Draft Visits Indicate Tampa Bay Buccaneers Have Interest in Drafting a QuarterbackBy Matt Tidcombe - Apr 10th, 2014 at 11:50 am 
Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY SportsAs the draft inches closer, NFL draft prospects have begun visiting teams for workouts and interviews. So far, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have brought in over a dozen players for visits – they are allowed to bring in a maximum 30 players. However, one position that the Bucs appear to be focusing on is quarterback as they have had four players come in for visits so far. Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, Garrett Gilbert of SMU and Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois have all stopped by One Buc Place since visits began on Monday. There may be even more quarterbacks that come in for visits in the near future but it’s becoming clear that the Bucs seem to be focusing on a quarterback at some point in this draft. Bridgewater and Manziel are considered two of the three top quarterback prospects in the draft, along with Blake Bortles of UCF, and it’s likely the only way the Bucs could draft one of those three players is with the number seven pick. Garoppolo and Gilbert aren’t considered first round draft picks so the Bucs have the option of taking either player later in the draft. Garoppolo is ranked as the fifth best quarterback in the draft by CBS Sports and projected as a second round draft choice, while Gilbert is considered a seventh round pick. Bucs GM Jason Licht has already said he thinks that there are franchise quarterbacks in this years draft and has gone so far as to say that they may not be the obvious top three quarterbacks, indicating that they may be available in the later rounds of the draft. “You can never pass on a franchise quarterback if you feel that quarterback is a franchise level player,” Licht told Booger McFarland on 98.7 The Fan last month. Remember, Licht was part of the New England Patriots front office that selected Tom Brady in the sixth round in the 2000 draft. With Josh McCown, Mike Glennon, and Mike Kafka the current quarterbacks on the roster one thing appears to be clear: the Bucs don’t have their franchise quarterback right now and perhaps that’s why they continue to scour the 2014 quarterback draft class for that potential franchise cornerstone. http://thepewterplank.com/2014/04/10/draft-visits-indicate-tampa-bay-buccaneers-interest-drafting-quarterback/
