2017: Pick No. 19 overall
- The original selection: TE O.J. Howard
- The re-drafted selection: Trade up for QB Deshaun Watson
This is the franchise quarterback that the Buccaneers would’ve loved to have.
Now, if you’re not going to allow trade-ups, the pick should’ve been Dalvin Cook almost without question, but our re-draft has the Bucs take a page out the Houston Texans’ book- which is something you wouldn’t want to do now a days, but back then it was absolutely genius.
The Texans traded up from No. 25 overall (with the Browns) to No. 12 overall to draft Clemson QB Deshaun Watson. What if that was the Buccaneers, though?
The Bucs had the No. 19 overall pick and certainly had more draft capital and more valuable assets to offer the Browns than the Texans did. In this scenario, Tampa would be in need of a quarterback and trading up a few spots (even to lose a second-round pick) would’ve absolutely been worth it to get a franchise-changing quarterback like Watson.