Tampa Bay Buccaneers snag a pass rusher in recent mock draft

With the fifth mock draft covered in five days, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select a former five-star recruit and athletic pass rusher from Michigan.

Five days, five different mock drafts, five different players predicted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On this Friday edition, the Bucs snag a different pass rusher than Montez Sweat, the one covered in yesterday’s edition, and land Rashan Gary from the University of Michigan.

Gary was already widely considered a top-10 pick in the upcoming draft, and after his Combine performance, his stock is rising even higher. He performed so well that Matt Miller from Bleacher Report and the podcast Stick to Football felt comfortable sliding him into his top five and sticking him with Tampa Bay in his latest mock draft.

Out of every defensive end at the combine last weekend in Indianapolis, Gary tested in the 85th percentile or above in the 20 yard shuttle, broad jump, vertical jump, and 40 yard dash; the latter two drills Gary tested in the 95th and 97th percentile respectively. Running a sub 4.6 40 yard dash at 277 pounds is not an easy task, but Gary did just that and put his athleticism on full display.

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While Gary’s production was not off the charts as a member of the Michigan Wolverines, that may have had less to do with the former five-star recruit and more with the coaching he was given. Struggling with an identity crisis in college, Gary was without a true position, being shuffled back and forth from defensive end and defensive tackle.

While some may look at his lack of a true position as a weakness, all it takes is one NFL team to take a look at Gary and see his ability to play as a three-tech defensive lineman and as an edge rusher as a strength; play Gary as a three-tech on 3-4 fronts, and put him at end on 4-3 fronts and let him get after the quarterback.

Throughout the pre-draft process, Gary has been very vocal that he believes that he is the best player in the draft class, and his athleticism backs up his word; if only he had the on-field production in college to solidify his stance.

As Gary looks like a top-10 lock at this point in the pre-draft process, Bleacher Report’s Miller felt like Gary flashed enough to mock him to the Buccaneers, who are in need of someone who can disrupt the passing game defensively, with the fifth overall pick.