Round 7 – Oklahoma State QB Taylor Cornelius
6-6, 232 – Senior

New Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians is firmly entrenched in having Jameis Winston as his starting quarterback in 2019, but the team does need to find a backup. The Buccaneers likely won’t re-sign 35-year old veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick because Arians won’t want Winston looking over his shoulder during a contract year, and Ryan Griffin hasn’t taken a snap in an NFL game despite being a backup for the past six years.

Oklahoma State QB Taylor Cornelius – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Arians will want a fresh start at the quarterback position behind Winston. Arians, who has coached the likes of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck in Indianapolis, Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich in Pittsburgh, and Carson Palmer, Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton in Arizona, likes big quarterbacks and only drafted one QB with the Cardinals – Logan Thomas, a 6-foot-6, 250-pounder out of Virginia Tech, who has since moved to tight end and now plays for Buffalo. At 6-foot-6, 232 pounds, Oklahoma State’s Taylor Cornelius has NFL size and the ability to throw the deep ball, but he’s a raw talent.

That’s because Cornelius only started one year for the Cowboys, serving as Mason Rudolph’s backup for three years before taking over the reins of the offense as a senior. Cornelius needs some good coaching at the next level, but would bring mobility and a live arm to Tampa Bay for Leftwich, who is the Bucs’ new offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen and Arians to work with.

Oklahoma State Career Passing Stats
2015: 2-of-5 passing (40 percent) for 8 yards
2016: 7-of-9 passing (77.8 percent) for 64 yards
2017: 6-of-10 passing (60 percent) for 148 yards
2018: 287-of-484 passing (59.3 percent) for 3,973 yards with 32 TDs and 13 INTs

Oklahoma State Career Rushing Stats
2015: 4 carries for 5 yards (1.3 avg.)
2016: 6 carries for 28 yards (4.7 avg.) and 1 TD with a long of 15 yards
2017: 7 carries for 75 yards (10.7 avg.) and 1 TD with a long of 40 yards
2018: 122 carries for 406 yards (3.3 avg.) and 10 TDs with a long of 48 yards

Cornelius led the 7-6 Cowboys to upset wins over Top 15 teams Texas (38-35) and West Virginia (45-41), and nearly upset Oklahoma (48-47). Cornelius completed 30-of-46 passes (65.2 percent) for 338 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions against the Mountaineers, while also rushing for a career-high 106 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries (8.2 avg.). Against Texas, Cornelius completed 23-of-34 passes (67.6 avg.) for 321 yards with three TDs and no INTs, while rushing for two additional scores.

In the annual Bedlam series against the Sooners, Cornelius outplayed eventual Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, completing 34-of-53 passes for 501 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, but his game-winning, two-point conversion attempt failed and the Cowboys came up one point short at Oklahoma.

In his final game at Oklahoma State, Cornelius outdueled Missouri’s Drew Lock, who is regarded as a potential first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, in 38-33 win in the Liberty Bowl, completing 26-of-44 passes (59.1 percent) for 336 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Cornelius, who was invited to the East-West Shrine Game, needs to work on his accuracy, evidenced by three games in which he completed less than 50 percent of his passes in losses against Texas Tech, at Kansas State and at TCU. But the streaky Cornelius showed he could get hot and had four games in which he completed at least 65 percent of his throws. Because of his size, athleticism and strong arm, Cornelius is worth a late-round pick as a development quarterback prospect for the Buccaneers.