7-round Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mock Draft after 2024 NFL Combine

Round 7, Pick 255: John Rhys Plumlee, QB/UCF

A lot has been made about Kyle Trask and how the Bucs whiffed by drafting him. That's not entirely true, as the concept and idea behind Darftin Trask was right but the execution was all wrong. Tampa Bay needed to find someone to develop in order to take over when Tom Brady retired, but Trask was never given a shot and it seems his time will with the Bucs will run out before he can make an impact.

That shouldn't stop the team from dipping back into the quarterback pool and drafting someone out of this year's class.

Sam Hartman is an intriguing option here, but there's a chance he gets over-drafted like Stetson Bennett was last year and isn't on the board. It's also possible that UCF's John Rhys Plumlee is the higher-upside prospect and could fit the Bucs plans a little bit better.

Assuming Baker Mayfield comes back, the Bucs will likely ride him as their starter for the next few years. That means Plumlee doesn't have to do much more than serve as depth and quietly develop behind the scenes into a solid backup option for Tampa Bay. He doesn't need to carry the weight of being a successor but could naturally fall into that role if given some time to settle in and learn the ropes.

It's a low-risk draft pick anyway, but he showed some flashes at UCF that will excite teams looking for quarterback depth.

That catch was great but what isn't noted is that Plumlee was thew the pass. As great as the catch was, the pass was a dime dropped right in the bucket and is an example of the raw skills he possesses that a team like the Bucs might want to try and develop.

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