Bucs 2016 NFL Draft trade ranked among the worst in league history
Bucs 2016 NFL Draft trade ranked among the worst in league history
The recent run of success for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has had its fans forget about the rough sledding they dealt with in the 2010s up to 2020. Winning a Super Bowl helps with that, and a recent run of division titles also doesn't hurt.
General manager Jason Licht joined the franchise in 2014 and was tasked with turning the team around. His early drafts were not considered successful by any stretch of the imagination, and as Bleacher Report sheds light on his 2016 draft specifically, it came with some historically bad trades.
That trade involved moving up for Roberto Aguayo, a historically accurate kicker for the Florida State Seminoles who proved to be anything but once he came to the NFL.
Kristopher Knox writes, "In the 2016 draft, Tampa made the curious decision to trade up and draft kicker Roberto Aguayo in the second round. That's right, the Buccaneers traded up to draft a kicker in Round 2. The move to No. 59 cost Tampa the 74th and 106th overall selections. In return, the Bucs got 16 games and a 71-percent field-goal rate out of Aguayo, who was waived during the 2017 preseason and hasn't appeared in a regular-season game since."
Licht survived that trade and pick of Aguayo, as well as the picks of Vernon Hargreaves and Noah Spence in that same year. By all intents and purposes, it will go down as one of the worst draft classes in recent history.
Credit to Jason Licht, though, it seems he has fixed his methods, and his staff have now mastered their craft. Look no further than the complete roster they have seemingly built in recent drafts.
They say sometimes you have to fall down to get back up. In Jason Licht's case, he had to fall off Mount Everest to climb back up it.
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He caught one of his two targets for eight yards in his rookie season, followed by 16 catches for 151 yards in 2023 and 18 catches for 105 yards on 28 targets last year. Other Options: Stone Smartt, Zack Kuntz, Neal Johnson Andres Carlson, NYJ Over the past three seasons, Carlson had a starting kicking job once for the Packers in 2023. He's made 40 of 48 field goals in his career, with success from 50 yards or more (6-for-8). Carlson missed six of his 15 tries from 40 to 49 yards while struggling with extra points (85.2% success rate). Carlson will compete with Caden Davis for the Jets' starting job. Over the last two seasons, he made 102 of his 104 extra points with 89.7% of his field goal chances going through the uprights. Fantasy Outlook: Last year, the Jets scored 40 touchdowns while creating 28 field goal attempts. Their kicker offers no fantasy value until one leg emerges. Carlson should emerge, and he has signs of being a better player with more confidence. The Jets' defense ranked 17th in rushing yards (2,059), with ball carriers averaging 29.5 rushes per game (4.1 YPC). New York allowed 22 touchdowns on the ground but only four runs of 20 yards or more (fourth lowest in the league). They finished fifth in passing yards allowed (3,588), allowing 18 touchdowns and 43 sacks. Their defense only had seven interceptions; Quarterbacks gained 6.9 yards per pass attempt with a 62.8% completion rate. This article was originally published on as New York Jets Team Preview: Key Fantasy Players And Projections. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
