Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-round mock draft with 20 days to go
By Cory Kinnan
Round 1, Pick 5: Devin White, LB, Louisiana State
With the fifth pick in the NFL Draft, the Buccaneers take Devin White, linebacker from Louisiana State. It is not a very well-kept secret that Tampa Bay is in love with White, and the only thing that could potentially prohibit them from taking the Butkus Award winner is if Josh Allen or Quinnen Williams are still on the board.
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However, rumors have been swirling that the Oakland Raiders also have their eye on White with the fourth pick in the draft. In this case, they go elsewhere after signing Brandon Marshall and Vontaze Burfict to one-year deals and White becomes a Buccaneer.
Even with the signing of Deone Bucannon and Lavonte David on the roster, the Buccaneers will look for a second true linebacker to fill the void left by Kwon Alexander. Bucannon will be playing linebacker in situations, while also playing safety in others, so adding another linebacker would give him the freedom to fly around the field.
White will be expected to come in and start right away in Tampa Bay next to David in Todd Bowles’ 3-4 defensive scheme. He is the best linebacker in the class, followed by Devin Bush, so with the fifth pick, the Buccaneers call dibs on the top guy at his position.