Demonte Capehart’s last few months consisted of many tests.

His speed was tested at the NFL Combine. His strength and agility were measured at Clemson’s Pro Day. His football IQ was dissected through meetings with professional scouts leading up to this past weekends NFL Draft.

When the defensive tackle received a call from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht on the third day of the 2026 NFL Draft around 2:30 p.m., he had one last assessment to pass.

“I got one more test for you,” Licht said to Capehart over the phone in an exchange now posted to social media. “Who’s your favorite NFL team?”

“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” Capehart said, assuredly, with hints of emotion in his voice. 

“Alright, you passed, ding, ding, ding,” Licht said, a smile creeping across his face. “We’re gonna make you a Buc… We’re fired up, man.”

And with that, and a few more minutes of an emotional conversation with Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles, the months of tests were finally over. The Buccaneers selected Capehart with the drafts’ 155th pick in the fifth round on Saturday.

“I remember when Coach Bowles told me when I went down for my (Top) 30 visit, it just played in my head so many times that we would talk again,” Capehart told Tampa Bay media members after his selection. “Just was just one of the things that I kept playing in my head when I saw my phone buzzing. I was like, ‘Oh my God, no way.’”

After the initial emotions died down during the conversation with Licht and Bowles, Capehart had a message for his new coach.

“You know what you just did?” Capehart asked the fifth-year skipper. “You just got the best D-tackle in the draft, coach… Let’s go to work”

And while Capehart may not have recorded better college statistics than the 13 tackles drafted ahead of him, he may have a case for one of the highest upsides in the 2026 class of defensive linemen. 

At the Combine in late February, Capehart weighed in at 312 pounds, his lowest weight since suffering an injury in 2024, and ran a 4.85 40-yard-dash, the fourth fastest among all defensive tackle participants. Paired with a 33.5-inch vertical jump, which ranked third that day in his position, Capehart notched a 9.96 Relative Athletic Score, the ninth highest ranking from a defensive tackle in the last 40 years.

While these traits did not always translate to exceptional numbers – Capehart finished with 13.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in his college career– the Bucs’ staff saw potential when they looked at the Tigers’ big man.

“He doesn’t have eye-popping production numbers, but when he tested he was 313 pounds and ran a 4.8,” Tampa Bay’s Vice President Player of Personnel Mike Biehl said of Capehart. “He’s got some impressive athletic traits. Some of that [low statistical production] is the scheme they play at Clemson; they weren’t asking him to get up the field a lot.

“But we think that he’s got the ability to set the edge and be a run-stuffer and we also think he has a little upside as a pass-rusher, too, with his athletic ability.”

In addition to his athletic abilities, former Clemson coaches believe that Capehart’s intangible traits– his experience, loyalty, and selflessness– will directly align with success at the professional level. 

“I’ve had a lot of first-round defensive linemen, and I think he’s a first-round talent even though he didn’t go in the first round,” Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said of his veteran lineman. “I’m really excited for him. I’m proud of him. He’s a very loyal kid. He’s grown and matured. He’s a great teammate, and I think he’s got a chance to play a long time.”

Clemson defensive tackles coach Nick Eason, who joined Swinney’s staff in 2022, has seen Capehart pass numerous tests in the four seasons that he coached the Hartsville, S.C. native. After the Buccaneers’ selection, he was asked what the veteran will bring in a professional career.

Like Swinney, his answer was not limited to his production on the field.

“They are getting a highly talented football player who has a high ceiling,” Eason said. “Capehart has one of the strongest hand punches I’ve seen in a long time. He will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come. He is an unselfish teammate who will do whatever it takes to help his team win.”

Now, like he mentioned on the initial call from the Bucs’ staff, Capehart is ready to move forward– past the Combine, Pro Day, and the infinite tests– to his new professional career in Tampa Bay.

“I think I can bring tenacity, that energy, that swagger to that defense,” he said.  “To all the Bucs fans, you’re getting a guy that’s committed, a guy that knows what he wants, and knows what to bring every single day, a guy that knows how to work, and a guy that’s going to give you his all.”