Bauer
Sharp.
Bauer
Sharp.
LSU· 6'5"· 249 lb· 4.63s 40
R6 · #185 · Tampa Bay Buccaneers"Move H-back/F tight end with quarterback-brain versatility, honest ball skills, and one legitimate 4.63 vertical gear — but sub-32" arms and a light play weight cap the Y ceiling."Pre-draft read
Operates across the formation as an inline Y, wing, sniffer, and slot receiver, occasionally triggering Wildcat plays. Processes coverage like a former quarterback, winning with option routes, seam bends, and shallow crossers where he settles into voids and adjusts stems. Hands are natural, plucking away from his frame with documented one-handed grabs.
In the run game, he works willingly and technically sound at the second level, pinning and mirroring 4-techniques rather than displacing them. His athletic profile emphasizes straight-line acceleration off play-action, rather than lateral agility against man coverage, using burst to separate for straight-line plays.
Shanahan outside zone run scheme with play-action passing concepts in 12 and 21 personnel groupings.
Year 1 as a depth H-back/move TE blocking for outside zone, with a ceiling to develop into a secondary receiving option and core special teams contributor.
Gap-run scheme relying on him as an inline Y-tight end to displace 4-techniques at the point of attack.
Sharp's alignment versatility and straight-line speed make him a natural fit for zone-blocking schemes that weaponize tight ends in space, but his lack of play strength and sub-par length limit his effectiveness in traditional power-run schemes.
Bauer Sharp Highlights | LSU | 2026 NFL Draft
Full LSU highlight reel — seam wins, contested catches vs SEC safeties, and the one-handed grab that traveled on Twitter.
Bauer Sharp — Oklahoma Tight End Tape
2024 Sooner reps showing the alignment versatility (inline, slot, sniffer) that made him a target-share leader on a broken OU offense.
Buccaneers Draft Bauer Sharp at 185 | 2026 NFL Draft
Pick moment plus Bucs draft-room breakdown of why Tampa moved up for Sharp as Cade Otton depth and a core special-teamer.
Evaluators project him as a backup Y with legitimate receiving talent and a strong special teams outlook. His background as a converted quarterback who walked on and transferred speaks to his football intelligence and adaptability, suggesting he can quickly acclimate to a professional system given his processing abilities and versatile usage.
Sharp's college career shows an upward trajectory, beginning as a hybrid weapon at the FCS level before transferring to Power Five programs. He consistently demonstrated his receiving ability, leading his tight end group despite a "broken" offense at Oklahoma and refining his inline blocking and route running at LSU, facing higher competition levels. Despite raw production fluctuations, the quality of his tape improved.
The primary concerns revolved around his sub-32-inch arm length and average play strength, which could limit his effectiveness as a true inline blocker against NFL defensive ends. Consensus positioned him as a Day 3 prospect, with strong character and medical reports. He was ultimately drafted by Tampa Bay at pick 185, adding depth and special teams value.
- 01
Straight-line burst
Straight-line burst on seam and wheel routes allows him to stack safeties and finish across the field with notable speed for a tight end.
- 02
Natural pass-catcher instincts
Natural pass-catcher with quarterback instincts, plucking away from his frame and maintaining a low drop rate across three programs.
- 03
Alignment versatility weapon
Alignment versatility makes him a weapon, logging snaps inline, at wing, in the slot, at sniffer H, and in Wildcat.
- 04
Ball-carrier feel
Ball-carrier feel from his Wildcat/rushing role translates to effective usage on swing/screen plays and check-releases.
- 05
Exceptional football character
Exceptional football character reports indicate a captain-type player, making him a valuable Day 3 pick for special teams and locker room.
- 01
Short arm length
Sub-32-inch arms (31¾") are on the low end for an inline Y, impacting his ability to set edges and reach-block effectively.
- 02
Average play strength
Play strength is average; his 249-pound frame absorbs contact rather than delivering it, often getting stalemated against SEC linebackers.
- 03
Limited short-area agility
Tape shows plodding separation against man coverage from bunch/tight splits rather than quick-snap wins; no verified short-area agility testing.
- 04
Situational target
Never a target hog, with 24 catches in his final year, indicating situational production rather than being an offensive focal point.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.63sp50
- Vertical
- 35inp50
- Broad jump
- 120inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | SE Louisiana | 9 | 11 | 78 | 1 |
| 2023 | SE Louisiana | 12 | 28 | 287 | 2 |
| 2024 | Oklahoma | 12 | 42 | 324 | 2 |
| 2025 | LSU | 13 | 24 | 252 | 2 |
| Career | — | 46 | 105 | 941 | 7 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Garrett NussmeierQB25%
- Trey'Dez GreenTE18%
- Aaron AndersonWR14%
#11 of 12 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.22 (p44) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Undrafted-to-role-player Y with alignment versatility, willing-not-dominant blocking and third-down/red-zone target share — a very clean bullseye.
Small-school Y who grew into a reliable move tight end with plus receiving feel — the realistic upper bound if Sharp adds a functional block year one.
Late Day 3 hybrid TE who sticks as TE3 and core teamer without carving out a real passing-game role — the outcome if the length caps him inline.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
**Pre-draft context** Bauer Sharp is the exact archetype teams draft on Day 3 and quietly keep for eight years: a converted quarterback who walked on at Southeastern Louisiana, redshirted, then broke out as an FCS hybrid weapon before transferring up. His 2024 Oklahoma year was a survival story — 42 catches for 324 yards leading a scattered Sooner tight end room — and the LSU showcase in 2025 was less about volume (24-252-2) and more about proving he could play inline against SEC defensive ends without getting swallowed. Pro Day numbers (6-4⅝, 249, 4.63 forty, 35\" vertical) were exactly what the tape suggested: a plus straight-line athlete for the position, with sub-32\" arms and average short-area agility as the flags.
**NFL fit — Tampa Bay Buccaneers** Tampa took Sharp at 185 as insurance behind Cade Otton and Payne Durham, with an explicit special-teams runway. The team's offensive system already rotated three tight ends and used the sniffer/H-back as a movement piece off play-action — Sharp fits that job cleanly, especially in 12-personnel play-pass where his straight-line burst opens seam windows off run action. Year one he should be the TE3 who plays 15-20 snaps a game, contributes on all four coverage units, and gets red-zone box-out work as the fourth read. If Otton misses time, the Buccaneers feel comfortable elevating him to a TE2 role in the passing game; the question is whether he can hold up as a true Y-blocker on early downs, and the answer is probably 'in spurts, not as the base.' Long-term, the ceiling is the Tyler Higbee model — a move Y who grows into a genuine passing-game target — and the floor is Ben Sims: a career TE3 who sticks because of teams and locker room without ever cracking 400 receiving yards.
**Retrospective** The evaluation here was never about star trajectory — it was about whether the receiving flashes at three different programs would translate against pro defensive ends who can outleverage his arms. Tampa is betting the versatility, the character, and the 4.63 speed outweigh the length. Sixth-round tight ends who catch the ball, protect the punter, and know all three tight end alignments tend to hang around; that is the realistic Sharp outcome, and the pick will grade fine on those terms.