Hindsight is 20/20, but looking back, the Buccaneers’ 2021 draft does not look so great from any angle. First-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was a bust, and only second-round pick Kyle Trask is still on the roster, likely to be a career backup quarterback. The Bucs’ strategy of focusing on special teams and high-upside, low-floor prospects backfired in almost every possible way.

Frankly, the 2021 draft class was weak overall, thanks to the NCAA eligibility adjustments made for the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the Bucs could have avoided many of their roster woes by simply taking good players that would have made sense even without knowing the players they would become.

This is the Bucs’ ideal re-draft of the 2021 NFL Draft:

Round 1: C/G Creed Humphrey

Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the second round, Humphrey is now one of, if not the best, center in the NFL. Heading into the 2021 season, the Bucs were set at offensive line, but come 2022, the interior line would lose three starters, though likely only one the Bucs saw coming: right guard Alex Cappa, who left in free agency. Humphrey would not see the field for the Bucs in 2021, but he would still provide quality depth and a succession plan for Cappa. It would just so happen that he would be able to anchor the line through 2022 when it would lose Ali Marpet to retirement and Ryan Jensen to a career-ending knee injury.

Round 2: DT Osa Odighizuwa

Tampa Bay’s defensive line depth was the only real need over the 2021 offseason. Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul were both over 30 and showing signs of decline. The Bucs drafted Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in the first round, but he never lived up to his physical potential. Dallas defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa ended up being one of the best pass-rushers to come out of the 2021 draft and would have been a more useful player in 2021 and beyond than Tampa Bay’s actual second-round pick, quarterback Kyle Trask.

Round 3: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

Wide receiver did not appear to be a major area of need during the 2021 draft, but it was the position that came up short down the stretch. There was no way to know Chris Godwin would tear his ACL halfway through the season, but Antonio Brown’s on-field meltdown was a little more predictable.

Amon-Ra St. Brown is now one of the league’s best wide receivers, and would have been a viable pick even before knowing his meteoric rise in Detroit. Taking Humphrey in the first round would have made the Robert Hainsey pick redundant here, and if it isn’t clear after the 2024 draft, the Bucs like to stay stocked at receiver.

Round 4: RB Chuba Hubbard

While the Bucs had great faith in Leonard Fournette to carry the Bucs’ run game, the rest of the running backs on the roster were less than productive, relying on the likes of Ronald Jones and the aging husk of Le’Veon Bell. Chuba Hubbard is a reliable ball carrier who forces missed tackles like clockwork. He also would have been a decent insurance plan for Fournette’s precipitous decline after signing a three-year extension in 2022.

Round 5: LB K.J. Britt

By the fifth round, draft talent really began to dry up. K.J. Britt was about as productive as any linebacker or special-teams player taken in this range. The Bucs lacked any depth at linebacker before taking Britt, who would end up starting by 2023. There isn’t much reason for the Bucs to take any other player at this point.

Round 7: OT Alaric Jackson

Tampa Bay’s original pick was cornerback Chris Wilcox, who was cut before training camp. Alaric Jackson went undrafted and probably should have gone even higher than round seven or even Day 3 of the draft. Donovan Smith had one more year on his contract, but taking a swing on a developmental pass blocker like Jackson would have made just as much sense as taking one on a defensive back who has never taken a snap in the NFL.

Round 7: LB Grant Stuard

Mr. Irrelevant provided almost as much return on value as any other pick in the Bucs’ 2021 draft. While Stuard only played special teams for one season in Tampa Bay, his trade to Indianapolis yielded a 2022 sixth-round pick. The weak undrafted free agent class makes this pick as good as any the Bucs could have otherwise made here.