With the draft rapidly approaching, many of the NFL organizations are trying to schedule as many individual meetings with some of the top draft prospects in order to determine who they want as their next star. For the Buccaneers, the third pick in the draft will give Tampa Bay the opportunity to select a top tier athlete in this year’s draft, and someone who will hopefully blossom into an NFL star. Today, the Bucs received visits from Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Dez Bryant, Syracuse Wide Receiver Mike Williams, and Tennessee’s star Safety, Eric Berry.

The most likely of these three players to go third overall to Tampa Bay is Eric Berry. Of course, their is a chance that Tampa could go with Defensive Tackle Gerald McCoy, or possibly Ndamukong Suh. But if the Bucs do go with Berry, they will automatically upgrade in the secondary, but would still be weak up front.

Now to one of the most talked about draft prospects in the 2010 class, Dez Bryant. After his 2009 suspension, Bryant took a hit to his draft stock. But no one can argue his huge upside, and his potential to be a number one receiver in the NFL. With Antonio Bryant gone, the Bucs could certainly use another weapon on the outside. There’s no way Tampa will take Bryant at third overall, but there is a chance they could either trade down from three, or trade some of their other picks for another first round selection.

Considering that Bryant would involve a trade in order to acquire his services, the Buccaneers could use a second round pick on a receiver. That’s where Syracuse’s Mike Williams comes in. The 6’2″ New York native finished his career with over 20 touchdowns, but ended up quitting halfway through the 2009 season. Despite his previous display of quitting his team, Williams could be a valuable second round draft pick if he can get his mind back on the game of football.

Stay tuned to The Pewter Plank for more prospect news, as well as all the other happenings surrounding the Buccaneers’ organization.

What I do think the Bucs will end up targeting (this is as long as Suh and McCoy go numbers 1 and 2) is a Defensive End. There are a few in this draft who have the potential to be standout NFL players, and just as badly as we need to upgrade the safety position, we need to upgrade the defensive end positions. Good defensive ends that create pressure will cover up some of the awfulness that we saw from our SS position last season.

I tend to think that after the combine, either Jason Pierre Paul or Carlos Dunlap will end up being top 5 picks, and I have said that a few times on this very site.  Todd McShay of ESPN.com in his latest mock draft agrees with me. He also agrees with the fact that the Bucs will end up targeting a DE with our 3rd pick.  He has the Bucs taking Jason Pierre-Paul with that pick.  I would rather target Dunlap because of his size, and arsenal of moves, as opposed to Paul who still seems raw and mainly works off just speed.  The Bucs once drafted a guy who very similar to Paul in size and freakish speed, and he was one of the biggest busts in Bucs draft history.  Dunlap on the other hand is a 290lb chiseled specimen.  I’m of the belief that not only will he excel in the NFL as a pass rusher in a 4-3 or Tampa 2 style defense, but he will also be quite effective against the run.  While McShay has Dunlap going 17th, Scouts Inc grades Pierre Paul and Dunlap out very similarly.

Scouts Inc.

Jason Pierre Paul – 6’5″ 263 lbs

Carlos Dunlap – 6’5″ 293 lbs