Buccaneers Talk: Re-sign or let go, mock draft analysis
By Bailey Adams
After a week off, the Walking the Plank podcast returns to evaluate the Buccaneers’ free agents and analyze a recent mock draft.
Did you miss us? Walking the Plank is back this week after going to an every-other-week schedule. Zach and I took a break from our hectic schedules to bring some Buccaneers talk back to your lives. Sure, it’s the offseason and there are no games to talk about. But it’s draft season and free agency is right around the corner! We have plenty of Tampa Bay topics to discuss, although we may or may not have branched out to talking about how we can’t stand the idea of the Philadelphia Eagles winning a Super Bowl. On that note, we hope you’ll join us!
This week’s episode opens with a brief homage to Ricky Bell, as this is the 42nd episode of the podcast. Bell was Tampa Bay’s first overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft, signing a five-year, $1.2 million deal. At the time, it was the biggest contract ever signed by a rookie. To this day, he is eighth in team history with 3,057 rushing yards. Unfortunately, the former USC Trojan passed away at the young age of 29 due to heart failure caused by a disease.
More from Bucs News
- Devin White posts cryptic message to Lavonte David on Twitter
- Updated Buccaneers depth chart after signing two players from rookie minicamp
- Todd Bowles sends clear message about Baker Mayfield’s role with Bucs
- The Athletic is wrong about Bucs one ‘must-watch’ game in 2023
- Todd Bowles admits he only looks at three things on Bucs schedule
After a brief shoutout to Bell, we give out another shoutout. The second one was to Ronde Barber, whose NFC Championship-sealing pick six just celebrated its fifteen-year anniversary. Fifteen years? I said that I felt old because of it, but I now realize some of our older listeners will scoff at me. I’m sorry, guys. We wrap up our somewhat lengthy intro by discussing what many call Championship Weekend, though the Patriots might just start calling it “formality weekend.”
Zach and I then dive into our Bucs talk by going through each impending free agent one-by-one and deciding whether the team should re-sign the player or let them walk. Brent Grimes is an obvious re-sign and T.J. Ward is an obvious walk, but where do we stand on guys like Robert McClain and Kevin Pamphile?
After the free agency talk, we discuss Walter Football’s most recent four-round mock draft. Some might say that the Bucs using their seventh overall pick on Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson isn’t “sexy,” but Zach and I strongly disagree. We talk about the running back class and why we don’t like this mock’s second round pick for Tampa Bay. Then, we wrap up the mock analysis with a look at third and fourth round guys who can help the secondary.
Related Story: Buccaneers: Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2018 draft prospects
To finish off this week’s episode, we give our picks for that everyone-else-in-America-loses Super Bowl matchup. Who are we taking? You probably know the answer, but we think you should listen anyway.
If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Music, and Podcast addict.
Feel free to send us your reactions, questions and any other thoughts to walkingtheplankpodcast@gmail.com.
What do you think about Tampa Bay’s impending free agents? How would you feel if the Bucs took Nelson in the first round? Who are your favorite targets in the second, third and fourth rounds? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook with your thoughts and predictions.
Thanks for listening!