Throughout the build-up to the NFL Draft, we’ve been speculating what the Buccaneers might do with their top pick. As it appears possible the team will trade down, let’s look at some possibilities.
If the Buccaneers trade out of the 19th overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft, it’s more likely they’ll trade down rather than up.
Still, there are scenarios where the team might trade up to grab a top talent on their board, so we can’t discount the idea entirely.
Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports sent out a seemingly innocent tweet this past Friday. In under 140 characters, the writer eluded to the Bucs as a potential trade partner for a team looking to move up or into the first round of this year’s selection meeting.
The Pewter Plank’s own Michael Horan gave his thoughts about it, and speculated a bit about the possibilities here.
Like he said, this is tricky business, and trying to predict some of these moves can be even trickier.
We’ll give it a go though, and take a look at what the future might hold.
Haason Reddick has experienced one of the best draft processes in a long time. Considered a sleeper day-two pick in the beginning of the off-season, the Temple linebacker is widely thought of as a day one guy now.
In fact, seeing him slip out of the Top-15 would be a bit of a surprise at this point, and if the Chiefs witness Reddick slide to the 19th pick they may feel compelled to act.
Kansas City needs a solid linebacker to bolster their defense and develop into a replacement for Derrick Johnson.
This prospect has the athleticism and smarts to be their man, and he’d be worth the trade up to get him.
Giving up two picks later in the draft would hurt a bit, but with a compensatory pick in the third (104th Overall) this deal only takes KC out of the fourth round this year.
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When the Buccaneers traded down in the first-round of 2016’s NFL Draft, they landed Vernon Hargreaves III who ended up being one of their starting cornerbacks along with veteran Brent Grimes.
He helps usher in some late season success for the team’s secondary, and has contributed nicely to the hype building up before the 2017 regular season.
Adding safety Budda Baker from Washington would serve to only bolster the excitement already gaining steam.
Baker is an all-around solid defender who could be placed in the deep part of the secondary group or brought closer to the line of scrimmage in nickel coverage.
Carlos Henderson would become the second draft pick taken by the Buccaneers in the third round in this scenario.
He’s become a sort of fan favorite as of late, at least amongst some of the draft’s more devoted fans.
The Louisiana Tech product has legitimate downfield ability and plays faster than the 4.46 he ran at this year’s combine.
What he brings to the offense may take a year or two to really come to fruition. What he brings to special teams will not.
He can come in and immediately assume return duties, and will ensure Adam Humphries reduces the punishment he takes on as the team’s slot receiver.
Finally, the last prospect gained in this trade is cornerback Jourdan Lewis from the University of Michigan.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the young stable of corners on Tampa’s roster currently.
If I had to pick one to cut right now, I’d have a hard time saying goodbye to any of them.
Competition breeds greatness, and of all the Big Ten defenders I saw my Buckeyes face-off against I liked Lewis the most.
We all know Grimes isn’t a young man, and a guy like Lewis could easily develop into a full-time replacement once Brent and Miko decide to leave the NFL behind.
A lot of conversation has been had about Oakland’s running back situation, but unless the team gets better in run defense, they won’t be able to reward their championship caliber offense with enough wins.
Malik McDowell has taken his share of criticism surrounding mostly effort concerns.
If millions of dollars won’t motivate a young man, then what will?
I don’t know, but hopefully Oakland does. The former Spartan is an elite talent and if they love him enough, they’ll move up to grab him.
It’ll put more pressure on him to perform as the team forks over a third-round pick in the package to move ahead of the likes of Detroit and the Giants who also need help up front.
With the sixth-round pick the Raiders get from Tampa to even out the point values a bit, Derek Carr will be happy to see a talented and underrated receiver headed his way.
Malachi Dupre might have been a star at the college level if it weren’t for limited success from LSU’s quarterbacks, and I see plenty of potential in him.
Teaming up with guys like Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree will help his development tremendously as well.
I’ve heard the same thing you all have, the Buccaneers like their offensive line group. Since this is the time of year to disbelieve a little bit of everything you hear, I’m going to pretend the Bucs know they need interior line help.
Do they need first-round interior line help? Maybe not. Still, Forrest Lamp is a top-shelf talent with versatility oozing from his tape.
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J.R. Sweezy is no guarantee to be the same guard he was when he left Seattle, and if Tampa really wants Ali Marpet to play center then this group needs an infusion of top talent.
The next pick may be the most surprising of all.
One great thing about grabbing an extra mid-round pick is the opportunity to take someone at a position maybe others didn’t expect.
The last time the Buccaneers took a quarterback in the third round, he became the highest regarded back-up in the NFL and may just get this team a compensatory pick next draft season.
Nate Peterman has been one of my favorite sleeper quarterbacks in this class, but he’s risen a bit since I first started quietly pulling for him.
Grab him here, and Tampa essentially gets a mid-round back-up quarterback for the price of a sixth-round pick.
Don’t be surprised to see this name on here twice. Forrest Lamp is a true first-round talent for someone’s offensive line.
In this case, it’s Seattle’s line getting Lamp’s services, and Russell Wilson will be grateful.
The team will still need to find a running back somewhere, but getting better up front ensures the Seahawks offense has a better shot at making an impact than they did a year ago.
Safety is a position of need, and if the Buccaneers don’t or can’t draft Budda Baker then Obi Melifonwu is a nice consolation prize.
