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The Buccaneers’ worst draft pick in five years

Is it a kicker, a trade or someone else?

Buffalo Bills v Tampa Bay Buccaneers Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

What is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ worst draft pick in the past five years? It’s actually not as disastrous a pick as you’d think, really.

It might be Mark Barron, who gave the Bucs a couple of okay years and a pair of draft picks in trade. It might be Darrelle Revis, costing a first- and third-round pick as well as $16 million for a single year of good-but-not-great play. Or 2014 second-round pick Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who flashed some skills but contributed far too little for his draft slot.

If you ask SB Nation’s Jon Benne, Christian D’Andrea and Jeanna Thomas, though, the answer is last year’s second-round pick: Roberto Aguayo.

The Bucs traded up to draft a kicker in the second round. Let me repeat that: the Bucs traded up to draft a kicker in the second round. A kicker who’s already facing veteran competition because he was so bad in his rookie season. GM Jason Licht has quietly built a solid roster in Tampa, but this is some serious red on his ledger.

That’s a little harsh, but perhaps not too unfair. The trade up was worse than just any trade up, too: the Bucs gave up a lot of value to get Aguayo, using a third- and fourth-round pick to jump up into the second round.

Still, if Aguayo is the worst pick Jason Licht makes, that’s a pretty good result. Aguayo isn’t even a bust, at least not yet: if he puts it together this year, he should be just fine in the long run. And while that may not live up to the value the Bucs gave up for him, it’s not like a good and consistent kicker is that easy to come by.

Personally, I’d say Revis was the Bucs’ worst pick. Not technically a draft pick, but the Bucs could have done a lot of things with the two picks and $16 million they gave up for him.