We have come to the bye week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With a 4-6 record, some fans are starting to look towards the offseason. And while I don’t share that point of view, it’s always a good time to talk about the NFL draft in my world.
There is still a lot of uncertainty in terms of where the Bucs will be drafting and even who the coach of the team will be. However, we can make guesses based on where the Bucs are now and what their needs are. So based on that, here is my Bucs bye week mock draft.
14) Abdul Carter, EDGE/LB, Penn St
Freak athlete’s like this guy don’t come around very often. Built at 6’3 and 260 lbs, Carter is as explosive and twitched up of a physical specimen as you can imagine. He’s new to playing on the edge and clearly hasn’t mastered all the aspects of the position, but the raw talent here is unreal.
The ceiling is very high for Carter as a pass rusher. He will only get better with more experience and he currently has 8.0 sacks which is tied for 11th in all of college football. If you are looking for that elite pass rusher at the NFL level, Carter has the potential to be that guy.
45) Tate Ratledge, OG, Georgia
Elite strengths win championships. That’s why I am hoping that Jason Licht adds Ratledge as the final infinity stone to his gauntlet on the offensive line. Ratledge has been a part of two championship teams, is big and athletic to make blocks at the point of attack and in space, plus he has a great mullet.
Everything about him screams Buccaneers vibe fit. He would break the mold of drafting tackles and moving them to guard, but at a certain point you just have to draft good players. Ratledge has proven to be a very good player at the highest level.
76) Barrett Carter, LB, Clemson
The Bucs desperately need help at off ball linebacker. Especially considering that this will likely be Lavonte David’s last season with the team. And while there is no replacing David, Carter is at least in the same mold.
He’s a fast, physical linebacker who can make tackles sideline to sideline and cover reasonably well. He also comes off as very bright and brings a certain professionalism with him even as a college athlete. I considered taking him at pick 45 and I wouldn’t be upset if the Bucs did that, but I was happy to see him slide to this pick.
115) Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State
There will come a day when the Bucs don’t have guys like Chris Godwin and Mike Evans and we’ve had a sneak peak of what that would look like. Best to start planning for that reality now. There isn’t anything fancy about Royal’s game; he runs good routes and makes clean catches. Could be the next Romeo Doubs or Darnell Mooney as a day three small school receiver who carves out a consistent, although not spectacular, role for himself.
151) Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana
Kyle Trask is set to be a free agent at the end of this year. Personally, I have never seen any promise with him, so I am happy to draft a replacement. Rourke is the trigger man for the undefeated Indiana Housiers this year. He has a big frame and he gets the ball out on time and accurately. As far as back ups go, I would trust him to come in and manage the offense early on.
229) Chris Paul, LB, Ole Miss
The Buccaneers need a point guard for their weekend basketball team and this guy just has a point guard name. He’s also a pretty athletic linebacker who loves to attack what’s in front of him. I’m not sure he’ll ever be more than a special teams guy, but you get a good athlete and try and upgrade the depth of your linebacker room.
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I would rather sign a free agent OLD/DE and use the 14th pick to go after a top tier ILB / CB / Receiver. We have swung and missed continually when drafting pass rushers (except Vita).
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