NFL Draft 2018: Tampa Bay Buccaneers select LB Jack Cichy in Round 6

The ballad of “Three-Sack-Jack” continues ... in the NFL!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Jack Cichy with the the 28th pick in the sixth round (No. 202 overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft on Saturday.

Cichy worked his way up from a walk-on to significant contributor in his time at Wisconsin. Unfortunately, he played in only 24 games (11 starts), though he recorded 120 tackles (15 for loss) and 6.5 sacks. That was due to two season-ending injuries that cut short what could have been All-American campaigns during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

In a win at Iowa, Cichy tore a pectoral muscle that prematurely ended his redshirt junior season. He played in seven games that season, contributing 60 tackles, seven for loss, and 1.5 sacks—including a huge 15-tackle, 3.5-tackle for loss performance against Ohio State under the lights of Camp Randall Stadium.

Cichy would not see the field during his final year in Madison, as he tore an ACL during fall camp early in August. Regardless, he was named one of the team captains and was still a presence on the sideline for UW’s 13–1 season.

Cichy trained at EXOS in Phoenix this winter and was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. At Wisconsin’s pro day on March 14, he performed the 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drill in addition to the vertical jump.

Earlier this month, Cichy fillted B5Q in on his pre-draft activity.

“I worked out for obviously everyone that was at pro day,” Cichy said. “Then, I specifically worked out for the Cowboys, Lions, and Falcons. It was good because, each one of those, I was further along in my process and I was able to comfortably do more, so I was extremely happy that I was able to kind of showcase my progress on the field and how I moved around, as well as kind of be able to show off a little bit in the classroom to kind of show how my football IQ has developed.”

Cichy believes his recovery should allow him to give himself an opportunity at the next level with the high probability of being available for team activities.

“It’s been really good. It’s noticeably better by each day, so that’s definitely very encouraging,” Cichy said. “I was able to do some stuff at pro day, but now I’m pretty much able to do just about everything, and it’s just kind of gradually working that back, and each day it’s more comfortable, and it’s a little more pain-free, and it’s really not even that painful. It’s kind of just getting over those mental barriers where I’m kind of mentally cautious about some movements.

“I’d say I’m right around 95 percent right now. By the time mini-camp or OTAs roll around, I’ll be at 100 percent, which I’m extremely excited about.”

Former Wisconsin linebackers Chris Borland, Joe Schobert, T.J. Watt, and Vince Biegel have all been drafted in recent years.

Previous Wisconsin walk-ons to be drafted since 1990 include Joe Panos (1994), Mark Tauscher (2000), Jason Doering (2001), Paul Hubbard (2008), J.J. Watt (2011), Bradie Ewing (2012), Rick Wagner (2013), Jared Abbrederis (2014), Joe Schobert (2015), Ryan Ramczyk (2017)*, and now Troy Fumagalli (2018).

Cichy is the third Wisconsin player selected in this weekend’s draft, following cornerback Nick Nelson and Fumagalli.

*Note: Ramczyk initially walked on to Wisconsin from UW-Stevens Point but was awarded a scholarship prior to the 2015 season.