There were a group of four offensive tackles seen as likely top picks heading into the first round of the draft and three of them came off the board in the first 11 selections on Thursday night.
Former Iowa right tackle Tristan Wirfs was the last of the quartet on the board and the Buccaneers traded up to get him after the Raiders selected wide receiver Henry Ruggs at No. 12. General Manager Jason Licht said the team was “getting a little frustrated” as the tackles came off the board and didn’t want to miss out on a blocker to help protect Tom Brady.
“We saw that the run on tackles happened a little bit later than we expected,” Licht said, via ESPN.com. “And then we thought that there’s a chance that someone could come up and get him. We didn’t want to risk it. And as [coach] Bruce [Arians] says, ‘No risk it, no biscuit.’ And so we had to give up a little capital to get him, but in this case, we thought because of the player and the position, but especially the player, it was worth it.”
The Bucs gave up a fourth-round pick and got a seventh-rounder back from the 49ers for the chance to move up one spot in the order. They traded their other fourth-rounder earlier in the week for tight end Rob Gronkowski.