The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn in the third-round with the No. 76 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft Friday night.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the clock for a second time Friday night as part of the third-round.
The Buccaneers selected safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second-round and there was plenty of speculation going into the third-round about which position Tampa Bay would next address.
The Buccaneers- who have been near the bottom of the league in rushing for the past half-decade- elected to address the running back position and selected RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn out of Vanderbilt with the No. 76 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Third-Round Draft Grade: Ke’Shawn Vaughn, RB
Vaughn is a workhorse-type running back who has shown plenty of power and explosiveness during his collegiate career.
After starting out with Lovie Smith in Illinois, Vaughn transferred over to Vanderbilt for his final two seasons. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of those seasons and averaged 6.6 yard per carry with the Commoders.
Vaughn ran a 4.51 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Vaughn is a guy who can become a complementary piece as a back-up with Ronald Jones II and potentially develop into a solid third-down back.
He has some experience catching the ball out of the backfield- 28 receptions for 270 yards and a touchdown in his final season- but I wouldn’t say that he’s shown a consistent ability to be a legitimate threat in the passing game.
Another factor you must also take into account is the fact that he was playing on an offense that was extremely out-matched in the SEC and he still was putting up good numbers.
The power and explosiveness in his game will be something that Buccaneers fans enjoy, but it certainly seems like a reach from the Tampa Bay perspective.
This is one of those situations where I like the prospect, but not the pick. Vaughn would’ve likely been around in the fourth-round- and the Bucs could’ve traded back to get him- and he may have even been around in the fifth.
It just seemed like a bit of a reach to go ahead and draft him in the middle of the third-round when he hasn’t shown the same type of ceiling of some of the other running backs who were taken before him.
Grade: C
It’s not that Vaughn is a bad pick-up. The Bucs needed to address the running back position. It’s the fact that Tampa Bay chose to do it so soon rather than trading back and earning more draft capital with so many other positions that could’ve been addressed instead.