Monday, 4 a.m.

Gone are the plug-and-play days, those seasons when the Bucs would draft a 21-year-old kid and expect him to the best player on the team.

These days, the team and talent need the same thing: Patience.

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The Bucs concluded their draft Sunday afternoon with more emphasis on depth than on instant gratification. Sure, No. 1 pick Graham Barton will be expect to start, probably at center. Everyone else is going to have to work for their time.

Consider:

Second-round pick Chris Braswell from Alabama will probably work his way into the pass-rush rotation. But he’ll  have to prove he can start, which he rarely did in college.

Third-round pick Tikee Smith of Georgia comes with good clippings, but he’s at one of the Bucs’ strongest positions. He’ll compete for time as a backup and a nickel.

Jalen McMillan, the other third-round pick, will compete to be the team’s third receiver. No shame when you remember Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are the starters.

Fourth-round pick Bucky Irvin of Oregon will compete to be the backup running back. Still, as bad as the Bucs have been at running the ball, that’s a good thing.

Sixth-round pick Elijah Klein of UTEP, one of the small school linemen that Jason Licht loves, will compete for a backup spot. It may time him some time.

Seventh-round tight end Devin Culp of Washington will compete for time in a young position group. 

It’s a better way for the Bucs, who have left too many prospects shell-shocked with high expectations. Oh, the Bucs expect Braswell and McMillan to be players. They just don’t have to be right now.

For now, the roles of the kids is too get ready, to grow, to develop. When a team is picking in the butt-end of the draft, it’s the smart way to play.

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Monday, 3 a.m.

Turns out, the Tampa Bay Lightning isn’t ready to stop playing yet.

The Lightning, one foot in the grave in the NHL playoffs, showed a bit of a pulse Sunday afternoon in a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers. The Bolts showed their most aggressiveness, their most efficiency, in the victory.

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Oh, they’re still in rouble. In 206 series, only four teams have rallied from a 3-0 defecit. The Boltsmu st fight off three more elimination games, starting Monday night on the road. But at least they will not go quietly into the night.

Tampa Bay rode its best players to the win. Among the highlights:

— Steven Stamkos scored two goals. He scored for the fourth straight game, continuing his hot streak. In his last 22 games, he has 21 goals and 13 assists.

— Brandon Hagel had two goals and assist. His first goal was shorthanded.

— Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman all had three pints.

— Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 25 shots.

— Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the ice after missing much of the season with an injury. He had an assist.

— The power play scored twice.

The Panthers came from three goals down to within 4-3 at the end of the second period, but the Bolts put away the game in the third.

Saturday, 4 a.m.

Sometimes, you have to roll the dice.

Sometimes, when yoiu are stuck in the back end of the draft, when most of the can’t-miss prospects have been claimed, yoiu have to squint and see the possibilities.

And so it was that Jason Licht looked at a linebacker who started two games for Alabama and imagined a pass-rusher. He more he looked at Georgia’s secondary, the

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more he saw the possibililties with Tykee Smith. He looked at the pre-injured Jalen McMillan, a thousand-yard guy, and thought he could add to a talented receiver group.

Welcome outside linebacker Chris Braswell to town.

And safety Smith.

And receiver Jalen McMillan.

The Bucs bet on the physical traits of the three athletes Friday night. They thought Braswell had enough production to ignore his starts. They thought Smith couod grow into a nice player. They thought McMillilan could appoach the production of his junior year.

Oh, all of the players have something to prove. Braswell started only two games in his career for the Tide. However, he played enough to have eight sacks this year. But, really, what does it matter that Braswell didn’t play the first snap against, say, Vanderbilt? The deal with him is whether he can help you forget about Shaq Barrett.

Smith is a tough player who should fit in well as nickel back for the Bucs. 

And McMillan is intriguing. As a junior, he was a dominant redeemer. His production fell as a senior — he missed four games with an injury. But he has the capability to make the Bucs a more dangerous team.

Of course, that’s only true if the Bucs’ vision is clear. And we’ll see.

The Bucs could still use a running back, maybe a tight end, in today’s third round of the draft.