The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are thought to be focusing on their defensive line during this year’s NFL draft, and could do that either on the edge or on the interior.
The Bucs will make their opening selection at No. 15 this Thursday night. Tampa Bay owns seven picks, including three in the top 100.
BucsRoundtable is taking a closer look at potential fits for the Bucs, with respect to the current roster, positions of need, and the X's and O's of the team's on-field schemes.
Bucs Roundtable's previous profiles of top defensive talent in the 2026 draft include defensive ends Cashius Howell from Texas A&M and Miami Hurricane Akheem Mesidor as well as elite linebackers like Indiana's Aiden Fisher and Georgia's CJ Allen, and Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr.
Here, we feature Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton.
By the time his college career ended, Halton established himself as one of the best pass-rushing lineman in America. He combined for 58 pressures over his last two college seasons, and his 30 in 2025 ranked 21st out of 887 DL.
A big reason Halton was able to generate pressure was his relentless motor, and that energy could translate to the NFL.
Many defensive tackles struggle to maintain a uptempo pace throughout four quarters of football. This hasn’t been a problem for Halton.
Halton played at Oklahoma for all four of his college seasons, becoming a semi-regular starter in 2025. He played in 10 games as a reserve during his true freshman season in 2022, then 11 as a reserve in 2023 before starting three games as a junior.
Halton started seven games in 2025, playing in all 13 and helping Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff. He ended the season with 33 tackles, 3.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss.
“He’s really matured into a fantastic, emotional, well-versed leader. He speaks in front of the team and guys listen,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said last November. “They do that because of the amount of time, effort and energy he's put into his career.
"Couldn't be more proud of him and the way he's just kind of grown up through the last several years.”
Along with his pass-rushing ability, scouts have noticed Halton is agile on his feet and controls his body well, which helps him defend the run. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein described Halton as "best suited for a rotational role in a movement-based front."
"He plays with synced hands and feet and good lateral agility," Zierlein wrote.
Halton weighs less than 300 pounds (293), which, considering his position, will raise some questions. This relative lack of size leads to him having a lack of leverage, which makes it more difficult for him to control his gap.
"His initial quickness makes him quite slippery but a centered block can clear him from the run lane due to his lack of mass/anchor," Zierlein wrote.
At this year's NFL combine, Halton ran the 40-yard-dash in 4.82 seconds, which is well above average for an NFL defensive tackle. His vertical jump of 36.5 inches, was more than six inches above the average for his position group, and his broad jump of 9 feet, 6 inches -- again, well above average.
NFL.com gave Halton a production score of 71, which ranked sixth amongst NFL defensive tackles.
The Mock Draft Database has Halton as the No. 77 overall prospect, which would put him in the third round. Pewter Plank had the Bucs taking Halton in the fourth round in one of its mocks, and Buccaneers.com had the team drafting Halton in the third round.
Tampa’s defensive tackle room currently consists of 31-year-old Vita Vea, who’s entering his ninth season with the franchise, as well as fellow 31-year-old A’Shawn Robinson, who the team signed from the Carolina Panthers in free agency, and 25-year-old Calijah Kancey, who has played in 28 games over three seasons due to injury.