The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offseason has been quite the ride! From signing quarterback Tom Brady to new uniforms to trading for tight end Rob Gronkowski.
While recovering from the hangover of celebrating the teams’ offseason hat trick, the 2020 NFL Draft was upon us. By most experts accounts the Buccaneers were locked in taking an offensive tackle to protect Brady in the first round. Tampa accomplished that by tradeding up to select arguably the most physically dominant tackle in the draft. Then to the surprise of some, the Buccaneers went to the defensive side of the ball and drafted safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round. With only two rounds into the draft, the Buccaneers appeared to have selected two starters.
Two Holes Filled
In the third round the Buccaneers looked to the SEC for help at the running back position. There were still a couple of top-ranked running backs still on the board. The Buccaneers decided to look in another direction, enter Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Vaughn was seen as a stretch by some “experts”, until they dug a little deeper. While playing two years at Vanderbilt, Vaughn rushed for 2,272 yards and 21 touchdowns with a 6.4 yard per carry average. That’s against some of the toughest defenses in the country. He also added 440 yards receiving and three touchdowns catches.
That doesn’t seem like the stats of a player a team reached on does it? ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler thinks Vaughn will fit well in a Brady led Buccaneers offense and could surprise a lot of people with his fantasy numbers.
“Tom Brady loves a good running game, and the Bucs thought enough of Vaughn to draft him instead of trading for Leonard Fournette. Vaughn plays with an edge and doesn’t fumble, traits that could earn him valuable touches in a backfield with Ronald Jones.”
While I know a lot of you were salivating at the thought of Leonard Fournette being in the backfield behind Brady, don’t sleep on Vaughn. The third round pick out of Vanderbilt runs with authority and seldom turns the ball over. He looks to be an upgrade from recently departed running back Peyton Barber and a great compliment to Ronald Jones II.
