Le’Veon Bell signing is Buccaneers staff admitting terrible draft mistake

The Buccaneers signed Le’Veon Bell rather than leaning on a third-round draft pick. It’s time to acknowledge the worst pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by Jason Licht.

The Buccaneers have become one of the best teams in the NFL through excellent team building, specifically through the draft. Bruce Arians and Jason Licht have constructed a dominant roster that puts young players in positions to succeed, and the future for the franchise is bright as long as Licht keeps up current trends.

Unfortunately, there are still duds from time to time, and the recent signing of Le’Veon Bell by the Buccaneers makes this even more clear than usual.

Tampa is without Leonard Fournette, and Ronald Jones spent most of the 2021 season in the dog house. There is an opening for a depth running back to step up. So, why is Ke’Shawn Vaughn not getting that chance?

Well, Vaughn has not lived up to his lofty third-round draft status, and a selection that looked like a reach on draft night has only started to look worse in recent months.

Vaughn struggles in the passing game, which was the stated reason why the Bucs loved him so much, and he does little to set himself apart on the ground. The Buccaneers obviously wanted a running back with that pick in the third round of the draft, but this is a great example of why you don’t draft for need.

If the Bucs had any faith in Vaughn, he would move into that second role now. Instead, the Bucs have decided that a veteran past his prime like Bell is a better option, and this tells the NFL world everything they need to know about how this franchise sees Vaughn. It also likely sheds some light on Vaughn’s future in Tampa, but that may be looking ahead too far for now.

Either way, Bucs fans probably shouldn’t expect for Ke’Shawn Vaughn to step into any major roles for the rest of this season, and having a third-round running back that still can’t make an impact at the end of year two is concerning.

Hopefully the Buccaneers will be better in drafting the position in the future.

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