In addition to his playmaking abilities, White could quickly become an emotional leader on the field for the Bucs' defense, just as he did at an early age at LSU.

"When I was growing up I was always thrown into a leadership role by being the best player," he said. "When I got to LSU, there were a lot of guys that were way better than me and those guys showed me just what you can do when you put in hard work and you don't say much. Guys will follow you just because you're doing it the right way. And I was really big on doing it the right way."

The Buccaneers' three defensive backfield picks are all playmakers; as Director of Player Personnel John Spytek said on Friday evening while discussing the Bunting selection, "I think if you're going to take a cornerback that high, he needs to get the ball back." Bunting and Edwards both had high interception totals in college and Dean broke up 17 passes over the past two years after coming back from several knee injuries.

"I would say my best attribute is being able to just take the ball out of the air," said Bunting. "I'm a ball hawk. I consider myself a receiving defensive back, so that's just something I take pride in being able to take the ball away and get it back to the offense and also getting my hands on it, getting physical. A lot of corners don't get physical at the line of scrimmage. A lot of them kind of like to open up and run and that's the part of my game that I like to elevate more and more each year and that's going to make me elevate my game in every way possible."

Bunting could compete immediately for the open slot-corner job but will likely be a long-term solution on the outside. The same could be true of the speedy Dean. Edwards played all over the field for the Wildcats and, as Licht noted above, the Bucs' new staff loves defensive versatility.

"I've got the speed, I've got the IQ," said Dean. "I'm glad that Tampa Bay gave me this opportunity so now I can prove myself every more because I feel like a lot of teams slept on me, but Tampa really had faith in me."

Said Edwards of filling multiple roles: "I love it. That's what I did at Kentucky. I did a lot of things. I played safety, corner, nickel – I played everything in the back end. I feel that I can help out the Bucs as soon as possible, any way possible. I feel like wherever they need me at, I can [play the position]. I can blitz, cover, play deep-middle – anything. I think I can fit into their scheme really well."

Because it's impossible to address every position of need with a limited number of draft picks, the Buccaneers headed into Day Three without a new addition for their defensive front line. White's all-around impact was too good to pass up in the opening frame and the team clearly prioritized mending a porous secondary on Day Two. However, early in Round Four the Bucs found a front-line defender who has the chance to be very productive in their new defense in Iowa's Anthony Nelson.

"With Anthony, we had him ranked pretty high on our board," said Licht. "He plays really hard, he's a good athlete, he bends very well. He has good speed to power, he's got really good instincts. We will probably play him a little bit in the outside linebacker role. We will see if he can rush inside. We'll have plenty of 4-3 looks in our defense. It's not just a base 3-4 all the time. So, we like the versatility and you have to be intelligent to do all those things with Todd [Bowles], so he fits that mold."

After the Gay and Miller picks, the Buccaneers went back to the defensive well one last time with the first pick of the seventh round. They had acquired that selection in the January trade that facilitated the hiring of Arians, giving up a sixth-rounder to the Arizona Cardinals. Tampa Bay used it land one more potential asset on the defensive front, Missouri's Terry Beckner Jr. Beckner will primarily be a 3-4 end and could help solidify the middle of the line. Beckner also had some success rushing the passer at Mizzou the past two years.

"Terry went through some adversity there early in his career, with knee injuries, one on each side," said Licht. "Then he's played, I think, 26 consecutive games now, two years in a row. He's really tough. Love the kid. Love the grit that he has, where he's grown up in East St. Louis. It would be tough for me to walk a day in his shoes, some of the things that he's had to go through. He's an awesome kid – smart, instinctive player. Like I said, strong, like the way he plays. He's going to compete I know and he's got a good chance to make this football team if he plays the way he did at Missouri and the way we evaluated him."