Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-round mock draft before the Combine

1.5 Jawaan Taylor OT Florida

To round out the top-five of the first round of the draft, Tampa Bay selects Jawaan Taylor from the University of Florida. Taylor is a massive tackle, listed at 6’5 and 330 pounds. His name has been gathering steam over the past few weeks, while names like Jonah Williams and Greg Little are starting to cool.

At this point, Taylor should be the first tackle off of the board, and given the team’s glaring need at tackle, they should be the team to take him. As Donovan Smith is headed for free agency and there have been few indications that he will return to Tampa. In addition, Demar Dotson being thrown around as potentially the next veteran to be cut by the team. With that being said, both starting tackles from 2018 could be wearing a different uniform next season.

While Taylor has the tools and has played in the Florida climate practically his entire life, there are concerns about his durability. Taylor has only appeared in eight total games, and only played five in 2018 due to injury. However, if he can display a nice balance of strength and agility and wows at the Combine, the Bucs should have little reservation about snagging him with the fifth overall pick In fact, in this full first round mock, he lands just there.