TAMPA, Fla. — As the second day of the NFL Draft continues with teams making their selections, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcomed two new players to their team – Cody Mauch and YaYa Diaby.
With the Bucs welcoming defensive tackle Calijah Kancey of Pitt during the first day of the draft, the team first selected offensive tackle Cody Mauch as its No. 48 overall pick.
Tampa Bay traded picks 50 and 179 with the Green Bay Packers for pick 48.
Mauch, who graduated from North Dakota State University, started 39 consecutive games over his final three seasons, two at right tackle and the last 37 at left tackle. He also appeared in every game from 2019-2022.
The newest Buc was part of a Bison program that went 78-8 with four NCAA Division I FCS national championships and four Missouri Valley Football Conference titles over his six years.
Mauch is the third non-BCS offensive lineman selected by General Manager Jason Licht on Day 2 of the NFL Draft for Tampa Bay, joining Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa.
The Minnesota native, who went to a high school in a town of less than 1,000 people, will join the Buccaneers for the 2023 NFL season.
Joining him will be defensive end YaYa Diaby, who was selected by the Bucs as the team's No. 82 overall pick.
In 2022, Diaby started all 13 games at Louisville and finished with 37 total tackled. He came in second on the team in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (9).
The defensive lineman recorded two quarterback hurries in the win again NC State while also being credited with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks versus Cincinnati in the Fenway Bowl.
Diaby reportedly chose Louisville over Arizona, Florida State, Colorado, Kansas State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas Tech, UCF, West Virginia and Utah.
As an Atlanta native, Diaby will be coming to his new home just down south to join the Buccaneers for the 2023 NFL season.
The Bucs have five more picks to go in the NFL Draft:
- Round 5, Pick 19, 153rd Overall
- Round 5, Pick 41, 175th Overall
- Round 6, Pick 4, 181st Overall
- Round 6, Pick 19, 196th Overall
- Round 7, Pick 35, 252nd Overall
The release of many players, including Leonard Fournette, Donovan Smith, Cameron Brate and Ryan Succop, gives the Buccaneers the opportunity to strengthen its team for the 2023 season.
The NFL Draft takes place over three days. The first round was held Thursday. The second and third rounds happened on Friday, April 28, and rounds four through seven will continue on Saturday.
10 Tampa Bay's Leo Santos and Jordan Highsmith contributed to this article.
