Minutes after sending No. 45 to the Lions, the Packers moved down again. They sent No. 48 to the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay sent Nos. 50 and 179 to Green Bay for the right to move up.
With the pick, the Buccaneers took North Dakota State guard Cody Mauch. The Bucs experienced steady trouble at guard last year, after losing Alex Cappa in free agency and ex-small-school find Ali Marpet to retirement. Injuries gripped the Bucs, who have since traded Shaq Mason to the Texans.
Tampa Bay now has Mauch and Matt Feiler in the interior O-line mix. The team signed Feiler late in free agency. Mauch finished his career at the Division I-FCS power as a two-time first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree. This marks the second straight year in which Tampa Bay has chosen a second-round guard. The team added Luke Goedeke in Round 2 last year.
Mauch originally arrived in Fargo as a lean tight end at 6-foot-5, 221 pounds. The Bison worked their magic, bulking him up to 6-foot-6 and 303 pounds as they molded him into an NFL-ready offensive tackle. His final form at NDSU was a team captain and FCS offensive lineman of the year. He heads to Tampa Bay to compete for a starting job in a new-look offense.
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