The Shine Bowl has come and gone. After a week of practices leading up, we finally got to see these players take the field in one of the biggest showcase games of the offseason. All 32 teams were paying close attention to what was going on here this week.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were no exception to this. The Bucs have a history of drafting players from the Shrine Bowl. Last year it was SMU defensive lineman Elijah Roberts. Perhaps we will see another player drafted from this event in 2026.Â
Several players certainly improved their draft position from an impressive week of practice. Many put themselves on my radar as potential fits with the Bucs. Here are my five Shrine Bowl winners from the week that was.
Caden Barnett, OG, Wyoming
Barnett just screams the profile of a Jason Licht offensive lineman. He played offensive tackle in college, but projects to the inside at the NFL level. This is the small school gem that the Bucs have had a great eye for over the last decade or so.
The best way to describe Barnett is that the dude plays mean. At 6 ‘5 and 320 lbs, he is a mauling guard prospect who wants to be physical. He isn’t fantastic while working in space, but for a developmental back up for the Bucs there are a lot of tools to work with here.
Cole Wisniewski, DB, Texas TechÂ
It’s the guys on the defensive line who get the most attention for the Red Raiders defense, but Wisniewski shouldn’t be overlooked. He played five years at North Dakota State before transferring to Texas Tech for this last season. In just his third season playing safety after starting his career as a linebacker, Wisniewski looks very natural.Â
The first thing I noticed about Wosniewski was his length and how well he moves at his size. Being 6 ‘4 and 220 lbs. It’s just hard to create separation against him in condensed areas like the red zone. We saw that in the Shrine Bowl game where he had great coverage to prevent a touchdown pass. This would make a fantastic depth signing in the Buccaneers safety room.Â
Keyshawn James-Newby, DT, New MexicoÂ
James-Newby just keeps moving up his level of competition and keeps putting up productive numbers. He had 9.0 sacks at New Mexico last year and 10.5 at Idaho in 2024. Now in a week where he saw opponents from the SEC and other big conferences, he looks very disruptive once again.Â
All week it seemed like James-Newby was popping up in different reports as a guy who caught the eye. And while he didn’t light the world on fire in the actual game, he did get credit for a pair of quarterback hits. If you’re a team like Tampa who is looking for an explosive, bendy pass rusher who plays very hard then this is exactly the type of guy you would want.
Jaden Dugger, LB, LouisianaÂ
There will be a lot of talk in this draft about Sonny Styles, who is a 6 ‘4 and 240 lbs linebacker who converted from safety. Well all of those things apply to Dugger as well. He played safety at Georgetown before transferring to Louisiana to play linebacker in 2024.
Dugger led the Sun Belt in solo tackles last season. He also had 13.0 tackles for loss and impressed many with his fluidity in coverage at the Shrine Bowl practices. Dugger won’t go until the third day of the draft, but the Buccaneers should definitely be looking to add him to their roster.
Jalen Huskey, DB, MarylandÂ
An under the radar need for the Buccaneers is a rangy coverage safety. We saw how valuable that was, even in a rotational role, when the team had Mike Edwards as part of their Super Bowl defense. The need that guy to free up a star like Antione Winfield Jr to play more around the line of scrimmage and less on the back end.
Husky has excellent range and coverage skills. He comes off as very confident and more than a bit abrasive, which could be a red flag for some. However, he was named the practice player of the week at his position by the coaching staff which tells me that he’s not too much of a diva to where he isn’t putting in the work.
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