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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Monday Mailbag  Submit your question to the Bucs Monday Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Who do you see the Bucs taking between Devonte Wyatt and Treylon Burks if they’re both available? 

ANSWER: I think it might be a tough decision between the Bucs drafting Georgia defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks. The Bucs have brought both players in for a Top 30 visit, in addition to interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine. Wyatt would help Tampa Bay fill a bigger, more pressing need at defensive tackle. Burks would be more of a luxury pick, as the Bucs have three quality, starting-caliber receivers in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Russell Gage.

Arkansas WR Treylon Burks – Photo by: USA Today

I’ve already stated my preference. In Friday’s SR’s Fab 5 I wrote about how the Bucs should actually trade up to draft Burks. He’s a special player. Burks is a big, 6-foot-3, 225-pound receiver with great size, leaping ability and yards-after-catch skills. I think he’s the best receiver in the 2022 NFL Draft, and he would be a steal at No. 27. If Burks makes it that far.

I watched Wyatt play nearly every game at Georgia over the last two years. He’s a good, athletic defensive tackle who ran a 4.77 at 6-foot-3, 307 pounds. But he was the second-best defensive tackle on the Bulldogs last year behind Jalen Carter. Wyatt is a quick, twitchy defensive tackle, but where is the pass-rushing production? He had just five sacks at Georgia, including a career-high 2.5 last year along with two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

I’m just not sure Wyatt is a special player. There are typically only about 20 players with first-round grades each year. There might be fewer than that in this year’s draft class. Even at No. 27 the Bucs should want to draft a special player. I think Burks has more special qualities than Wyatt does. But my name isn’t Jason Licht. We’ll see what the Bucs do if they face that scenario on April 28.

QUESTION: Do the Bucs have any interest in Daxton Hill? He seems like a playmaker from the slot. I know he’s listed as a safety, but he seems big enough and athletic enough to play corner?

ANSWER: Tampa Bay did have a formal interview with Michigan defensive back Daxton Hill at the NFL Scouting Combine. It’s unknown whether he is coming to the facility for a Top 30 visit, or if the Bucs have worked him out on campus. But yes, he would be a good fit in Tampa Bay at No. 27 or ideally later.

Hill is probably best as a free safety in the NFL, but he did play 580 snaps in the slot last year for the Wolverines. At 6-foot, 192 pounds, Hill is big enough to play slot cornerback in the NFL and deep. He’s probably a little light to play in the box as a strong safety. Todd Bowles asks his safeties to rotate and play both free and strong, and I’m not sure that Hill is an ideal candidate as a result.

Hill’s 4.38 speed makes him capable enough to play in the slot in Tampa Bay. He has broken up 15 passes and picked off four others in his three years as a starter, in addition to recovering three fumbles. Is Hill a perfect scheme fit with the Bucs? Probably not, but he is smart and athletic enough to be a fit in red and pewter.

QUESTION: Why are the Bucs not looking at cornerbacks in the draft? The secondary has been horrible for years.

ANSWER: Who says the Bucs aren’t looking at cornerbacks? They’ve brought two cornerbacks in for Top 30 visits this offseason – Auburn’s Roger McCreary and Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt. Both lack ideal height to play on the outside in Todd Bowles’ defense, but might be candidates to play in the slot. McCreary and Taylor-Britt are considered to be Day 2 draft prospects. If the Bucs draft a cornerback it will likely be in rounds 2-4.

Nebraska CB Cam Taylor-Britt – Photo by: USA Today

I wouldn’t agree that Tampa Bay’s secondary has been horrible for years. Carlton Davis III has been one of the league’s best cornerbacks for the last couple of seasons. He just earned a contract extension worth $14.833 million per season, according to OverTheCap.com. Safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. just made the Pro Bowl in his second year in the NFL. Jamel Dean was one of the defense’s most improved players and had his best year at outside cornerback.

Dean and nickel cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting are entering a contract year, and there’s a good chance only one returns. As it stands right now, Dean is the better player. As a result, the Bucs might be looking to find some competition for Murphy-Bunting in the slot. Veteran Logan Ryan was signed this offseason, but only for one year. The Bucs will need a long-term option there.

And with all of the injuries at cornerback in 2021, the Bucs were shell-shocked at the position. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see general manager Jason Licht and Bowles draft a cornerback this year as a result.

QUESTION: What are the chances the Bucs go tight end (Trey McBride) at No. 27 or trade down a few spots and select him? Tight end is woefully thin, and McBride seems to be a very good prospect.

ANSWER: You are correct that the Bucs have a big need at tight end. With just Cameron Brate and Codey McElroy on the roster right now, Tampa Bay needs to add two more tight ends to the depth chart. The Bucs are hopeful that Rob Gronkowski, the starter for the last two years, re-signs. But even if he does, Gronkowski will turn 33 in May, and Brate will turn 31 in July. There’s a pretty good chance that 2022 would be the last for both veterans in Tampa Bay.

The Bucs will draft a tight end this year, likely between rounds 2-4. This is a solid draft at the position with several No. 2-caliber tight ends. Colorado State’s Trey McBride is a very good athlete, and is coming off a monster season in which he recorded 90 catches for 1,121 yards and one touchdown last season. McBride won the John Mackey Award for the nation’s best tight end last year.

At 6-foot-4, 256 pounds and running a sub 4.6 time in the 40-yard dash, McBride has the skill set to be a starter in the league. Can he be a Pro Bowler in Tampa Bay or elsewhere? It would depend on his development and the situation he goes to. Time will tell.

Pewter Report did have the Bucs taking McBride in its latest Bucs 7-Round Mock Draft, but in the second round. I don’t think he is special enough to be drafted at No. 27 or even a few spots back. I do think McBride could be drafted between the top of the second round and No. 60, which is when Tampa Bay is scheduled to select.

If Mike Evans keeps pace, is this the year he gets more national recognition around the league?

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Mike Evans is a four-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion. Evans is coming off a Pro Bowl appearance last year after he recorded his eighth straight 1,000-yard season. That established a new NFL record. Evans is on pace to become a Hall of Famer as a result.

Some receivers like Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams do get more publicity and national recognition than Evans, but everybody in the league knows who Evans is by now. Having Tom Brady throw the ball to him for a third straight year will only continue to raise his profile.

QUESTION: Any talks about the Bucs extending Donovan Smith’s contract?

ANSWER: No, not at this time. Any extension for left tackle Donovan Smith would likely come with a pay increase, and the Bucs appear to be done with increasing their payroll. The same goes for extending Mike Evans’ contract, which the team is likely not willing to do right now.

Like Smith, Evans would deserve a raise, too. While the Bucs could reduce the first-year salaries of each player with an extension, they don’t want to pay more than they have to right now. Evans and Smith have two more years left on their existing contracts. Also, the Bucs just extended Smith last offseason. It would be unusual to offer another extension so quickly.