FAB 4. Early Bucs 2020 Mock Drafts

Summer has officially begun and with the Buccaneers on summer break until July 25 when the team reports to training camp, there won’t be a lot of news between now and then outside of Mike Evans’ contract restructure this week, and of course Gerald McCoy’s controversial appearance on Shannon and Skip: Undisputed.

So why not take a look at some really early Bucs 2020 Mock Draft and get to know some of the players that Tampa Bay will be scouting hard as college football season begins in two months?

Georgia QB Jake Fromm – Photo by: Getty Images

PewterReport.com doesn’t come out with our first Bucs mock draft until January, but in the meantime here are a handful of updated early mock drafts from around the Internet, starting with WalterFootball.com.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia
The Buccaneers will give Jameis Winston one more chance this season. If he continues to play very inconsistently under Bruce Arians, or if he continues to grope Uber drivers, he won’t be back for 2020. Given that Tampa landed the No. 6 pick in this 2020 NFL Mock Draft, it’s safe to say that in this scenario, Winston did one of the two. If so, Tampa will move on from him. 

Jake Fromm was tremendous as a rookie for SEC champion Georgia. He has a great skill set and was the very early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He struggled versus LSU, but that doesn’t appear to be a downward trend.

WalterFootball.com picked Fromm over Iowa defensive end/outside linebacker A.J. Epenesa, who went next to Baltimore at No. 7, and also Stanford left tackle Walker Little and LSU safety Grant Delpit, who were selected No. 10 and No. 11 by Minnesota and Dallas, respectively.

In the second round, WalterFootball.com had the Bucs taking Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State 

Unless Ronald Jones stops disappointing, the Buccaneers won’t have any sort of running game in 2019. 

J.K. Dobbins entered 2017 as a backup, but overtook Mike Weber and had a terrific freshman campaign, showing off his great, explosive running ability.

In another mock draft on WalterFootball.com, Charlie Campbell also has the Bucs picking a quarterback, but it isn’t Fromm.

Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy and QB Tua Tagovailoa – Photo by: Getty Images

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
The Bucs could move on from Jameis Winston after this coming season and grab Bruce Arians his own quarterback of the future. 

Tagovailoa (6-1, 218) has a quality arm that can make any throw required in the NFL. After his heroic effort to win the National Championship in 2017 for Alabama, Tagovailoa was even better as a sophomore, completing 69 percent of his passes for 3,966 yards with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also is a good athlete with some running ability, notching five rushing touchdowns in 2018.

CBSSports.com has the Bucs taking Epenesa at No. 7, likely replacing Jason Pierre-Paul. Another CBSSports.com 2020 mock draft from Ryan Wilson has the Bucs selecting Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

Luke Easterling’s DraftWire.com has Tampa Bay picking 10th and selecting Little, a left tackle who will presumably be playing right tackle with the Bucs and replacing 34-year old Demar Dotson.

In the second round, DraftWire.com has Tampa Bay choosing Alabama running back Najee’ Harris, likely to replace Peyton Barber, who will be a free agent in 2020, or because former second-round pick Ronald Jones II didn’t pan out.

It’s interesting that two mock drafts have the Bucs taking a quarterback in the first round, and two mock drafts have Tampa Bay selecting a running back in the second round. Apparently there’s not too much confidence in Winton and Jones.

Only one mock draft had the Bucs taking an offensive tackle in the first round, and I believe that is currently the No. 1 need for Tampa Bay heading into the 2020 NFL Draft. We’ll see how the 2019 season plays out and if that top need changes.