Heading into this battle plan the biggest needs I saw for the Bucs were a replacement at right tackle, a running back to add in tandem with Jones, shoring up the safety position and then adding depth at wide receiver, cornerback and the defensive line.

After tackling the safety position and adding a wide receiver to replace Perriman in free agency, this gave me a little more freedom to go after some of my favorite players in this year’s draft, hence my rationale behind trading back up into the third round.

Jenkins’ 2020 Bucs Draft Picks

Round 1 – Georgia OT Andrew Thomas
While I would have loved to land Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton with this pick, I have a feeling that he may leap over Thomas on a lot of draft boards following his highly-circulated highlight tape and impressive combine performance. While there is a risk in missing your guy by staying put at Pick 14, I have trouble realistically believing that four offensive tackles are gone by that point and I would comfortably take any of the top four tackles in this draft with a good conscience.

With Jedrick Wills looking like the consensus top tackle in the draft and Tristan Wirfs’ stock only climbing, this leaves the potential for Thomas to slide if Becton is taken earlier than previously projected. I have no problem with that.

Thomas was a five-star recruit out of high school when he signed on with the Georgia Bulldogs and only got better. As a freshman, Thomas started all 15 games at right tackle where he earned freshman All-American honors. As a sophomore Thomas made the transition to left tackle, starting 13 games and earning AP second-team All-American honors and first-team All-SEC. In his junior season it was much of the same, this time earning another All-Conference selection while making his way onto the AP first-team All-American team in 13 starts.

Thomas is a technically-sound mauler at tackle, standing 6-foot-5, 315 pounds with heavy hands, a solid base and the ability to play tackle on either the right or the left side. When drafting Thomas with my first round pick I envision him stepping into the starting right tackle spot immediately before eventually taking over at left tackle when the team chooses to move on from Donovan Smith.

Round 2 – LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
In his first season of full-time work at LSU, his hometown school as a four-star recruit out of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Edwards-Helaire was a vital part of the Tigers’ undefeated season and national championship run.

Racking up 1,414 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns on 215 carries (6.6 yards per carry), in addition to 453 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown on 55 receptions, the do-it-all back earned All-SEC honors as a running back and second-team All-SEC honors as a returner. While he isn’t the quickest or the biggest back in the class, Edwards-Helaire is the true epitomy of a three-down back thanks to his proficiency catching the ball out of the backfield and his ability to pass protect.

With Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins, Georgia’s D’Andre Swift and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor likely all coming off of the board before Edwards-Helaire, it gives the Bucs a great opportunity to see him available at Pick 45 in the second round. By drafting Edwards-Helaire I’m not just taking a supremely talented playmaker out of the backfield either, as he returned 40 kickoffs for a total of 877 yards (21.9 yards per return) over his three seasons at LSU, and the Bucs are in desperate need of improvement in their return game.

Round 3 – Auburn DE Marlon Davidson
A four-year defensive end at Auburn, Davidson earned SEC All-Freshman honors in his first year with the Tigers and he never slowed down. Davidson played in at least 12 games all four years at Auburn, racking up 12.5 tackles for loss and a team-leading 7.5 sacks, ahead of teammate Derrick Brown, in his senior year.

What makes Davidson a truly interesting prospect, specifically when looking through the lens of Bowles’ defense, is that he played four years as a defensive end but could make the transition to the interior defensive line at the next level and provide positional flexibility. Davidson’s long strides and speed up the field allows him to play standing up off the edge while his size and strength, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 303 pounds at the combine, lends himself to effectiveness out of a three-point stance on the end or interior.

By drafting Davidson it won’t be a matter of what can you do with him from a positional standpoint, it would instead become what do do you want to do with him. With solidified starters set at both starting edge positions and the interior, drafting Davidson will allow him to grow as a player and eventually become a rotational force on the defensive line.

Round 3 – WR/RB Antonio Gibson (From Denver)
Antonio Who? That’s what a lot of people are probably asking themselves right now, considering Gibson transferred to Memphis as a junior and really only had one year of full-time production as a senior in 2019. Stepping on campus as a junior after two seasons at East Central Community College, Gibson made the transition to running back at Memphis but effectively split his time there a running back and wide receiver, as well as working extensively in the return game.

Gibson is a dynamic athlete who is just waiting for a chance to get the ball in his hands on every play. In his junior year he totaled just six receptions, but took those catches for 99 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In his senior season Gibson got his first work out of the backfield, rushing for 369 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries (11.2 yards per carry) while adding 735 yards and eight receiving touchdowns on 38 receptions (19.3 yards per reception.) Gibson’s 19.3 yards per reception led the American Athletic Conference. On special teams Gibson took 23 returns for 645 yards (28 yards per return) and a touchdown in his senior season, making him another return option added through the draft after Edwards-Helaire in the second.

A raw prospect, most would have surely liked to see more from Gibson at the college level following just one year of full-time play and only 33 career carries to his name. In addition, standing six-foot even at 228 pounds he’s a little in between the ideal size for either a back or receiver, but after a 4.39 40-yard dash at the Combine, Gibson’s no longer a hidden gem and will surely make his rise up many draft boards come April.

Round 5 – Liberty WR Antonio Gandy-Golden
In a deep wide receiver class, I’m able to land Antonio Gandy-Golden for my second Antonio of the draft and a solid talent in the fifth round to solidify the receiver position heading into 2020. At 6-foot-4, running a 4.6 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, Gandy-Golden fits the bill for what Arians loves in a receiver, a mix of size and speed.

Liberty made the jump to the FBS level as an independent school in 2018 and Gandy-Golden made the most of his two years at that level. In his junior season, Gandy-Golden exploded for 1,037 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 71 receptions (14.6 yards per carry) only to outdo himself as a senior.

In 2019 Gandy-Golden led all receivers at independent schools in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,396) and yards from scrimmage. He added another 10 receiving touchdowns last season which ranked him second among all independent school receivers in both 2018 and 2019.

Round 6 – Nebraska CB Lamar Jackson

Jackson, not the quarterback, played in five game as a freshman at Nebraska before sliding into a full-time role as a sophomore. While Jackson ran a 4.58 40-yard dash, which isn’t ideal for what the Bucs’ are looking for in a cornerback, his size and playstyle fits Tampa Bay to a tee.

At 6-foot-2, 208 pounds, Jackson is a long, physical corner who is almost exclusively limited to outside coverage but thrives on the line of scrimmage where he can use his size and strength to disrupt receivers as they begin their routes. Jackson’s strong, physical, a sure tackler and, despite being a project player as a day three draft pick, could add depth to an already young defensive backs unit.

In his four years at Nebraska, Jackson totaled 123 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, five interceptions, 22 passes defended and three forced fumbles.