Picking seventh overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be in a prime spot to make some much needed improvements to their roster. Ohio State’s Buckeyes have been filling the league with talent, and may contribute to the team’s turn around with some key prospects coming out.
Among the players coming out which the Buccaneers may decide to take closer looks at are seventeen Seniors including quarterback J.T. Barrett and defensive end Tyquan Lewis. Here are the others:
Tight End, Marcus Baugh
Linebacker, Dante Booker
Cornerback, Trevon Forte
Wide Receiver, Elijaah Goins
Cornerback, Cin’Quan Haney
Defensive Tackle, Michael Hill
Defensive End, Jalyn Holmes
Offensive Tackle, Jamarco Jones
Center, Billy Price
Defensive Lineman, Nick Seme
Safety, Erick Smith
Defensive Tackle, Tracy Sprinkle
Linebacker, Zach Turnure
Safety, Damon Webb
Middle Linebacker, Chris Worley
Senior to Watch: Safety, Damon Webb
Currently, the Buckeyes’ leader in interceptions (5) at the end of the 2017 season is ranked twelfth among his position group for the 2018 NFL Draft.
While three safeties were taken in the first round of last year’s draft alone, the twelfth one wouldn’t come off the board until the Seattle Seahawks drafted Tedric Thompson out of Colorado in the early part of the fourth round.
Webb is currently reported by NFL.com as being among the players who will appear in this year’s East-West Shrine Game.
A solid week of practices in front of NFL player personnel and scouts could really help his draft stock, but even if he remains in his current draft position, the Buccaneers could do a lot worse than draft a power conference champions’ leading interception guy.
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In addition to the Senior’s there are always an underclassman or two to leave school early. So far, Ohio State has two.
Defensive End, Sam Hubbard
Cornerback, Denzel Ward
A true Junior, Ward is trying to be the next Marshon Lattimore rather than the next Eli Apple.
For teams like the Bucs, they could certainly use a Lattimore type, as they witnessed when the Saints’ rookie was instrumental in holding Tampa’s Mike Evans to two rather pedestrian outings in 2017.
Ward is slightly shorter than his former teammate now playing in New Orleans, but he could become just as much of a playmaker in the NFL.
This year’s cornerback class just isn’t as impressive as last season’s or ever the one before it. With no Lattimore or Jalen Ramsey comparisons on the board, it could be a fairly quiet first round night for this position group.
Of course, this could leave Ward on the board when Jason Licht goes back on the clock in the second-round, and he could pull the trigger on the underclassman who would then hopefully get a year under the tutelage of Brent Grimes learning how to be an elite outside defender.
"Pro Football Focus ranked O.J. Howard as the worst first-round pick of 2017!? Listen to the Locked on Bucs conversation with the outstanding rookie from earlier in the season!"
These are two young Buckeyes I’ll be looking for this draft season as we continue to evaluate and speculate as to who each NFL team could be looking at.
Which one of these players do you think could be on the Buccaneers’ radar? Let me know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter.