Here are my final top 10 players at each position in this year’s draft. I expanded a few of the positions based on the high number of players I expect to be drafted fairly early at them. These rankings are intended to reflect my projections for the level of success each will attain in the pros, not the order in which I believe they will be selected.
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Quarterback
1 – Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)
2 – Sam Bradford (Oklahoma)
3 – Tony Pike (Cincinnati)
4 – Jevan Snead (Mississippi)
5 – Colt McCoy (Texas)
6 – Jarrett Brown (West Virginia)
7 – Tim Tebow (Florida)
8 – John Skelton (Fordham)
9 – Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan)
10 – Levi Brown (Troy)
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Most likely to be a Buc – none
With the Bucs drafting Josh Freeman last year, it doesn’t appear that a QB will be high on the priority list this year. If we had picks to waste, I’d love to get Snead or Skelton in the middle rounds, but unfortunately we have too many other holes to fill.
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Running Back
1 – CJ Spiller (Clemson)
2 – Jahvid Best (California)
3 – Ryan Mathews (Fresno State)
4 – Toby Gerhart (Stanford)
5 – Jonathan Dwyer (Georgia Tech)
6 – James Starks (Buffalo)
7 – Joe McKnight (USC)
8 – Montario Hardesty (Tennessee)
9 – Anthony Dixon (Mississippi State)
10 – Ben Tate (Auburn)
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Most likely to be a Buc – Toby Gerhart
None of the backs stands out as a real obvious choice for the Bucs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucs drafted Gerhart with one of the R2 picks in order to give Freeman a reliable ground game weapon with the futures of Cadillac, Ward, and Graham in question.
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1 – Dez Bryant (Oklahoma State)
2 – Arrelious Benn (Illinois)
3 – Golden Tate (Notre Dame)
4 – Taylor Price (Ohio)
5 – Mardy Gilyard (Cincinnati)
6 – Damian Williams (USC)
7 – Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech)
8 – Brandon LaFell (LSU)
9 – Eric Decker (Minnesota)
10 – Mike Williams (Syracuse)
11 – Dexter McCluster (Mississippi)
12 – Dezmon Briscoe (Kansas)
13 – Jacoby Ford (Clemson)
14 – Jordan Shipley (Texas)
15 – Andre Roberts (The Citadel)
16 – Marcus Easley (Connecticut)
17 – Jeremy Williams (Tulane)
18 – Emmanuel Sanders (SMU)
19 – Danario Alexander (Missouri)
20 – Riley Cooper (Florida)
Most likely to be a Buc – Jordan Shipley
It’s not the route I’d go, but having learned from Pewter Report that Josh Freeman has the staff’s ear about Shipley, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took him. They need to surround Freeman with weapons, and they may go with his personal request when doing so.
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1 – Jermaine Gresham (Oklahoma)
2 – Aaron Hernandez (Florida)
3 – Dennis Pitta (BYU)
4 – Rob Gronkowski (Arizona)
5 – Anthony McCoy (USC)
6 – Jimmy Graham (Miami)
7 – Dorin Dickerson (Pittsburgh)
8 – Tony Moeaki (Iowa)
9 – Ed Dickson (Oregon)
10 – Colin Peek (Alabama)
Most likely to be a Buc – Jeron Mastrud (Kansas State)
I question whether or not they’ll draft a TE with Winslow, Stevens, and Gilmore on board. I wouldn’t call Stevens and Gilmore locks, but is spending a pick on an upgrade here the best use of resources? Maybe they take Mastrud, a former target of Freeman’s, as an undrafted free agent. The two did have nice chemistry together during Freeman’s time at KSU, so it would make sense to pick him up after the draft.
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1 – Russell Okung (Oklahoma State)
2 – Bruce Campbell (Maryland)
3 – Anthony Davis (Rutgers)
4 – Trent Williams (Oklahoma)
5 – Bryan Bulaga (Iowa)
6 – Charles Brown (USC)
7 – Rodger Saffold (Indiana)
8 – Jared Veldheer (Hillsdale)
9 – Kyle Calloway (Iowa)
10 – Jason Fox (Miami)
Most likely to be a Buc – Jason Fox
Like the RB position, I don’t see a tackle standing out as an obvious fit for the Bucs. I don’t see any in the top 5 being our choice at #3, and with all their other dire needs, I’m not sure that Saffold or Brown (unlikely to be there) should be the choice in R2. I pick Fox because he’s a guy likely to fall due to medical questions, and the Bucs haven’t shied away from that kind of player in the past (see Xavier Fulton, shoulder, last year).
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Center / Guard
2 – Mike Iupati (Idaho)
3 – Vladimir Ducasse (Massachusetts)
4 – Jon Asamoah (Illinois)
5 – John Jerry (Mississippi)
6 – JD Walton (Baylor)
7 – Marshall Newhouse (TCU)
8 – Matt Tennant (Boston College)
9 – Mike Johnson (Alabama)
10 – Mitch Petrus (Arkansas)
Most likely to be a Buc – John Jerry
I don’t have him going to the Bucs in my mocks, but I think he’s a guy the Bucs will/should be looking at in the middle rounds as someone who can help you out on the right side of the line either at guard or tackle. Even though I have Jerry rated higher, I still prefer Newhouse because I think he’s a better value; can probably be had at least a full round later than Jerry.
