The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to win big in the 2020 NFL Draft, and to do that; they may have to take a chance on several under-rated prospects.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to carry their draft success over from 2019 to 2020 if they have any hope of competing in this upcoming season.
The team looks primed to make the playoffs and could make a deeper push, but for now, the main focus is to actually end the playoff drought and then move forward from there.
The Bucs have a well-constructed team currently. Tom Brady isn’t done yet despite his age, the pass-catchers are among the best in the NFL, and the defense has the chance to be dominant again for the first time since the early 2000s. Tampa Bay will rely on this draft to put the finishing touches on one of their best rosters in decades.
As it stands, the Buccaneers will likely focus their first-round pick on finding an offensive tackle, but after that, they could find success by taking chances on other players in the additional rounds.
The combine and pre-draft evaluations are no perfect science, and under-rated players make a splash in the NFL year after year. The top options may have performed better in college or tested well in the combine drills, but sometimes the underrated players have unique talents that just take longer to develop.
There have been plenty of mock drafts over the past few months, and there is an excellent chance that every one has been wrong. The mind of an analyst or writer differs wildly from the mind of a general manager or coach, and this shows itself each year.
The Buccaneers were able to make the most of the 2019 draft, and Jason Licht was able to end his streak of poor draft classes. Tampa Bay will try to keep that streak going and has a high chance of doing that if they see opportunity with some of these players.
Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State
In one of the best wide receiver classes in recent memory, Brandon Aiyuk has been one of the forgotten men amongst the media in most pre-draft coverage. Aiyuk has the talent to be a first-round option in other years, but in this class, he will likely come off the board in the second round.
First-round talent that is available in the second round is always a positive. With this selection, the Buccaneers would solidify their receiver corps as the best in the league.
Aiyuk didn’t showcase blazing speed at the combine like Henry Ruggs, but he has enough speed to be a consistent third option for Tom Brady as a receiver on the outside that can threaten deep.
This would create a fascinating scenario for the Buccaneers with incredible talent at wide receiver and wouldn’t require a first-round pick to make it happen. Tampa Bay would give the greatest quarterback of all time his deepest receiver group ever in Bruce Arians’ high-powered offense.
With Aiyuk and Mike Evans on the outside, Chris Godwin in the slot, some combination of tight ends that at least includes Cameron Brate, and an improved run game, the Buccaneer offense will be next to impossible to stop.
Khalil Davis, IDL, Nebraska
The Buccaneers are returning the best front seven in the NFL. Tampa Bay had the best defense versus the run in the NFL in 2019, and that came on the backs of the stellar defensive line and one of the best linebacker duos in the league.
The Bucs still have Vita Vea and William Gholston for a few more years, but with Ndamukong Suh on a deal for one more season, the team will need to start coming up with a plan for keeping the defensive line staffed for the future.
Khalil Davis would be a great depth piece for the Buccaneers with the talent to compete for the starting job after Suh’s departure. The Bucs will likely have Suh on the roster for at most two more seasons, and Davis would be a great contingency plan.
Davis has the size to play defensive end in a 3-4 perfectly. With 4.75-second speed and weighing in at 308 pounds, Davis would be a force to reckon with alongside Vita Vea.
While at Nebraska, Khalil Davis was able to showcase his exceptional pass-rushing skills during his final season, posting 11 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks.
He may have some work to do against the run, but Khalil Davis has the makings to be an excellent piece for the Buccaneer defense in the future.
Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri
There is a genuine chance that the Buccaneers decide to move on from O.J. Howard before the 2020 NFL Draft. There are pros and cons to this move, but regardless the Bucs will need to find a replacement for their freakishly talented tight end.
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The apparent options to replace Howard are current backups, Tanner Hudson and Antony Auclair. Auclair is a better blocker than he is a receiver, and Hudson has shown the opposite strengths in his limited time in game situations.
If the Buccaneers decided to move Auclair to the other starting spot alongside Cameron Brate and then keep Hudson and a rookie as depth pieces, Albert Okwuegbunam would be a perfect fit.
The Class of 2020 is short in terms of tight end talent, but Okwuegbunam has the athleticism to have a high ceiling. This may sound a lot like O.J. Howard because it is a similar situation.
Large size and surprising speed allowed Okwuegbunam to showcase impressive receiving ability and a semi-solid foundation to build on as a blocker while at Missouri.
It would seem foolish for the Buccaneers to move on from Howard to a player so similar. Still, if Bruce Arians’ mind is made up or the Bucs can get some value for Howard in a trade, the best scenario is to try to find a replacement that possesses a similar skill set.
Okwuegbunam may not blow anyone away for the Bucs in 2020, but his outlook for the future is bright, and he could stand to learn a lot from Brate as the starter.
Antonio Gibson, RB, Memphis
The Buccaneers have been linked to Clyde Edwards-Helaire the most out of the upcoming class of running backs, and mock drafts have also listed D’Andre Swift and Jonathan Taylor as potential options.
All of these backs fall short of what Antonio Gibson would bring to the Buccaneers relative to their needs and value of the pick.
Swift, CEH, and Taylor will probably be off the board by the end of the second round. Antonio Gibson will likely come off the board in the third round, which would be a better use of the capital for the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay already has a talented runner in Ronald Jones, and players like Taylor and Swift are marginal improvements over Jones in the run game, but they both fall short of Gibson as a receiver.
The biggest thing that the Bucs need in a running back is their hands, and being a former receiver gives Gibson a steep advantage over the rest of the competition.
Tampa Bay could use Gibson in a role similar to James White in New England as one of the best pass-catching backs in the NFL. Jones could coexist with Gibson, and the Buccaneers wouldn’t be wasting their former draft pick used on Jones.
Gibson is a capable runner, and teams wouldn’t be able to sell-out on committing to the pass if he was on the field rather than Jones. He may not be the flashiest name, but Antonio Gibson could be a big part of Tom Brady’s future success in Tampa Bay.
Austin Jackson, OT, USC
If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not draft an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft, their fanbase, and potentially Tom Brady, will riot. The Bucs need their line to be as good as it has ever been in 2020, and for that to happen, Tampa Bay needs to find a tackle.
Tampa Bay is stuck in the middle of the first round, and it is difficult to determine if any of the top four offensive tackles will be available at the 14th overall pick. Any of those players would make an immediate impact for the Bucs, but there is a genuine chance that they could all be off the board unless a trade-up is made.
If the Buccaneers do not want to trade up and have different plans for their first-round pick, they will still need to find an offensive tackle at a different location
He may not be Mekhi Becton or Tristan Wirfs, but Austin Jackson could have been one of the top offensive tackles in a different year.
Jackson has the size and the measurables to be a very talented tackle in the NFL; he just may not reach that point as fast as some of his counterparts.
The Buccaneers have a two-year window to win with Tom Brady. They are pouring all of their resources into a shot at competing for the Super Bowl. While he may not be ready at the start of year one, Austin Jackson could be a consistent piece of the Buccaneer offensive line after sitting behind Joe Haeg for some time and could be ready to go in year 2.
This wouldn’t be the flashiest pick, but it would save the Buccaneers from having to trade up or using a first-round pick on the offensive line while also still finding a player that has a high upside.