When looking at the Buccaneers needs on the defense, there are two glaring needs. Defensive line and safety. According to many mock drafts, “experts” have the Bucs picking a defensive end at 19 ranging from Nick Barnett from Tennessee to Malik McDowell from Michigan State.
With McDowell, you know what you are getting, and that’s a hard nose, blue collar, lunch pail type of player. He stands six foot six inches and weighs two hundred seventy-six pounds. He can be a plug and play starter from day one next to Gerald McCoy.
Many Bucs fans remember the strong, run-stopping, defensive tackle that we used to have sitting next to Warren Sapp, many remember Booger McFarland. McDowell could be a better, more athletic version of Booger. He can be someone that can play the end, in our three front packages and the tackle in our base. His strength and athleticism could be what is needed to free up McCoy. At tackle, in his sophomore season, he finished the season with 13.0 tackles for loss. He is not a high sack guy, but we do not need that as long as McCoy is there. Stopping the run is key in the NFL and this kid can do that ALL DAY LONG!
If you look at the top teams in the NFL they are built from the ground up. The Bucs have to start at the base and build. McDowell could be a keystone in that building process and would be a great pick at 19 for our TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS! This guy is a double team, stone wall king.
Want to see him action? Here are some clips from YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLi9wY9C8rM
