The NFL draft is next month, and after posting a 7-9 record in 2019, the Buccaneers find themselves sitting near the middle of the first round with the 14th pick.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Bucs will use that pick to take an offensive tackle to help their O-line and protect six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who chose to leave the Patriots after 20 years and set up shop in Tampa. Whoever Tampa Bay picks in round one, let’s hope they have as big an impact as last year’s first-round pick Devin White, who came on strong at the end of the season and proved to be the franchise cornerstone the team was hoping for.
But, even a prospect that seems like a future star can turn into a bust. Take former Bucs first-round pick Mark Barron, who many people, including current Raiders GM Mike Mayock, who was a draft analyst for NFL Network at the time, thought was a perennial Pro Bowler in the making. Barron was traded midway through his third season after never turning into the defender the Bucs envisioned.
And, in his redo of the 2012 NFL draft, Gil Brandt has the Bucs passing on Barron at the No. 7 spot in favor of defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who ended up getting drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 12.
Here’s why Brandt loves the thought of Cox joining the Bucs:
“Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy made the Pro Bowl six times in his nine Bucs seasons, but can you imagine how much more he would have flourished if he’d been playing alongside a defensive lineman of Cox’s caliber instead of the rotating cast of characters Tampa fielded?”
For what it’s worth, Cox has been named a Pro Bowler the past five seasons and even earned First-Team All-Pro honors in 2018 following his 10.5-sack season. Hindsight is always 20/20, and at the time the Barron selection seemed like a slam dunk. But, as we’ve come to find out, there’s no such thing when it comes to the NFL draft.
As for who Brandt reimagines the Eagles taking now that Cox is a Buc, well, he has some linebacker named Lavonte David going to Philly at No. 12. David, of course, was drafted by the Bucs in the second round of that year’s draft.
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