Tampa Bay used Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft on Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., but the Buccaneers are not done looking at the defensive line. They could still add one more reinforcement at defensive tackle, and Chris McClellan is among the names in that conversation.
McClellan’s case starts with production and ends with projection. He weighed 313 pounds, carried 34-inch arms and posted a broad jump in the 96th percentile, all while putting together a 2025 season at Missouri that gave evaluators a clean view of his upside. PFF Data cited games watched from 2025 South Carolina, 2025 Arkansas and 2025 Texas A&M, part of the tape used to measure how his game translated against SEC competition.
Before he reached Missouri, McClellan was already known as a top recruit. He arrived at Florida in the 2022 recruiting class as a four-star prospect from Owasso, Oklahoma, then played 25 games for the Gators and finished with 46 tackles and 1.5 sacks. After the 2023 season, he transferred to Missouri and became a far more disruptive force.
Over two seasons with the Tigers, McClellan played 26 games and produced 87 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks against SEC competition. His 2025 season was the best of his college career, with 48 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks. He also posted a stop rate in the 93rd percentile, a marker that speaks to how often he finished plays before they turned into gains.
That matters to Tampa Bay because the Buccaneers’ interior picture is unsettled. Vita Vea is entering a contract year, Greg Gaines and Logan Hall are gone, and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson came in on one-year deals. The team has already addressed one edge spot with Bain, but it still has reason to keep searching for a defensive tackle who can help now and fit into whatever comes after Vea.
The question for McClellan is whether his college surge becomes something more than a strong final-year résumé. His best tape came in 2025, his measurements fit the profile, and his production against the SEC was real. For a Buccaneers front trying to balance the present and the next contract cycle, that is enough to keep him on the board.
