It’s a sad situation for the Bucks as Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season comes to a close. A four-game losing streak and a 4-6 record in the bye week means conversations about draft positions and mock drafts are more valuable than conversations about playoff contention and how far this team can go in January. means.
Longtime Buccaneers fans are well aware that every November they talk about next year’s draft, but ever since the team made the playoffs in 2020 and won Super Bowl LV, draft talk has stopped. It has been significantly postponed until the end of the month or the beginning of the month. February. Tampa Bay currently holds the NFC’s longest playoff streak (four), but with seven games remaining this season, that streak appears to be in serious jeopardy.
But there’s a problem for those looking to pay attention to the 2025 NFL Draft: The Bucs may not go very high in the draft.
The Bucks aren’t bad enough to be near the bottom of the NFL.
Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
At 4-6, the Bucks aren’t quite out of the playoff picture yet. But that kind of performance leaves them in a no-man’s land, as they are a few games away from becoming a postseason team and a few games away from joining the ranks of the league’s worst teams.
Particularly in this year’s NFL, middling performance is probably more of an issue than ever in terms of draft position. That’s because the bottom of the league is very crowded right now. It may not be as messy as it is now, but let’s take a quick look at the top of the current situation. 2025 Tankasson Draft Order It also shows how much “competition” there is for a top-five pick.
The teams currently scheduled to pick from No. 1 to No. 6 have only won two games. Teams with 3 wins follow from 7th to 11th place. With four wins, the Bucks will be placed in the next group, which includes teams ranked 12th through 17th. Given the strength of the schedule (and the fact that some of the teams with four wins are 4-4 or 4-5 instead of 4-6), Tampa Bay ranks first among that collection of teams. You can see that it is located. General manager Jason Richt and his staff currently plan to go with the No. 14 pick.
There are still eight weeks left in the regular season, so there’s plenty of time to make a difference. Teams with 2 and 3 wins could pick up more wins and be more concentrated in the middle of the league rather than at the bottom. But at this stage of the season, we have a pretty good idea of what the teams are and where they’re headed going forward.
Post-bye schedule likely leads to more Bucks wins
Bucks QB Baker Mayfield – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Not only are the Bucks better than the last team in the league, but considering their final seven-game schedule after the bye week, it’s very likely their final record will be around .500.
Goodbye after week 11Tampa Bay will face the New York Giants, who are 2-8 on the road. They will then play the Panthers, who are 3-7, before returning home to face the Raiders, who are 2-7. A visit from the West against the 6-3 Chargers will be tough, but Sunday night’s game against the 3-6 Dak Prescott-less Cowboys and the 3-7 Panthers and 3-0 A home game against the Saints, who have lost seven, will make up the final three games. Bucks game development.
So in their final seven games, Tampa Bay will play six games against teams below .500. Todd Bowles’ team has fallen off big since starting 3-1, but it’s not down yet. that far. A 4-3 record against these teams is pretty bad considering the level of competition, but it still leaves the Bucks at 8-9. Whether they go 5-2 and reach 8-9 or 6-1 and reach 10-7, if they improve, their final record will be outside the playoffs and outside the top 10. This will be a sufficient score. 2025 Draft.
Where the Bucks could draft in 2025
Bucks assistant GM John Spytek and GM Jason Licht – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
The most likely scenario right now is for the Bucks to finish somewhere between eight and 10 wins. In 2024, the highest selection by a team with an 8-9 record was the Broncos, 12th overall. The team with the highest draft pick (9 wins and 8 losses) was the Saints, who had the 14th overall pick, while the team with 10 wins and the highest non-playoff draft pick was the Rams, who had the 19th pick.
The Bucks’ overall strength of schedule is solid, so the draft position will likely be pushed further down as well. If they finish in line with many other teams with eight to 10 wins, their strength of schedule could very well be at or near the top of their group.
The Bucks currently have the 14th overall pick in the 2025 draft. The strength of schedule is .521, which is the best of the three teams with 4 wins and 6 losses. The more this team continues to win, the later the April pick will ultimately be.
So, on this path right now, Tampa Bay might choose someone in the late teens. Of course, there can be great players regardless of which team is drafting them. Richt and his staff have proven that over the years. But in a season like this, where the streak of playoffs and district titles seems to be coming to an end, not even getting a premium pick in the 2025 NFL Draft may be just salt in the wound.
