27 Days, 27 Picks: DT Warren Sapp

In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.

And now we get to the 1995 NFL draft. With three picks to go, the next two were both drafted in the first round in 1995 — and both became Hall of Famers. The first of those two revolutionized the defensive tackle position and was named defensive player of the year in 1999.

Check out the draft rundown on Warren Sapp below:

College Accolades

Photo By USA TODAY Sports

Warren Sapp played college football at Miami. He was named to the All-Big East first team in 1993 and 1994, was second-team All-American in 1993, a unanimous first-team All-American in 1994 and was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 1994. He won the Bruno Nagurski Trophy, the Bill Willis Trophy and the Lombardi award in 1994.

Pre-Draft Measurements

USA TODAY Sports

These are the only available values for Sapp’s combine.

Pick Selected

USA TODAY Sports

Warren Sapp was selected with the No. 12 overall pick in the 1995 NFL draft.

Player selected before him: DE Derrick Alexander, Minnesota Vikings

Player selected after him: LB Mark Fields, New Orleans Saints

NFL Stats

Matthew Stockman /Allsport

Warren Sapp played 13 seasons in the NFL, nine for the Bucs and four for the Raiders. He was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1999, was voted as a first-team All-Pro four consecutive times from 1999-02, was a second-team All-Pro in 1997-98, made seven consecutive pro bowls from 1997-03 and was named to the All-Decade Team in the 1990s and the 2000s.

Player Footage

Pick Analysis

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Tough one, huh?

Sapp was not only one of the Bucs’ greatest players, but one of the greatest defensive tackles to play the game of football — his gold jacket is well warranted. His style of play essentially became the prototype for what would become the “three-tech” defensive tackle, and NFL teams have been chasing his production and prowess since. He was instrumental in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl victory in 2002, and although he didn’t stick around much longer after that, he was a major centerpiece for the team’s vaunted defense in the 1990s and early 2000s.

And the craziest thing? He wasn’t even the only Hall of Famer the Bucs drafted in the first round that year…

Story originally appeared on Buccaneers Wire