Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Early April mid-week mock draft featuring a trade!
By Cory Kinnan
Round 1, Pick 15: Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State
After trading back from the fifth slot, the Buccaneers pick ten spots later with the 15th overall pick, where Washington was originally set to make their selection. With the 15th overall pick in the draft, Tampa Bay stays in-state and is able to still land Brian Burns, pass rusher from Florida State.
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In new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ 3-4 scheme, Burns may be the perfect fit to bookend the defensive front off of the edge at outside linebacker. In fact, Burns looked fluid dropping back into coverage during on-field drills at the combine, something that he will be asked to do in situational occasions.
Burns was one of the big winners at the combine. Already projected as a first round pick, Burns proved that he could bulk up and still test extremely well. One main concern for many draft scouts was that Burns was too thin, playing at right around 235 pounds at Florida State; he weighed in just shy of 250 in Indianapolis and still ran a 4.53 40 yard dash, hit 129 inches on his broad jump, 36 inches on his vertical jump, and hit just about 7 seconds flat on his 3-cone drill.
Burns falling to Tampa Bay at 15 would be a world of a steal for the Buccaneers, and they would add an elite pass rushing prospect opposite newly signed Shaq Barrett.