The NFL Draft is far from being perfect. History has proven there are far more mistakes made than players that actually make it longer than their first contracts, and that's just round one.
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hitting on their draft class this year will help move the needle when the playoff picture starts to take shape late in the season. Tampa is close to making noise and hitting early in their draft could help.
Jason Licht is calling yet another draft, and he has his head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and possibly even Baker Mayfield whispering in his ear. Of course, there are the fans as well.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers home run draft would start with any of these five players
Mansoor Delane - CB - LSU
Think what you want, but Delane is not a lock for the top 14 as many believe. It will only take one player to fall, one team to trade up in front of Tampa for him to fall to 15. Delane is the best CB in this year's draft with considerably less risk than Jermod McCoy.
Tampa would be smart to keep an eye on how things progress at the position. Deeper than other units in this draft, losing out on Delane isn't a bad thing, as the 2nd-round talent is incredibly promising, but if Delane falls, Licht can't miss on this prospect.
Akheem Mesidor - Edge - Miami (Fl)
A lot of media are hyping Keldric Faulk to Tampa; that's a mistake. Faulk is going to be good a few years from now, maybe. He is raw and needs to be coached up quite a bit. The same can't be said for Mesidor, who should be a day-one impact starter.
Working against him isn't talent, it's age. At 25, he is one of the older rookies in this class, but with that comes maturity that many others don't possess. Mesidor can impact from the 7-tech to the 3-tech without losing production. That's the versatility few players have coming into this draft.
Peter Woods - DT - Clemson
Yes, Tampa needs DT help, and Woods can provide the impact out of the gate. Last season wasn't good for Woods, but Clemson's defense as a whole wasn't as good as it was previously. Some believed that Woods would be a top-5 draft pick this year, but his regression has dropped him.
This isn't something that can't be fixed with some tweaking. He needs to drop a few pounds to get back to a weight that allows him to be quicker, but his power may be the best in this year's draft class. Woods is the type of player that opposing teams need to game plan for, as one offensive lineman isn't going to do the job on his own. No one is talking much about Woods at 15, but I wouldn't discount it.
Jacob Rodriquez - LB - Texas Tech
I wasn't going to put Rodriquez on this list because I don't see an avenue for the Buccaneers to draft him without making a trade. 15 is too high despite the LB's dominant abilities. He is a late-first, early-second player. If Licht can work out a deal to move down from 15, this should be his guy.
Rodriquez would be an absolute machine on the Tampa defense. He is smaller than the prototype LB, but that also works in his favor. His ability to stretch the sidelines may be the best in this class. The downside is that he needs a big defensive lineman who will keep guards off of him.
Cashius Howell - Edge - Texas A&M
The Buccaneers need someone who can disrupt the pocket, that's Howell. Smaller than most at his position, Howell succeeds because he is relentless and often taken for granted. He has the hands to get off the boundary blocks and the speed to make them pay for making small mistakes.
His arsenal of moves is one of the best in this year's class. He had 11.5 sacks last season for the Aggies and should have no problems making an impact at the next level. Teams may lose interest due to his visual framing, but what he lacks in size comparison, he makes up for in production.
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