27 Days, 27 Picks: DE Marcus Jones
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.
Our next player is the second DE the Bucs drafted in the first round in 1996. While he had a very impressive two-season stretch, he didn’t stick around the team for long.
Check out the draft rundown on Marcus Jones below:
College Accolades
CRAIG JONES/ALLSPORT
Marcus Jones played football at North Carolina. He was a consensus All-American and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 1995.
Pre-Draft Measurements
Getty Images
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
6 ft 6 in | 283 lbs | 34. 13 in | 10.63 in | 5.14s | 4.57s | 30 1/2 in | 9 ft 11 in | 33 reps |
Pick Selected
Getty Images
Marcus Jones was selected with the No. 22 pick in the 1996 NFL draft.
Player selected before him: OT Pete Kendall, Seattle Seahawks
Player selected after him: OG Jeff Hartings, Detroit Lions
NFL Stats
Andy Lyons/Allsport
Marcus Jones played six seasons in the NFL, all for the Bucs.
Year | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Scks |
1996 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 25 | 1.0 |
1997 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 |
1998 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.0 |
1999 | 16 | 26 | 5 | 31 | 7.0 |
2000 | 16 | 29 | 7 | 36 | 13.0 |
2001 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 3.0 |
Total | 85 | 91 | 33 | 124 | 24.0 |
Pick Analysis
Jonathan Daniel /Allsport
Aside from a weirdly stellar year in 2000 where he netted 13 sacks, Jones certainly wasn’t worth the first-round billing.
The second of two DEs the Bucs picked in the first round in 1996 (for some reason) was mainly a rotational player, starting just 39 of the 85 games total he played. In that respect, he did well, getting seven sacks in 1999 while only starting four games and then his 2000 year, but he only stuck around in Tampa Bay for six years and it took him three of those years to get up and running — by the time he had his most productive seasons, he was out of the league two years later.
Thankfully, the team had their two first-rounders from 1995 to lean back on.
