Buccaneers: Best of the rest draft prospects – Seniors
By James Yarcho
We are at the finish line of our 40 Teams in 40 Days draft series as we take a look at the best seniors in this year’s draft class not featured as one of our standalone schools. Who may the Buccaneers be targeting?
We’ve made it. We’ve broken down the NFL Draft prospects from 38 different schools as well as highlighting the best underclassmen that weren’t from one of those schools. Now it’s time to take a look as the best of the rest as far as Seniors are concerned. The Buccaneers will certainly have plenty to choose from here.
Best Of The Rest – Seniors
Defensive End – Harold Landry, Boston College
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Guard – Will Hernandez, UTEP
Defensive End – Marcus Davenport, UTSA
Offensive Tackle – Chukwuma Okorafor, Western Michigan
Safety – Kyzir White, West Virginia
Edge Rusher – Kemoko Turay, Rutgers
Wide Receiver – Michael Gallup, Colorado State
Defensive Tackle – Nathan Shepherd, Fort Hays State
Defensive Tackle – Andrew Brown, Virginia
Cornerback – Darius Phillips, Western Michigan
Cornerback – Charvarius Ward, Middle Tennessee State
Senior To Watch: Defensive End – Marcus Davenport, UTSA
The need at defensive end is not only a glaring one, but it is by far the most glaring – as it’s been for over a decade. The enigma that is Marcus Davenport is a sure candidate for the Buccaneers should they miss on Bradley Chubb and – their likely number two choice – Quenton Nelson. Now, would the Bucs take Davenport at seven? Seems unlikely from the criticisms we’ve heard regarding Davenport’s game, but Davenport seems to be one of those players that you either love or hate. There is no in between.
Davenport was impressive at UTSA, finishing his career with 185 tackles – 37.5 for loss – as well as 21.5 sacks, eight passes defensed, two fumble recoveries, six forced fumbles, and a touchdown. During his four year career, Davenport increased his season sack total every year going from 2.5, 4.0, 6.5, and finally 8.5 in his senior season.
Luke Easterling of The Draft Wire has Davenport as his 34th overall prospect and his fourth overall edge defender. This would be the ultimate trade down target. Seven just seems too high for a guy thought of that low in both his respective position group as well as the overall big board, but the combine will likely move him in the rankings, whether it’s up or down, and we’ll start to get a clearer picture as to where teams see him fitting in.
Next: Trading Cam Brate Won't Be Popular, But May Be Right
Thanks to all of you that followed our 40 Teams in 40 Days draft series. It’s been a lot of fun featuring this players and schools as they are merely weeks away from their lives changing and giving 32 NFL franchises new hope and a breath of fresh air. You can check out the entire 40 team series in our draft section.