Buccaneers: Sports Illustrated Mock Draft has Tampa trading up in first-round

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an opportunity to make a franchise-building move in the first-round and many believe they’ll be trading up.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently slated to pick at No. 14 in the 2020 NFL Draft and the consensus is that the franchise will address the offensive line at that spot.

In the 2020 NFL Draft class, there are four offensive tackles who are considered to be elite first-round prospects and the Buccaneers clearly have their eyes on landing one of those.

However, there’s no guarantee that any of the top four offensive tackles- Jedrick Wills Jr. (Alabama), Mekhi Becton (Louisville), Andrew Thomas (Georgia) and Tristan Wirfs (Iowa) will even be available when it comes time for Tampa Bay to be on the virtual clock.

So, what will happen? Well, there is growing speculation that the Buccaneers are considering making a trade to vault themselves into the top-10 and guarantee that they can select one of those elite offensive tackles.

Sports Illustrated released its latest NFL Mock Draft and the publication predicted this very thing happening.

SI’s Jenny Vrentas has the Buccaneers trading up to No. 9 with the Jacksonville Jaguars to land OT Andrew Thomas. Thomas, the publication notes, was an All-American at right tackle during his freshman season and then transitioned to left tackle.

He is the safest pick in the draft, in terms of offensive tackles, and would be able to step in at that spot and make an impact immediately. Thomas has the skill and ability to develop into an elite-level offensive tackle in the future and would absolutely be a great pick-up for the Bucs.

Interestingly enough, Vrentas has the Bucs selecting Thomas in that spot when Mekhi Becton is still on the board. Becton, in my opinion, has the highest upside of any offensive tackle in this draft and has the length to not only fill in at right tackle, but even develop into an All-Pro level left tackle during his career.