the players taken in each of the past 10 NFL drafts (2012-2021), we used Approximate Value (AV) -- Pro Football Reference's method of measuring the performance of every NFL player," writes ESPN. "We took each player's career AV and measured it against a value based on where that player was taken in the NFL draft..."

This metric was only applied to NFL Draft classes starting in 2012, but in that stretch, the Buccaneers come in ninth overall with a CAVOE of 65.1.

Of course, going back to 2012 means this valuation includes picks made before Licht's tenure began, but three of the team's Top 5 individual CAVOE scores come from players taken by the current general manager.

The top score of all Bucs belongs to linebacker Lavonte David who racks up an impressive CAVOE of 48 after being a second-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Asked to predict the lowest score of all individual players, just about every Tampa Bay fan would likely guess it belonged to kicker Roberto Aguayo. And they'd be wrong.

Instead, that distinction belongs to 2013 second-round pick Johnthan Banks, the cornerback from Mississippi State who spent three full seasons with the Buccaneers before spending his last two with multiple teams including the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Houston Texans.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Lavonte David (No. 54)

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Lavonte David (No. 54)

Licht's lowest CAVOE score for an individual player belongs to none other than defensive end Noah Spence from the team's 2016 NFL Draft class.

Finishing first in this ESPN valuation exercise is the Seattle Seahawks, while the New York Jets rank all the way at the bottom, at No. 32.

The New Orleans Saints are the only NFC South team ranked ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming in eighth in the rankings.

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!

Published Apr 23, 2022

DAVID HARRISON

David Harrison has been in sports media since 2015 using written, audio, and video media to cover athletes, coaches, and games. In addition to covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for BucsGameday and Locked On Bucs he also covers the Washington Commanders for Commander Country and Locked On Commanders and the Washington Wizards for Inside the Wizards. David also covers the NFL as a whole as one of the Friday hosts for Locked On NFL. He is a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and previously spent 20 years as an active member of the United States Army. Contact David via email at david.w.harrison82@gmail.com or on Twitter @DHarrison82.