Second Buccaneers pick casts doubt on former selection
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers were able to find a quality guard in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. What does this mean for Robert Hainsey?
Robert Hainsey didn’t feel like a home run for the Buccaneers the night he was drafted. He made less sense when Tampa decided to bring Ryan Jensen back as the center of the future.
Now, with the drafting Luke Goedeke to serve as the other starting guard alongside Shaq Mason, the selection of Robert Hainsey makes even less sense.
None of this is guaranteed. These is a chance that Goedeke shows up to camp and doesn’t earn one of the starting jobs, but let’s not pretend that this is likely. The far more likely situation here is that Tampa wasted two picks in the 2021 NFL Draft on Day 2.
Some fans may not want to hear it, but going after guys like Hainsey and Kyle Trask, even when there were no pressing needs, was not the right decision by a team with a Super Bowl window created by Tom Brady.
The Buccaneers needed to spend every priority pick during the past two years on guys that can immediately contribute. Twenty-two starters coming back or not, teams like the Bucs always have to find guys that have a path to making it onto the field.
Goedeke has a chance for that in 2022. Hainsey’s chances are much lower.
This is not to say that it is time to call Hainsey a bust just yet, but you do have to wonder what the Bucs saw in this pick a year ago if they aren’t even willing to give him the shot right now.
It may play out differently than it seems, but at least it is nice to see the Buccaneers go after guys that can help out with the Super Bowl chances this season.
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