Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Is Jalen Hurts a viable QB target?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be looking for a quarterback on Day 2 or later of the 2020 NFL Draft as a way to find a potential project.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some major decisions to make over the course of the next few weeks before free-agency hits and the draft is upon us.

It’s speculated that the Buccaneers will place the franchise tag on QB Jameis Winston as a way to re-evaluate the quarterback for another season, but that won’t stop Tampa Bay from exploring all of its options inside free-agency and in the NFL Draft.

While many Buccaneers fans have thought about the option of drafting a prospect like Justin Herbert, Jacob Eason or Jordan Love, what if Tampa Bay decides to re-sign Winston and then build depth at the position with a late-round selection?

One of those QB targets could become Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts.

Hurts is probably one of the few players in history to compete for multiple National Championships, finish as a runner-up in the Heisman Trophy race and still not get any kind of first-round attention. And he’s not going to.

Though Hurts has a special story, he has shown too many deficiencies for an NFL organization to take a risk on drafting him on Day 1, or even Day 2 for that matter. However, he will be selected before the draft is over and that could be a route the Buccaneers choose to take if the organization is convinced some of those problems are fixable.

Hurts’ pure athleticism and leadership are qualities that will get him a look by several NFL organizations, but he will have major mechanic issues to be fixed once he arrives.

Could he become a guy like Dak Prescott (who was drafted later with noticeable issues)? Could Hurts still develop and prove that he can play at the next level? It would be a risk, but something that the Buccaneers may be willing to do in the later-rounds when they’re looking for a ‘diamond in the ruff.’

At worst, Hurts could be a solid second-string QB or potential WR candidate, but at best, he could develop into a franchise-changing quarterback. Is he worth the risk? Only time will time.