2 – Brandon Graham (Michigan)
3 – Everson Griffen (USC)
4 – Jerry Hughes (TCU)
5 – Jason Pierre-Paul (USF)
6 – Corey Wootton (Connecticut)
7 – Carlos Dunlap (Florida)
8 – Austen Lane (Murray State)
9 – Jermaine Cunningham (Florida)
10 – Brandon Lang (Troy)
11 – CJ Wilson (ECU)
12 – Lindsey Witten (Connecticut)
13 – Greg Hardy (Mississippi)
14 – George Selvie (USF)
15 – Kevin Basped (Nevada)
2 – Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma)
3 – Brian Price (UCLA)
4 – Jared Odrick (Penn State)
5 – Tyson Alualu (California)
6 – Dan Williams (Tennessee)
7– Lamarr Houston (Texas)
8 – Geno Atkins (Georgia)
9 – Terrence Cody (Alabama)
10 – Linval Joseph (ECU)
11 – Al Woods (LSU)
12 – Cam Thomas (UNC)
13 – Corey Peters (Kentucky)
14 – Arthur Jones (Syracuse)
15 – Torrell Troup (UCF)
I think he’s our pick at #3 overall because Suh won’t be there..
2 – Sean Weatherspoon (Missouri)
3 – Eric Norwood (South Carolina)
4 – Darryl Washington (TCU)
5 – Ricky Sapp (Clemson)
6 – Navorro Bowman (Penn State)
7 – Koa Misi (Utah)
8 – Jason Worilds (Virginia Tech)
9 – Dekoda Watson (FSU)
10 – Roddrick Muckelroy (Texas)
11 – O’Brien Schofield (Wisconsin)
12 – Thaddeus Gibson (Ohio State)
13 – Rennie Curran (Georgia)
14 – AJ Edds (Iowa)
15 – Keenan Clayton (Oklahoma)
I don’t see any of these players as future Buccaneers, but if I had to choose one, I’d say Weatherspoon. The Bucs would have to deal back up into R1 to get him (seemingly ahead of Atlanta at #19), but if the Bucs are in an aggressive mindset, I could see them trading up for Weatherspoon and possibly expediting Barrett Ruud’s departure..
2 – Sean Lee (Penn State)
3 – Brandon Spikes (Florida)
4 – Pat Angerer (Iowa)
5 – Micah Johnson (Kentucky)
6 – Jamar Chaney (Mississippi State)
7 – Reggie Carter (UCLA)
8 – Boris Lee (Troy)
9 – Kion Wilson (USF)
10 – Phillip Dillard (Nebraska)
2 – Patrick Robinson (FSU)
3 – Kareem Jackson (Alabama)
4 – Kyle Wilson (Boise State)
5 – Devin McCourty (Rutgers)
6 – Amari Spievey (Iowa)
7 – Brandon Ghee (Wake Forest)
8 – Chris Cook (Virginia)
9 – Perrish Cox (Oklahoma State)
10 – Walter Thurmond (Oregon)
11 – Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (Indiana PA)
12 – Dominique Franks (Oklahoma)
13 – Javier Arenas (Alabama)
14 – Alterraun Verner (UCLA)
15 – Syd’Quan Thompson (California)
Most likely to be a Buc – Patrick Robinson
I want to say Kareem Jackson here, but I think he’ll have trouble getting by Arizona at the bottom of R1. Robinson should be there, and Nole bias aside, I like his projection at the next level. I think he’d be a great pairing with Aqib Talib, and there’s a good chance that one of the Bucs’ R2 picks is spent on a corner.
2 – Earl Thomas (Texas)
3 – Chad Jones (LSU)
4 – Nate Allen (USF)
5 – Taylor Mays (USC)
6 – Morgan Burnett (Georgia Tech)
7 – Reshad Jones (Georgia)
8 – Darrell Stuckey (Kansas)
9 – Barry Church (Toledo)
10 – Major Wright (Florida)
11 – Larry Asante (Nebraska)
12 – TJ Ward (Oregon)
13 – Terrell Skinner (Maryland)
14 – Myron Rolle (FSU)
15 – Quentin Scott (Northern Iowa)
Most likely to be a Buc – Larry Asante
With the signing of Sean Jones, I don’t think SS is high on the Bucs radar. It looks like he’ll compete with Sabby Piscitelli to start there next to Tanard Jackson. Speaking of TJ, he’s one strike away from a lengthy suspension, so maybe the Bucs do indeed bump this back up the list of needs. I’m not terribly high on him, but someone like Asante (or Reshad Jones if he fall far enough (R4)) would make sense in the R4-R5 range.
