Tampa Bay Buccaneers weekly round-up: mock drafts, potential targets, and big news
By Cory Kinnan
In the week of 2/16-2/22, it was busy week of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coverage that spanned from mock drafts, to news. Here is a review of the week at The Pewter Plank.
To begin the week, a case was made for the Buccaneers to tag starting middle linebacker Kwon Alexander. A risky move considering that the backer is coming off of a torn ACL, but the point is that he is only 24 years old, and by tagging him it would give Tampa Bay a full season to evaluate Alexander before committing to him long term, albeit at a costly price tag.
Next, we identified potential players for the Buccaneers to target on the trade block in order to utilize late round assets and to give the team the flexibility to avoid overpaying in free agency. In this article, a versatile running back in a crowded room, a safety who cannot seem to avoid trade rumors, a young defensive lineman on the last year of his rookie contract, a savvy veteran for dirt cheap, and a plan for the future were pinpointed as potential targets.
A recent mock draft posted by NFL Spin Zone that dropped on Monday, identified an offensive lineman from the state of Florida to land with the Bucs at the fifth overall pick. An analysis was provided by the Pewter Plank team in response to the two-round mock draft.
More from Bucs Draft
- The Athletic’s early NFL Mock Draft has the Bucs taking a Top 5 QB in 2024
- Bucs front office reveals one thing the team missed during NFL Draft
- Peter King explains simple reason why Bucs passed on drafting Will Levis
- Mel Kiper Jr. hands out his official Buccaneers draft grade
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers undrafted free agents tracker 2023
Volume II of a weekly 7-round mock draft for Tampa Bay was a fun way to begin the work week. This mock draft saw the Buccaneers address the possible departure of Alexander, upgrade their offensive line and secondary, as well as get some new weapons for Jameis Winston offensively.
Tuesday, the window for teams to utilize the franchise tag on prospective players opened up, begging the question: how long until the Bucs apply the tag to left tackle Donovan Smith? Read further for an analysis on the pros and cons for tagging the 25-year-old from Penn State.
Adam Humphries future looks like it will be somewhere other than Tampa Bay, as he is expected to demand more on the open market than the Buccaneers may be willing to spend. Preparing for this to be the case, we identified three slot receivers that the Bucs could target in free agency to replace Humphries.
On Wednesday, we posted an article that took a look at current players on the Buccaneers roster that could be primed for a breakout year under new head coach Bruce Arians based off of his scheme and the hires that he added to his staff. A running back looking for a fresh start, a second-year corner back, a safety looking for consistency, a receiver looking to take yet another step in 2019, and a linebacker returning after missing the entire 2018 season were identified.
Later in the day, Buccaneer nation received their first bit of news in a news-heavy week. The team announced at 4pm EST that veteran running back and a former player under Arians in Arizona, Andre Ellington had agreed to terms to head to Tampa Bay. We analyzed the move and how this could effect the Bucs plans moving forward in response to the news.
In anticipation for the NFL Combine, we identified five potential draft prospects who could be the Buccaneers radar if they find themselves in a great position to trade back in the draft and land a haul of draft assets in return. A gritty linebacker, a “Greedy” cornerback, a small school safety, a sliding offensive lineman, and a pass rusher from a Florida school should be considered should Tampa Bay choose to trade down.
During a radio interview, Alexander stated his desires to return to Tampa Bay and continue his career with the Buccaneers. Our reactions to his statement can be found here and what it would take to retain the services of the athletic linebacker.
Later in the afternoon on Thursday, we took a deep look at the current Tampa Bay staff that Arians has assembled, and what the plan could have been when the Buccaneers hired the 60-year-old coach after sitting out a year with health issues. Is Arians’ successor already on this staff?
Carl Nassib, financial advisor and defensive end, was added to the roster after he was claimed off of waivers when he was cut by the Cleveland Browns after week four of the preseason. He paid dividends for Tampa Bay on the field in 2018, and looks to continue to pay off for the Bucs in more way than one in 2019.
Then to end the week, two different reports surfaced that have an impact on the future of the Buccaneers. Yesterday morning, we analyzed a report from CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora that Tampa Bay is potentially in play for the services of Le’Veon Bell.
Later in the afternoon, Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud posted an article that insinuated that ten-year veteran Gerald McCoy would be back with the Buccaneers in 2019. Our input, reaction, and analysis to this report was documented and can be found here.
Next. Names to keep an eye on at the Combine. dark
This week in TPP news, we added two new writers to our team as well in Jason Hickman (@BucGator83) and Dylan Grimm (@DGrimm1216). Give them a follow on Twitter and look forward to more awesome Buccaneers content to come this week.