Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Who is the pick at seven?

Bailey Adams

I’m more excited for this year’s draft than I’ve ever been for any draft. My excitement mostly stems from how unpredictable this year seems to be. There’s been so much variation between mock drafts even into April. So many teams have a variety of options in the first round. The Bucs are one of those teams, although they are going to have to wait and see what goes down with the first six picks.

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With the First Pick

There’s not a doubt in my mind that Tampa Bay’s top three players of interest are Bradley Chubb, Saquon Barkley and Quenton Nelson. That’s not a fresh take, but it’s popular for a reason. For the Bucs to land one of them, four quarterbacks would surely have to go in the top six picks. As time has passed, I’ve been less and less sure about that happening. If it does, I see Tampa Bay landing Nelson with the seventh pick. But I’m having a hard time seeing a scenario in which any of those three are available after six picks. I’m thinking Barkley goes to New York, Chubb to Cleveland and Nelson to Indianapolis.

Whew, okay. I say all of that to say this: I believe Derwin James will be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer by the end of Thursday night. General manager Jason Licht did some solid work with the trenches in free agency. Heading into the draft, secondary and running back are the two biggest needs for the team. With their likely top three choices gone, James makes the most sense. Trading down could also be an option, but it doesn’t seem as likely these days.

It’s almost too easy to picture James in a Tampa Bay uniform. He’s versatile in terms of position and skill set. He has range, good ball skills, hits hard, tackles well and blitzes well. Plus, it’s not hard to see Licht loving his alpha personality that everyone talks about. Pairing James with Justin Evans would give the Bucs a young, talented safety tandem with so much potential. The ideal situation would be for Tampa Bay to trade down for James and pick up an extra pick or two in the process. But one way or another, I think James is the pick for the Buccaneers in round one.