Daniel Jeremiah released his mock draft 4.0 and when it came to the Buccaneers’ pick, he made one of the most puzzling moves we’ve seen yet.
So, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah released his latest mock draft on Monday and confused the heck out of most Buccaneers fans with his selection. For the Bucs at pick nineteen, he selected Alabama tackle Cam Robinson.
Um, what?
His reasoning was brief – and that’s putting it kindly;
"“Protecting Jameis Winston will always be a priority for GM Jason Licht and the Bucs’ personnel department.”More from Bucs DraftThe Athletic’s early NFL Mock Draft has the Bucs taking a Top 5 QB in 2024Bucs front office reveals one thing the team missed during NFL DraftPeter King explains simple reason why Bucs passed on drafting Will LevisMel Kiper Jr. hands out his official Buccaneers draft gradeTampa Bay Buccaneers undrafted free agents tracker 2023"
What makes this even crazier is that Dalvin Cook went four picks later to the Giants, David Njoku went two picks later to the Lions, and Budda Baker went all the way down to 32 to the Saints.
The Buccaneers brass has made it abundantly clear that they are happy with their offensive line and my suspicions are that if they take an offensive lineman at all it won’t be until day three. There’s also the growing sentiment that Cook won’t make it to the Bucs at nineteen but if he did, there is virtually no chance at all he drops any further.
Some who know the Bucs far better than Jeremiah does weighed in on the questionable pick;
All the value on defense/offensive skill positions & I still see OT being mocked to the #Bucs in the top 20.
— Luke Easterling (@LukeEasterling) April 5, 2017
It ain't happening https://t.co/Lh0kQpKWL8
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) April 5, 2017
For those of you hell-bent on the Bucs drafting an offensive lineman early in this draft, you need to change your expectations. It isn’t happening. There are too many positions left to fill and the Bucs are confident in their line’s ability. Ask anyone that covers the Bucs and they’ll tell you the same. They’re experimenting with Marpet at center for a reason. They feel they have more than five starting linemen and are trying to find a way to get their five best athletes on the field.
Plain and simple, if Cook is there he’s a Buc. If he’s not, expect them to target a Budda Baker, David Njoku, Christian McCaffrey with a possible trade down. The Bucs will not go offensive line in the first round.
Next: Dirk Koetter Has No Problem With Hard Knocks
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