He’s got more coverage skills than anything else, but he would be a nice addition to what is currently a fairly shallow pool of safeties to protect the back half of Tampa’s defense.
Elijah Qualls does much of what Melifonwu does for the secondary, only for the defensive line. Quality depth with the ability to make splash plays when needed.
The Huskies’ defensive lineman should develop quite nicely and become a key role-player in just a year or two.
LSU’s Malachi Dupre is no stranger to those of you reading this, and for good reason.
Previously, I had him going to another team in this mini-mock draft explosion, but here he’s going to Tampa.
Jameis Winston would certainly take advantage of his raw talents, and with the Bucs depth chart at receiver looking pretty slim these days, Dupre fills it out nicely.
49ers Select: QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson / WR ArDarius Stewart, Alabama
This is what could happen if the San Francisco 49ers’ new general manager doesn’t waste the second overall selection on a quarterback.
Instead, John Lynch takes someone like Jamal Adams to help sure up his secondary and then makes a move with his former team to move back into the first-round when he sees this classes top quarterback still available at 19th overall.
Deshaun Watson isn’t what I’d call starter ready, but he’s the best thing this quarterback class has seen, and he’s a proven winner.
Later on, with the Bucs’ fourth-round pick, Lynch can go ahead and add Alabama receiver ArDarius Stewart to come in and help his rookie passer get someone to throw to.
He can turn quick passes and bubble screens into chunk plays, and fits in with a team needing options to throw to early in his quarterback’s progression.
With this, the 49ers have a future. Without it, they probably have Deshone Kizer.
Trading out of the first-round wouldn’t make many Buccaneers fans happy on day one of the NFL Draft.
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However, this is the year to trade out and gain picks if you were ever going to do it.
Here, Tampa moves into the second round, gains a third-round pick and swaps up in the fourth. These moves open up new names to pick from, but some are familiar.
We all know who Joe Mixon is. We all know the baggage he brings. Still, the stance most have taken – including myself – is, if Jason Licht takes him it’s because he feels Mixon is a good guy who made a bad mistake.
I’m not trying to trivialize what he did, but I’m also not turning this into an expose on morals and the NFL landscape.
From a talent standpoint, Mixon is elite and gives the Buccaneers the out they need to cut ties with Doug Martin if they so choose.
Wide receiver Chris Godwin knows what it means to resurrect a reputation as he’s been part of the re-birth for Penn State.
Now, he hopes to help complete the re-birth of the Bucs’ passing game joining DeSean Jackson and Mike Evans with this pick.
Godwin is the perfect number four receiver to play behind Adam Humphries on the depth chart, and I can express enough how much I hope he lands in Tampa.
Finally, moving up in the fourth helps Licht get his secondary some safety talent from one of the promising players in this year’s talent loaded class.
Tedric Thompson is right behind Marcus Maye for me in this year’s crop, and if Maye is there then he’s the pick here for me.
Either way, the team will be happy with the guy they get, and we’ll all be fans soon enough.
Carolina Selects: DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee
So, trading draft picks with divisional rivals rarely – if ever – happens, especially at the top of the draft.
Carolina is the only team which could provide the Bucs with two second-round picks in return and have it work mathematically though, so let’s chase this down and see how it looks on paper.
Assuming the Panthers select Leonard Fournette with the 8th overall selection previous to this, then they should go defense with this move.
Derek Barnett is likely to be the best defensive talent remaining at this point which also fills a need for the Panthers.
Resurrecting their defense is going to be crucial to their future as the offense in Charlotte simply isn’t equipped to carry the team by themselves.
Buccaneers Select: CB Sidney Jones, Washington / RB-WR Curtis Samuel, Ohio State / S Marcus Maye, Florida
This group is all about the future, as would any move where the Buccaneers trade out of the first-round and stockpile three day two selections.
A trade like this is about as guaranteed not to happen as you can get, but man would it be fun to see.
Sidney Jones is an elite talent, we’re all aware of this, but the injury he suffered at his pro day will set him back and keep him off the field for most of his rookie year if not all of it.
Given the fact the Bucs have two more second-rounders to find immediate impact players, they can afford to stash Jones for a year.
RB/WR Curtis Samuel is the draft’s version of a player being classified as an athlete. Much like Braxton Miller, this Buckeye isn’t easily pigeon-holed into one position.
What he brings is athleticism, speed and real playmaking ability to the offense. Adding Samuel should lead to some fun splash plays and could really vary the offense Jameis Winston is asked to run.
I said earlier Marcus Maye was my preference as a mid-round safety. Here, the Buccaneers are able to grab him and add him to their stable of safeties.
Eventually Maye will be a solid starting safety in the NFL with real pro bowl potential. Hopefully, it’ll be the Bucs who get to benefit from it.
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Five potential scenarios, even if one is a bit out there. Besides the obvious, the trade with the Panthers would leave them without a pick between the first and fourth rounds.
I had fun looking into it though, and hopefully you had fun reading about it. This time of year is all about fun and speculation. Even though some of the speculation is a tad overblown, it’s still fun to look at what could be.
Who are your favorite potential trade partners, and which prospects would you like to see the Buccaneers snag in a trade scenario next week?
NFL Draft time is almost here, let me know your thoughts on social media or in the comments below!