Hey Everyone, I haven't posted in a long time but wanted to start a conversation around where we are after the announcements and what it looks like we will be doing in FA and the Draft.
DE - We're not seeing much movement here in FA, on what is a very shallow talent pool. The only FAs worth calling a "starter"; DLaw, Ansah and Murphy have all been heavily linked to teams not named the Bucs. I think this puts the writing on the wall that TB relies on the draft to fill, or attempt to, this gap. Depending on how the talent falls, I could see us taking Chubb, Key, or Davenport. If we let it go past day one, possibly Hubbard. I would not be surprised if we made a play at Adrian Clayborn, if he doesn't get offered tons of money. He would only be considered a rotational rusher imo, he wasn't that great last year save for his performance against a Tron-less Dallas.
IOL - Whether it be OG or C. The writing is on the wall that the Bucs are trying to make an impact signing here. Personally, I'd love to see Jensen signed and Marpet moved back to OG where he excelled far more than at C (was still a solid C). We could get Sitton, depending on how money flows around the two. I don't think it very likely, if at all, that we get both Jensen and Sitton. Let's operate under the assumption that we get one of them. That will enable us to put Interior OL into the 2nd or 3rd day of the draft. While I do think Nelson is a beast, if we sign Sitton or Jensen, IDK if our need warrants taking him at 7 - as opposed to our other positions of need. Let's say we don't sign any true-starter IOL during FA.....then I think that means we will be going for OL in the 1st or 2nd.
RB - We need an RB and it looks like the Bucs are pursuing that. With JMack getting grossly overpaid - I worry about our chances to land anyone worth a damn through FA. Look for the Bucs to add a rotational RB, likely one to compete with Sims, in the mix through FA - not a feature back. Additionally, I expect we will try to snag an RB by round 3 and maybe one to develop/camp body later on.
CB - With us resigning Grimes for the low (i mean come on...dude's getting 7mil base and 10mil max....what a steal). I believe it affords us an opportunity to wait until day 2 to draft a CB. However, that being said, I do think Derwin James is a prospect being heavily considered by TB. And if Minkah were to fall (highly doubtful), I'd be shocked if we skipped on him. Regardless, I see TB taking a CB in the first two rounds - this is a deep DB class and we can find starting quality in the 2nd round.
Conclusion: In my opinion, the most likely scenario for our Bucs is to go DE in round 1 and RB or CB in round 2, with the remaining coming in 3. Unless, of course we whiff in FA on the OL front...then I think you put OL in the mix for first or second round and push back RB or CB depending on how the chips fall.
Of course, all of this is hypothetical rambling, but i'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, is there anyone at any of these position groups that you think could be a steal in the 4th or 5th rounds of the draft, possibly leading to us waiting until then to address it?!
Thanks for reading, let's go Bucs!
