Many mock drafts have had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going for a tackle, a defensive back or an edge rusher with the No. 19 pick, but a new mock draft released by the Athletic seems to go in an entirely different direction.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman released his new mock draft on Friday, and it has the Bucs taking none of their traditionally-discussed needs — instead, he has Tampa Bay taking Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers with their first-round pick.
Here is what Feldman said about the pick in his new mock:
“Whether Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask can prove to be the answer at QB in the post-Tom Brady era, the Bucs need to upgrade at receiver. While the idea of picking an OT here might be tempting, Flowers is too good to pass up. I could see there being some consideration here for USC’s Jordan Addison, but the hunch is that Flowers is the most complete prospect, although both are undersized. The 5 feet 9, 182-pound Flowers, who only has 29 1/4-inch arms but does have 4.42 speed and a 10-7 broad jump, proved to be a one-man wrecking crew for BC despite not having many offensive pieces around him in 2022. He caught 56 passes for 892 yards and nine TDs despite being the main focus of rival defenses.”
It would certainly be puzzling if the Bucs took a wideout in the first round. The departure of Donovan Smith leaves a glaring hole at tackle, and the team is also severely lacking in safety depth after the departures of both Mike Edwards and Keanu Neal. Tampa Bay already has three strong receivers in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Russell Gage, so to add a fourth with needs elsewhere would likely garner criticism.
That being said, Flowers is a very talented wideout. He caught 12 touchdowns on 1,077 yards in a 12-game season in 2022, and he ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine this year. It’s unlikely the Bucs would grab him in the first round, but another team with a need at the position will almost certainly grab him on day 1.
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