2014 NFL Mock Draft: Sammy Watkins picked by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Clemson Tigers wide receiver Sammy Watkins (2) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first half of the 2014 Orange Bowl college football game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new staff in place, and it will be interesting to see if they have a new quarterback in place in 2014. While I am not sold on Mike Glennon as “the guy”, I think he’s played well enough to warrant at least one more season to show that he can be “the guy”, because I don’t think you can definitively say that Glennon isn’t a franchise QB. It would behoove the Bucs to add a QB later on in the 2014 NFL Draft or a veteran in free agency as insurance or as competition, but I don’t think the Buccaneers need to take a quarterback with the seventh pick in the draft.
In his latest 2014 NFL Mock Draft on the FanSided.com main page, my good friend Josh Sanchez has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Clemson Tigers wide receiver Sammy Watkins with the seventh pick in the draft, and it’s actually a pick that I disagree with despite Watkins’s insane display last night against Ohio State (seriously, Tajh Boyd needs to buy that guy dinner every day this month). While Watkins is certainly good enough to be selected with the seventh pick and would help the Bucs, the Bucs don’t need a No. 1 receiver and most certainly shouldn’t reach for a non-need with the seventh pick.
The Buccaneers biggest need right now is at defensive end, so Missouri Tigers DE Kony Ealy or Buffao’s Khalil Mack, if the Bucs feel that he’s a fit at DE, would be better picks (especially Mack, but that hinges on his pick). Watkins is an excellent prospect, but the Buccaneers already have a very talented wide receiver duo in Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. Why would you use such a high pick on a player you don’t need? I get that Jackson is expensive, but he deserves every bit of that money as one of the league’s elite receivers. Williams also has a long deal (it’s a team-friendly one, too), and he’s one of the league’s better receivers.
What the Bucs should do is add another receiver, but they should add a slot receiver who is a solid No. 3 guy to help support Jackson and Williams instead of reaching for Watkins, even if he is very talented. Jackson and Williams are also very talented wideouts, and it makes more sense to add players at a position where the Bucs have much less talent. You know, like at DE.
It’s probably ideal for the Bucs to try and trade down, and Derek Carr is actually still on the board in Sanchez’s mock draft. If the Bucs really like him and are sold on him, then they should pull him off the board there even with Glennon in mind. But it’s more likely that they trade down with a team that needs a QB and wants to take Carr at that slot.